Manchester United - manager's report:

It might be a surprise to many people if I describe my first season in charge of my beloved Manchester United as hit and miss, but from a managerial point of view I can certainly point out positives. Given the uncertainty of recent seasons, and a squad that was some way from the quality that fans have gotten used to in the past couple of decades under Sir Alex Ferguson, this was always going to be a transitional period, and although we of course wanted to vying with the best, a shot at the title wasn't something that was our main goal. However, our main goal for this season, as I said many times, was to make the top 4, with a bare minimum of top 6. I'd be lying if I said results weren't disappointing, and we only scraped to our bare minimum goal of 6th place on the final day of the season.

You hear people saying that certain clubs should be title contenders every single season, but the reality can be quite different, especially with a club that has undergone the kind of personality crisis and hotch-potch of managerial styles that Manchester United have. That's not an excuse, and we did fail in our ultimate objective of top 4, but there was a mighty amount of work to be done, which was always going to require a bedding-in time.

The positives? Well, the defence I inherited was far from the quality of the famed back-lines that have graced Old Trafford in the past. This was the first priority, and to that end we brought in the talented, young French international Samuel Umtiti from Barcelona, Real Madrid's increasingly impressive right-back Daniel Carvajal, Bayern left-back Alex Sandro, and experienced Brazilian centre-back Joao Miranda from Inter Milan. World Cup winner Daniele De Rossi was also brought in to captain the team and provide a calm and knowledgeable presence as a holding midfielder.

The biggest clubs in the world, and how much power they currently have, is more usually judged by the young attacking talent they can attract. With much speculation of a big move to Spain, Dele Alli can surely be considered one of the hottest young properties in European football, and it's a testament to our aims and long-term vision that he chose to take his career to the next level with us. Harry Kane (right, captaining England) and Andrea Belotti have been tearing up the English and Italian leagues respectively, so getting them to sign long-term deals with us is proof of not only their own ambition, but Manchester United's as well. A host of other rising stars have joined our youth academy, and the strength there was proven by winning the TFF youth cup.

So to put it simply, this season we built a strong team, and one whose backbone can remain together for many years to come and will only get better. That is something I very much describe as a 'hit', and a definite positive for us. This club had always been built on solid foundations, and perhaps this was something that had been neglected in the last few seasons, but I'm confident we have put that right. Yes, it took a lot of money, yes, it meant getting rid of many players, and yes, it may have cost us a couple of places in the league as we could have taken a much more short-term approach. But this is a club that has been close to my heart since I was a child. It's important to do things the right way and we're confident our plan will pay off before too long.

If we have attracted all these big-name young talents, why did we only finish 6th? Well, that's a good question, and it's one that me and the players have been asking ourselves for several weeks. We expected better and our fans expected better, so to them I apologise. That Cup defeat on penalties against Arsenal was particularly difficult to swallow. We were able to beat fellow 'big 6' sides, but dropped points at smaller clubs who we'd expect to beat. It would be easy to blame refereeing decisions or blame the opposition for parking the bus (something which they're more than entitled to do!), but the simple fact is this: even in games we won, our possession statistics fell short. We have a strong defence, we have an exciting and talented attack, but in the middle of the park we weren't able to boss games, to take control as we should.

This is an area we identified some time ago, and ahead of the new season we have taken big steps to rectify. Marco Verratti (left, in action for Italy) and Adrien Rabiot are two of the most exciting central midfielders around, and we went to great lengths to bring them to the club to provide a fluid link between defence and attack, and we we will adapt our play to ensure that we not only retain possession but that the end product is deserving of a club of our stature. We also have depth in the squad should we encounter injuries and suspensions, and no one is guaranteed a starting place, all will have to fight for it and prove they're the best.

In football, results are everything, and Season 1 in TFF will be judged on our failure to gain a top 4 spot, but everyone here is determined to rectify that in Season 2, and we're confident we have made the right moves for the future Manchester United. We have a hungry young team, a hungry young(ish) manager, and a determination which can match anyone's. We may still be a couple of seasons from filling our full potential, but you can expect Old Trafford to be a fortress next season, and for this giant of world football to return to its place at the top table very soon, with every intention of staying there.