Jesse Lingard claims Manchester United will “be ready” to “come back stronger” next season, with the 2018-19 campaign having been a forgettable one at Old Trafford.
That theme stretched into a final outing of the season against Cardiff, with the Red Devils suffering a 2-0 defeat to relegated opposition on home soil.
Such setbacks have become far too frequent, with United finishing the season with a run of two wins in 12 games across all competitions.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has acknowledged that he has a big rebuilding job on his hands, with a once dominant force in English football having suffered a rather humbling fall from grace.
Lingard believes a recovery process will begin in 2019-20, with the England international confident that issues will be addressed and focus narrowed on meeting expectations.
He told MUTV on the back of another disjointed showing against Cardiff: “It’s disappointing.
“We’re looking forward to next season, we’ll regroup and come back stronger.
“It’s hard for everyone: fans, staff, players, everyone associated with the club.
“It’s not where we need to be. Manchester United deserves to be at the top and that’s where we need to be. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication and focus.”
Lingard added on what needs to be done over the summer: “We’ll be ready.
“We have to be. We have to make a stand from the start and we have to be on the front foot.
“It’s a long season with a lot of games, so we’re going to need everyone next season.
“We’re going to have to work hard in pre-season and, now the manager has the job, he can really put his mark on the team.
“Training is very important - the manager reiterates to us about hard working, and working hard will always come out on top in the end.
“In pre-season we have to be ready and to catch Manchester City, Liverpool and the other teams, we need to be right on it from the start.”
That certainly was not the case for United this season, as they stumbled out of the blocks under Jose Mourinho.
He paid the price with his job, and Solskjaer has been unable to turn the tide after briefly offering hope upon his appointment as interim boss.