Manchester United further behind in development than expected - Solskjaer

Manchester United have not progressed as much as what manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had hoped for as they near the halfway stage of the Premier League season, but the Norwegian said his team would become more consistent with experience.

Solskjaer, who took charge of United in December last year, has guided the team to eighth in the standings after 18 games and their tally of 25 points is four fewer than what they had collected at this stage last season. The 2-0 loss to bottom-placed Watford on Sunday was their fifth of the campaign, with the team failing to build on wins over Tottenham Hotspur and champions Manchester City earlier this month.

“At the moment we’re a little bit further behind than what I was hoping for,” Solskjaer told the British media. “We knew this season was going to be a season of some ups and downs.” United have failed to win more than two league games in a row this season but Solskjaer said that they needed time to reach their best form.

“This season will be used to find a team for next season, but hopefully we can speed this process up by getting more results,” the 46-year-old added. “We want to be a team that can go and dominate and break teams down. It has taken Liverpool a few years to get to that state and we need to keep on building because that’s what we want to get to.

“I expect us to be more consistent, definitely more experienced and learning from these setbacks.” United take on ninth-placed Newcastle United in the league today before visiting Burnley on Saturday