Manchester United to challenge for Premier League title in 2016

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal believes his team will challenge for the Premier League title next season

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal has revealed that he believes that his team will challenge for the Premier League title next season.

The veteran Dutchman has also revealed that he has a three-year remit to claim the English top-flight title.

Title

Asked about the Premier League title Van Gaal told Sky Sports: “The board have given three years for that objective. This year we have not challenged but we are very close to the second position,”

“We started badly this year but if you cut the start of it we should equalise Chelsea. So we have to start next season better.

“Next year definitely we will challenge. We will have another squad but not only us – Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool and all the clubs fighting for those positions will too.

“There is not a big gap between the rest of the top clubs and Chelsea. You can judge that when the clubs play against each other. We need balance in our selection and I’ve said that many times.”

Gap

The former-Barcelona boss claims there is not a big gap between the top teams, but there is currently a 15 point gap between the Red Devils and champions elect Chelsea in the Premier League table. The Blues are also 13 points clear of second place Manchester City and third place Arsenal.

However, Van Gaal is right in some respects as the clashes between Chelsea and their rivals have been relatively close. However in terms of the strength of their team the Blues are ahead of the other teams currently at the top of the Premier League.

Chelsea have developed a togetherness that none of their nearest rivals have been able to match this season and in terms of quality largely seem to have better players in each position of their team than their rivals.

Signings

Manchester United spent over £150million in the summer strengthening their squad. It seems with the prospective Champions League revenue and bigger kit deal with Adidas the United boss could spend big again this summer.

United have been linked with a number of summer transfer targets, including Real Madrid’s Gareth Bale, Southampton’s Nathaniel Clyne, PSV’s Memphis Depay and Dortmund’s Mats Hummels. All would be expensive purchases for the Red Devils, but all would add quality to the United squad.

There is no doubt that the Red Devils need to add quality to their squad, despite recently enjoying a good run of form and prior to suffering successive defeats at Chelsea and Everton.

Progress

United look set to achieve their primary aim this season of finishing in the top four and qualifying for next seasons Champions League, as the Red Devils are now 1/66 to achieve that objective. The Red Devils seem to have made decent progress under Van Gaal and his staff this season.

They could not have realistically been expected to go from seventh place in the table last season to winning the league title this season, although Liverpool came close to achieving a similar feat in 2014.

Van Gaal seems to be moving United in the right direction, even if there have been a few bumps along the way. The target of winning the Premier League title in three years was probably a realistic one considering he is going to be heavily backed in the transfer market.

Challengers

If Louis van Gaal with all his managerial experience cannot help United challenge for the title next season then he should be sacked. He already has a decent squad of players.

His transfer kitty should also help the United squad be a lot stronger next season and it would a major surprise if the Red Devils were not challenging for the title.

However, United just like their rivals have a lot of work to do in order to strengthen significantly enough to challenge Jose Mourinho’s club, who will also no doubt strengthen this summer.

If Van Gaal and United can get the better of the Portuguese boss in the next two years then it will have be a major achievement for the Dutchman and his appointment will be deemed a big success. If not then the former-Barcelona boss’ tenure at Old Trafford may just be consider a failed one by some.

Can Manchester United Challenge for the Premier League title next season?