Manchester United: Despite Losing EPL, This Season Should Be Viewed Positively

Today, Manchester City won their first Premier League title since 1968 after recording a memorable 3-2 victory against QPR in the dying seconds of the match.

This win ends the Premier League season with City and United being tied with 89 points apiece, the first time since 1989 that the season ended with both the first- and second-place sides finishing equal on points.

For United, a season filled with twists and turns ends up on a dramatic low. Seeing City win a title is depressing enough, but waiting to see if City will win the title is even more dejecting.

United had already recorded a 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light and had their entire squad at the match preparing to celebrate their 20th league title. But seeing City win caused fans' emotions to drop to a low that City fans were showing just minutes before. Fans were crying and shaking their heads, wondering what to make of the season.

In truth, Manchester United fans should be in fact proud of their season.

With the club still in a rebuilding mode, the Red Devils were able to finish the season with 89 points. They had the best Premier League record of any side away from home.

This United side had improved dramatically from the year before when they scraped their way to the title with 80 points. That same side from last year would never have beƒen able to keep up with this year's Manchester City side.

David de Gea, long considered to be a scapegoat due to some questionable performances at the beginning of the season, ended up being one of the top goalkeepers in the EPL.

At the end of the season, de Gea ranked second in the league in fewest goals conceded (29), sixth in clean sheets (13), 10th in saves (102) and fourth in wins (19). Had de Gea played a full season, these stats would have been even better.

This season was difficult for de Gea due to his transition from Spain and a porous defense, but the former Atletico Madrid keeper will only continue to get better with time.

United's defense was hurt for most of the season due to Nemanja Vidic's season-ending knee injury. Even without the best defender in the Premier League, United still conceded just 33 goals, the second-fewest in the league, and fewer than the 37 goals conceded last season.

For most of this season, United lacked a strong central midfield. Michael Carrick had one of his best seasons for Manchester United but couldn't pair up with Darren Fletcher, Anderson or Thomas Cleverely due to injuries. The crisis in midfield was so bad that Paul Scholes was forced to come out of retirement to help the squad.

Scholes was a major difference-maker throughout his several months with United. But that lack of a star central midfielder should be addressed in the summer transfer window.

Last summer's acquisition of Ashley Young turned out to be a strong move for Sir Alex, even though his occupation on the wing did spell time for Nani or Antonio Valencia.

Nonetheless, United's wingers were the strongest facet of their entire squad. Valencia (13), Nani (10), Ryan Giggs (eight) and Young (seven) ranked among the top 15 players in the EPL in assists. No other side had four players rank among the top-20 assist totals in the league.

Valencia averaged 163 minutes per assist, the lowest total in the Premier League. Giggs was second-lowest with an assist every 183 minutes.

When it came to goalscoring, Wayne Rooney rediscovered the form that dazzled the EPL in 2009-10. Rooney finished second in the league with 27 goals, averaging a goal every 105 minutes.

Rooney got support from Chicharito Hernandez (10 goals) and Danny Welbeck (nine goals) to account for a strong trio of United strikers.

With a strong contingency of young players with a strong amount of experience, Manchester United will be tough to stop next year. For many of these young players, they understand what it takes to win or lose a title based upon the circus ride that they have been on during the last two seasons.

After blowing an eight-point lead with five matches to go, it is feasible to think that United will not recover what they had lost. But in fact, this side is reminiscent of the 1998 squad that lost the title to an emerging Arsenal side.

That side was 11 points clear at the beginning of March, but they lost the crown due in part to a 2-0 loss at home, which allowed the Gunners to win the league by one point.

Considering that those young players had won five of the previous six Premier League titles, they compare well to this United side, which had won four of the previous five Premier League crowns before this season started.

The failure to win the league in 1998 led to United becoming the only English side to complete a treble in 1999.

Next year's Manchester United side does have the strength needed to contend at the highest level of any competition. 

Considering how Sir Alex Ferguson has responded to challenges such as these in the past, don't be surprised to see United have a memorable campaign next year.

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