The work starts now – Solskjaer wants ´different attitude´ from United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer expects Manchester United to return next season with an improved mentality and attitude after a dismal campaign.

United finished sixth in the Premier League, failing to maintain the impressive form they showed early in Solskjaer’s tenure after he succeeded Jose Mourinho in December.

Solskjaer’s side will not be playing Champions League football next season and major changes are expected in the transfer window.

But Solskjaer wants more from those players who will stay, too, suggesting their approach to life at United has not been right in recent weeks.

“It will take some time to close in on the top,” he said. “We finished five or six points behind third, fourth and [four behind] fifth, and that has to be our aim.

“The top two teams have set a standard higher than before and we have to take up the next challenge.

“The work starts now. Everyone has the summer off, but we have to come back with a different mentality and different attitude of being a Man United team.”

32 – Manchester United have finished 32 points behind the champions this season – more than they finished behind the top-flight winners when they were relegated in 1973-74 (30 points). Chasm. pic.twitter.com/bTozZLw6X3

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 12, 2019

United ended the season with a 2-0 defeat at home to Cardiff City thanks to Nathaniel Mendez-Laing’s brace, but Solskjaer, as after other disappointing results, insisted their issues are bigger.

“Today was not the problem,” he said. “You can have all the possession and chances you want but we concede easy goals and not score at the other.

“That is not where our challenge lies, we have a long and hard way to be where we want to be.”

Full debutant Mason Greenwood, just 17 years old, was a rare bright spark on Sunday and his manager added: “Mason Greenwood was brilliant.

“He was our best player by a mile and that says a lot about the kid. I’m not surprised by his performance, we know he is capable of that.”