If the Premier League season had started when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took charge at Old Trafford on December 19 United would be five points clear at the top.
It’s been an incredible few months for the club under the Norwegian, but while Solskjaer believes “the foundation is here” for a title challenge, he stressed there is plenty of work to be done to build on it.
The Norwegian has been in charge of United for 12 Premier League games, claiming 10 wins and two draws to fire them back into contention for a top four finish, but doing it over a full season is the next challenge.
And Solskjaer has identified the crucial difference between title challengers Manchester City and Liverpool and his side – something he finds unacceptable for United.
“How many games have I been in charge? Ten? Twelve? That’s just part of a season,” he said.
“We need more time to be challenging – but that’s what this club should be doing.
“The foundation is here. And we just need to add a few attributes to the squad, like what we saw against PSG.
“I’m talking about things like total running distance – that was the highest we’ve ever had.
“That has to continue. There’s absolutely no reason why Man United shouldn’t be the hardest-working team in the league.
“Ask all the players back home [at Molde]. One of the things I always demand from my players is work-rate and attitude and fitness.
“So we need to keep working on the fitness – and next season the players know that they will be asked if they want to challenge the top.
“They have got to get the habits, they’ve got to improve all the time – because that’s what the best teams in the league do. They run more than us.
“That’s not acceptable, really.”
While Solskjaer has dragged United back into fourth ahead of today’s trip to Arsenal, over the course of 28 games they are 12 points behind Liverpool and 16 worse off than City.
The United boss admits there’s a gulf between those two and the rest for now, one that United have to close.
“There has been and there definitely is a gap now. There is a top two and then we’re in the next four,” added Solskjaer
“We’ve got to close that gap. I don’t know how many points we are behind them because I don’t look at that.