Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has once again demanded backing from the Glazers in the summer transfer window, insisting he wants three players to add to his starting eleven after their Europa League final loss to Villarreal on Wednesday night.
United crashed to an absorbing 11-10 penalty shootout defeat in Gdansk with David de Gea the only player of 22 to miss from the spot following a 1-1 after extra time.
The result means the season ultimately goes down as a disappointing one although the Red Devils finished second in the Premier League behind only Manchester City.
And United are keen to strengthen their squad before next season when they will hope to bridge the 12-point gap to champions City and when Liverpool and Chelsea may also be in the title mix.
Solskjaer is looking to deliver the club’s first title since 2013 when Sir Alex Ferguson retired but United are now without silverware for four successive seasons after losing to Villarreal.
And the Norwegian is aware that he needs extra quality in his starting XI in order to truly compete with their rivals at the top of the league table.
RELIVE THE DRAMA: Man Utd 1-1 Villarreal: La Liga side wins epic sudden-death shootout
“I’ve been delighted with the effort, the desire, the determination of all of the players, I can’t fault them at all,” Solskjaer said. “We’ve probably done as well as anyone could imagine.
“We are here now, we need to do better, we need to work better, work harder, cleverer. But as I said two or three players to strengthen the starting XI and the squad all together is important for us to go even further.
“Because I’m sure our contenders or challengers will also want to improve and we want to improve as much as we can.”
Asked how United can respond to disappointment in Poland, Solskjaer demanded that his charges start the 2021-22 campaign stronger than they did this one, in which they started late due to their involvement in the Europa League last season when they fell in the semi-finals to eventual winners Sevilla.
He continued: “There’s two ways. You can feel sorry for yourself and go on holiday and don’t do anything about it.
“Or you can go home and do something about it and come back even better, stronger, more hungry, ready from the first minute because we know that we didn’t start this season great.
“We fell behind, too far behind to be challenging for the league so we need to start really well.”
Solskjaer meanwhile insisted it has ultimately been an underwhelming season due to the fact United failed to win their first trophy since May 2017.
“It’s not a successful season and that’s the fine margin in football,” the United manager said.
“Sometimes one kick can define a season as a good one and a successful one, and one kick says it’s not.
“Improvement, yeah, second in the league, probably no one expected us to be second in the league after the start we had, after the lack of pre-season we had.
“The boys have been really, really good but just came up short tonight, unfortunately. That’s penalties, we could have been sat here saying a successful season after the same game.
“But trophies matter and that’s what matters at this club. No, is the short answer.”
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