Manchester United 2019/20 season review: Back in the big time | OneFootball

It was far from a perfect season for Manchester United, but Champions League football will be returning to Old Trafford next term, so you have to say it was mission accomplished in the end.

Here’s our review of the Red Devils’ season …

Player of the season: Bruno Fernandes

It doesn’t feel quite right to name a January signing as United’s Player of the Year, but would they have finished in the top four without him?

The Portuguese playmaker took to the Premier League like a duck to water and had a transformative effect on his side’s fortunes.

He can score, he can assist and he’s very enjoyable to watch.

Who knows how differently United’s season might have panned out had they stumped up the cash to sign him last summer.

Perhaps we’ll find out how good he really is in 2020/21.

Rising star: Mason Greenwood

Some wonderful talents have come through United’s academy over the years, but Greenwood could be up there with the very best of them.

The 18-year-old already has 17 first-team goals to his name and looks like he’s been playing senior football for years.

A great shooter with both feet, his technique has been compared to former United striker Robin van Persie, and he looks like he has the potential to be even better than team-mate Marcus Rashford.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer understands the importance of giving minutes to young players, and it’s going to be fascinating to watch Greenwood’s development in the coming years.

Flop of the season: David de Gea

We’ve lost count of the number of goalkeeping blunders De Gea has been responsible for this season and last week’s against Chelsea was particularly bad.

It’s been sad to witness the decline of a once great goalkeeper. It’s a position in which you’re always under the spotlight and when a goalkeeper loses confidence in themselves, it can often be extremely difficult to get it back. Iker Casillas and Joe Hart are two recent examples of this which spring to mind.

Of course, the Spaniard is still capable of pulling off absolutely world class saves, but those errors have become all too frequent.

Can United seriously expect to win silverware in the future with an unreliable goalkeeper between the sticks?

That’s the big question they need to be asking themselves this summer.

Rate the manager

If you’d said at the start of the season that United would finish in the top four, most fans probably would have taken it.

Solskjaer deserves a great deal of credit for getting the club back into the Champions League, and that 19-match unbeaten run towards the end of the campaign had many of his critics eating humble pie.

And yet, there is still a sense that United are underachieving with the Norwegian in charge.

Their transfer policy is far from perfect yet Solskjaer has some very talented players at his disposal, and finishing 33 points behind Liverpool will never be acceptable to the Old Trafford faithful.

Has Solskjaer shown that he isn’t clueless this season? Yes, absolutely.

But could United be doing better with a more talented manager in charge? We’d suggest the answer to that question is also yes, and time will tell if we’re right.

What comes next?

Armed with the ability to offer Champions League football next season, United are likely to splash the cash again this summer.

Were they to sign a top class goalkeeper like Jan Oblak and a solid centre-back to partner Harry Maguire, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that they will at least close the gap on Liverpool and Manchester City next season.

Add Jadon Sancho to the mix and they would have to be considered genuine title contenders.

And of course, they could still make what has been a very positive end to the season even better by winning the Europa League.

Rating the season: 6/10

We’ll upgrade that to a 7 if they do pick up some silverware.