Paul Scholes has insisted that not only Liverpool and Manchester City should come closer to Manchester United with Erik ten Hag.
The Dutchman faces a huge task when he enters the Old Trafford chamber after a difficult season. United finished sixth in the Premier League, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of their campaign.
The lack of morale of the players who did so well in 2020/21 has proven to be a major factor. Also, the change of manager did not help, with interim boss Ralf Rangnick unable to inspire the group.
As a result, Ten Hag is the last man to try to get United back to where they should be.
Man Utd finished with 58 points this season. Above them, however, the title winners, Manchester City, got 93, beating Liverpool by one point.
However, the former Red Devils Scholes midfielder has warned that United have bigger problems to solve before trying to catch the title challengers.
“It will be difficult,” Scholes told Premier League Productions. “It’s a huge job, an important job that we all know to get closer to Manchester City and Liverpool.
“Even to get closer to Tottenham and Chelsea. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but you’re also 13, 14 points.
“So he has an important job just to take them to the Champions League. I think finishing fourth next year will be seen as a kind of success.”
In fact, while United are looking to recover and strengthen, so are the teams around them.
Scholes detects the riddle of Man Utd
Chelsea finished third in the Premier League this season and finished third for most of the season. However, they never seemed to challenge City and Liverpool above them, nor fall to fourth place.
His challenge during the summer is to get the title, not just promise the first half of the season.
Tottenham, meanwhile, snatched a place in the top four at Arsenal in the final weeks of the season.
Both the Spurs and Chelsea have plans to spend a lot of this summer to strengthen their team and take the next step in their travels.
Therefore, Man Utd must equalize and seek to overtake their immediate rivals, before seeking to reach City and Liverpool.