Despite ending up being a relatively successful campaign, the season wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. In fact, it hard more dark days than light for half the year which is what made finishing 3rd and qualifying for the Champions League feel greater than it should actually be.

These are areas to improve upon for what will be a relentless 26/27 season given the extra football and traveling.

Here are the five negatives from 25/26:

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1. Poor Style Of Play

I've not been a big fan of the football we've seen throughout the season and under both managers.

Ruben Amorim was trying to build something that is more possession-based but in a system that the players just couldn't perform in.

This left United looking decent at times but not so much at others. Going forward, we were a threat but it was at the back where we came undone. Even though we created so many opportunities, United failed to make the most of them often resulting in thinking 'what could have been.' Pair this with a leaky defense and that is exactly why we picked up so many draws against sides that United should be beating.

Despite being in a decent position of 6th and just 3 points off 4th, the overall feeling was that we should be much higher in the table.

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Michael Carrick came in and stabilized things on top of picking up great results. Yet even with all the new-found positivity, the football itself was dire.

It's been boring, counter-attacking, moments, individual brilliance and reliant on set-pieces. These are all the things we've been complaining about when it comes to Arsenal!

The style never really improved even if the results remained which is what I believe has covered up for boring football on the pitch.

The only saving grace I have for Carrick and his football is that he doesn't have the players he wants yet. Perhaps then, we'll start to see prime Barca football 😅.

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2. One Game A Week

This made this campaign one of the most excruciating I've ever witnessed.

One game a week - sometimes one game in three weeks - made it a really hard watch simply because there was nothing to watch!

To go through such long spells without United on the tele was bad enough but to then see everyone else play just added to the pain 😩.

I know we went through something similar under Louis van Gaal where we had no European football and were dumped out of the cups early on but as that was a long time ago, I kind of forgot how that season felt.

But I can safely say that this one was much worse.

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You know when we saw the players off on holiday or doing training in other countries, it did feel like it was an international break. Knowing that it wasn't but was treated as such actually made me quite angry tbh.

Like they were the ones who put us in this position but were going off on holiday. They should have been suffering along with us!

I really couldn't stand not playing every other day. I didn't know what to do with myself.

For a club the size of Man Utd to not be playing every couple of days is an embarrassment to the name of this great football club.

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3. Injuries

Matthijs De Ligt confirms back surgery after six months of trying to recover.

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How have we picked up as many injuries as we have? We've played one game a week yet we've seen multiple players out for prolonged periods.

• De Ligt
• Martinez
• Maguire
• Mazraoui
• Dorgu
• Yoro
• Cunha
• Sesko
• Mount

Even Bruno was out for a couple of games.

This is not something that you see in football. A lack of matches still producing this number of injuries as if the team was playing two games a week, is sort of unheard of.

And if that has been a problem in this season of all seasons, what's going to happen next year?

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The issue is also that United will keep a lot of these players. They are exactly the type we should be moving on.

And notice how Shaw isn't on the injury list. That is a surprise in itself. Is that causing United to want to keep him simply because he's been more available? Shaw is quite unreliable so you don't really trust him to stay fit for most of the season.

This could be a big problem at left-back unless we sign someone.

It also brings the focus back onto the infamous medical department in that they haven't been doing their jobs correctly to the point where we don't pick up these injuries as often.

You could say that this area of the club needs improving as much as the squad.

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4. Sacking Ruben Amorim

The timing of it but more importantly, the reasoning for it.

The former manager left with what has now become a notorious final press conference after United drew 1-1 at Leeds. Amorim left no stone unturned in his presser as he departed with one last act of defiance.

But to let go of him halfway through the campaign showed that the club hadn't learn from the previous season when they sacked Erik ten Hag in October before hiring Amorim in November.

That didn't go well at all as to have a complete change in terms of style and system meant that we were almost giving up the rest of the campaign despite there being seven months left to play.

Sacking Amorim decision felt reactionary. The club clearly didn't know what to do after firing him which is why it took two weeks to bring in Carrick.

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Something else the club didn't learn from was making signings in January.

This is a window that United neglect year after year to the point where we feel like such fools come the end of the season as surely making a could've made a difference.

January 2026 rolls along and with it looking likely that the club weren't going to sign players again, Amorim decided to hell with this and say it like it is.

Calling out the board for needing to do their jobs was the final straw as the Portuguese was sacked at the start of the month.

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In his recent interview, Bruno Fernandes confirmed that Amorim wasn't removed because of results but rather because of a breakdown in communication between him and the club hierarchy.

I did see Amorim calling the club out as a positive but it was just the timing of it that made it a negative.

And this meant another restart halfway through a season.

How well has that gone for us in the past?

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5. Poor Standards

Roy Keane was right.

Whatever he was talking about in that clip, he was correct. He just aimed it at the wrong target.

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The whole beef with Bruno is ridiculous because the magnifico has been the literal definition of team player at United and is the wrong player to target. And at least get your quotes correct if you are going to talk shit about him.

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But the issue of standards is correct. It is embarrassing. It is a circus act. We got a circus tent over our new stadium and are run by clowns.

We do celebrate the smallest of things as if it were something great simply because our standards are so low. Look at that post about Luke Shaw. 38 games started out of 38.

That was put up as a post on United's socials.

Player starts all 38 games. Was a post.

So was qualifycing for the Champions League.

That used to be standard at this club.

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Keane needed to direct his words at the club. They've allowed this to happen. They can change it all. Just watch that video.

This isn't Carrick's fault. I know I've criticized him but he's come in and done the best job he could. But it's more on the club. They've made promises they can't keep.

- 'Best in class' but hire the easiest and cheapest manager.

- 'Best in class' but have done nothing big in terms of transfers

- 'Best in class' but looking like there is a chance we aren't going to sign a proper replacement for Casemiro

- 'Best in class' but we aren't removing players who aren't good enough

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Two years is all we have until 'Project 150.' Two years until the year the club have planned to win the league by.

In arguably the most significant transfer window we've had in a long time, we have done nothing.

This is also a time when so many clubs are going through difficult periods or transitions where the opportunity to actually at least challenge for the title, has never been greater.

THE CHANCE IS THERE! DO SOMETHING!!!

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Roy Keane | Image credit: Getty Images via Goal

Patrick Dorgu Injury | Image: Mike Egerton/PA Wire via Manchester Evening News

Michael Carrick | Creator: DARREN STAPLES | Credit: AFP via Getty Image Copyright: AFP or licensors via Goal

Lisandro Martinez | Creator: Carl Recine | Image cedit: Getty Images Copyright: 2026 Getty Images via Goal

Ruben Amorim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe | Image: James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images via Manchester Evening News