5 things Manchester United should do to close the gap on Manchester City 

After two impressive wins against Chelsea and now more recently Liverpool, José Mourinho is slowly turning the negative discourse surrounding his philosophy at Manchester United.

While the Red Devils might be second in the Premier League, as well as competing in the Champions League and FA Cup, they remain far off the tails of cross-town rivals Manchester City.

United are used to competing for the title, but that has evaded them in a post-Ferguson era. With Mourinho at the helm, they have the best chance of climbing back to the summit, but they need to address a few problems within their squad.

Here are 5 things that need to happen.

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#5 Manchester United’s attack must become fluid

Alexis Sánchez enjoyed bright spells against Liverpool

There have been glimpses of excellence from Manchester United’s forward line, but they have been seldom showings since Alexis Sánchez arrived from Arsenal in the January transfer window.

The Chilean was a superb acquisition, especially given City were ready to pounce, but fans of United are unlikely to see the very best from him until next season - when he has a good pre-season under him and can properly gel with the team.

Against Liverpool, there were some intricate and flowing moments between Sánchez, Juan Mata and Romelu Lukaku, but it needs to become the norm with these players.

Eventually, it will come off and become more natural, and it is perfectly usual for there to be an adjusting period, but United’s prolific attackers will hugely benefit in understanding each other’s movements.

At the moment, there also seems to be a segregation between the midfield and the attack, which could be down to Mourinho’s tactics, but the whole point of having a player of Paul Pogba’s stature is to utilize him in connecting the two banks of three and creating seamless transitions from defence into attack.

In certain games and situations, the Portuguese head coach needs to take the shackles off and let the Frenchman run the show.

#2 Eric Bailly needs to remain fit

Eric Bailly enjoyed his first start for Manchester United since November

The Ivorian centre-back made his first start for Manchester United since November after a nasty injury took place that kept him out of contention for months on end.

Even though he might have been lacking match sharpness, he didn’t show it at all. Against Liverpool, Bailly was phenomenal.

He might have scored an unfortunate own goal, but his overall game was sensational and was not from a player you would have thought was just returning after a lengthy layoff.

Bailly is comfortably United’s best defender and is the commander in the defence. The Red Devils’ back line looks far more organized and structured with the former Villarreal player in the line-up than without.

The problem has been his regular injuries. Somehow, no matter at what cost, United must keep Bailly fit for long parts of the season - especially in the crucial games.

United are at the business end of the season now and will be thankful that the Ivorian international is back and raring to go.

#3 Bring in two midfielders

Jorginho has had a wonderful season at the heart of Napoli's midfield

With Michael Carrick retiring at the end of the season and potentially one of Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera moving on to pastures new, United need to recruit two top quality midfielders to bolster their squad.

One player, they should be weighing up the option to bring in is Lazio’s Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. The combative, destructive midfielder has been a revelation this season and has been a major part of his team’s battle for a Champions League-qualifying position.

Milinkovic-Savic would be more of a box-to-box midfielder, sitting alongside Nemanja Matić and Paul Pogba. Why Mourinho will especially like him is because he stands at 1.92 metres, a quality that the Portuguese boss values highly in his midfield.

Another player that the Red Devils will be looking at for a like-for-like replacement for Carrick is Napoli’s Jorginho. The Brazilian-born Italy international will be on the shortlist of major clubs in Europe this summer, but the attraction of sitting at the base of United’s midfield might be the strongest pull.

In all competitions, Jorginho has recorded an 89 percent pass completion rate in over 2,000 minutes of football this season. That is a quite staggering amount.

While he is typically a defensive midfielder, he is not adverse to moving forward and threading through balls in behind the opposition’s defence, as he done so many times this season.

United need to act efficiently in securing the midfielders and will have their targets. There could be a big change this summer in terms of personnel, so the board will want to make sure these players hit the ground running and get a good pre-season.

#4 Become more consistent

Paul Pogba needs to step up and become a leader for Manchester United

What United have lacked at times this season has been a consistent edge to their game. Disappointing losses to Spurs, Huddersfield, Newcastle, et al have cost United dear points, which is why the gap between first and second remains at 13 points which could possibly be extended to 16 with City yet to play their game against Stoke.

Manchester City has lost one game all season and only drawn three; United have lost five and drawn five. There is a stark contrast in those results and is why the Cityzens are deserving of their title this season.

Slowly, but surely, Mourinho is assembling a squad that should be good enough to truly compete for the title. The difference is City’s squad has depth and can rely on any player to go out and deliver the desired results - United don’t have that just yet.

They have also been guilty of not always concentrating and throwing in the towel at various points this season, which simply isn’t good enough. There need to be more leaders in the Red Devils’ squad for when the tough gets going, they lead by example and show that there is a way to the light.

#5 Keep feeding Romelu Lukaku

Lukaku dominated Liverpool's defence from start to finish

The Belgian might have been under fierce criticism, especially for his performances in the bigger matches, but Lukaku is proving those naysayers wrong and proving that he is of the required level to lead United to new heights.

Two huge performances against Chelsea and Liverpool helped the Red Devils win both of those games, and he deserved the plaudits for such selfless displays.

The former Everton centre-forward completes 11.17 forward passes over the course of every game, which tops the list out of himself, Harry Kane and Sergio Agüero in the Premier League.

Lukaku also wins the most aerial duels out of these three, 3.14 per game, which is why he had such joy against a feeble Liverpool defence.

As proven since the turn of the year, Lukaku does deliver when he is given service in the right areas of the pitch. Pumping hopeful long balls into the channels for the Belgian to chase is not the best use of his strengths.

David de Gea found him from a simple goal kick, which led to Marcus Rashford’s opening goal against Jürgen Klopp’s men.

Lukaku can and will continue to improve at Manchester United and he deserves credit for the season he’s had - 23 goals in all competitions - and how his overall link-up play has changed in a positive fashion.