Manchester United “should be pushing for titles and trophies” rather than targeting a top-four finish, according to Ashley Young, who thinks significant progress is being made under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Red Devils’ worst start to a Premier League season in 33 years was confirmed when they drew 1-1 at home to Liverpool on October 20, which left them sitting just two points above the relegation zone.
Solskjaer’s position at the helm was being questioned from all angles, but that result against the league leaders proved to be a catalyst for a more positive run of form which has eased pressure on the Norwegian.
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United have won eight of their last 13 matches across all competitions, a sequence which included back-to-back wins over Tottenham and Manchester City at the start of December.
Solskjaer’s men are now only four points behind fourth-place Chelsea, with a trip to Vicarage Road to face Watford up next on Sunday afternoon.
The Red Devils also have the Europa League knockout stages and a Carabao Cup semi-final tie against Man City to look forward to, with Young encouraged by the team’s recent progress.
“It’s just about keeping on winning. We’re going into the busy Christmas period now when it’s just game after game and it’s just about winning and getting points on the board,” he told the club’s official website.
“I always say talking about getting into the top four is not what our club is about, we should be pushing for titles and trophies.
“Obviously it’s a transitional period where we have to talk about getting into the top four but I think if different things had gone different ways especially this season in games we’d be further up the league.
“As long as we keep playing with the confidence we’ve shown and we keep building on what it is the manager wants us to build on then we’re going in the right direction.
“Things are starting to come together and performances are getting better and that’s the way we need to go, we need to keep bettering our performance.”
One man who has played a key role in United’s resurgence is 18-year-old Mason Greenwood, who scored an all-important equaliser in a 1-1 draw against Everton at the Theatre of Dreams on Sunday.
Greenwood has seven goals to his name across all competitions this season, despite featuring mainly as a substitute, and is now pushing for a starting spot ahead of first-choice centre forward Anthony Martial.
Young has been impressed by the teenager’s meteoric rise to prominence and was delighted to see an academy graduate get on the scoresheet in United’s 4000th match last weekend.
“You can tell he’s [Greenwood’s] just a natural goalscorer and I think most of his goals have been pretty identical,” Young added.
“I don’t think many defenders know what he’s going to do, as soon as he gets the ball he’s just got an eye for a goal. He’s been fantastic for us. He’s obviously been getting on the scoresheet but he’s also a kid that wants to learn and I think training with us day in, day out has brought him on massively.
“All the young boys have stepped up when they’ve had to as I said. We’ve had injuries in the squad so they’ve had to come in and when they’ve been called upon they’ve been brilliant.
“The game against Everton, it being the 4000th match with an Academy player in the squad, I think it was fitting that an Academy player scored a goal and obviously a point isn’t what we wanted but that point could go a long come the end of the season.”