Ole Gunnar Solskjaer: Europa League Is the 'Right Place' for Manchester United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says the UEFA Europa League is the "right place" for Manchester United after the team's draw with Huddersfield Town on Sunday saw them miss out on a top-four finish:

The Manchester United boss told reporters after the draw that his team's inconsistency had proved costly and that they fully deserved their current league position.

"We gave ourselves a chance to be in the Champions League, had so many opportunities to be third or fourth, but weren't able to do it. Maybe it's the right place to be for us, the Europa League next year.

"If City don't win FA Cup we'll have an early and bright start for Europa League qualifiers and that'll make it more difficult. We've been inconsistent throughout this season, good periods and very bad periods, and it's just caught up with us. It's a fair reflection, being sixth.

"It's been a tired team towards the end of the season. When you get bad results you lose energy and start worrying and that's caught up with us. It's not what we want, but then again you can use the Europa League as something positive, as Chelsea and Arsenal have done and as we did a couple of years ago."

Manchester United's draw at Huddersfield continued a run of poor results by the Red Devils. The team have hit a real slump and have won just two of their last 11 games in all competitions.

Solskjaer's side lie sixth ahead of the final round of Premier League fixtures, and if they remain in that position, they could face an early start to next season, as noted by sports reporter Simon Collings:

Manchester United play their final Premier League fixture on Sunday against relegated Cardiff City at Old Trafford. The Red Devils thrashed Neil Warnock's side 5-1 in December in what was Solskjaer's first game in charge of the club as caretaker boss after replacing Jose Mourinho.

The club's form has tailed off after a winning start under Solskjaer, and he also suggested some Manchester United players may have played their last game for the club, per Samuel Luckhurst at the Manchester Evening News:

The Manchester United boss is right in his assessment of his club's season and that they have simply not deserved a place in the top four. However, the club also have plenty of work to do over the summer with the squad if they are to improve on sixth place next season.