Arsenal’s stalemate with Sunderland proved to be more interesting than the result suggests. Not only did the Black Cats finally secure safety from relegation but the Gunners went one better than last season and will end this campaign in third. That leaves Manchester United in fourth with just qualifying rounds between themselves and Champions League football. Arsenal make it through the formalities every year so United, without counting their chickens too early, should have a place in the group stages.

When Louis van Gaal joined the club he promised to get United back into the top four and that is exactly what he has done. There were moments during the last 10 months where the Red Devils didn’t look up to the task with the competition for those coveted places fiercer than ever but the team turned things around and will be back playing European football like they deserve.

Although United have turned their fortunes around following their seventh place finish under manager David Moyes 12 months ago they have hardly been convincing this season. Van Gaal has had to shift the squad around as he searched for his best team while dealing with an alarming amount of injuries and loss of form from top experienced players. Players like Angel Di Maria.

The Argentine, who joined United from Real Madrid, started his first season with the club with so much promise but in these latter stages he has rarely added any positive input and is heavily rumoured to leave this summer. Hopefully the club can convince him to stay as Di Maria is obviously very talented but the pressures of settling into a new country and working with a new manager and team mates has gotten the best of him. Next year though he is likely to have sorted himself out and the club will rightly be disappointed that they were so trigger happy if/when that happens.

United have clinched fourth not because they were so much better than the teams just below them but probably because of a little bit of luck mixed in with a huge amount of experience. With the team Van Gaal has had at his disposal United should have been vying for the title not worrying about scrapping fourth and that must be the case next season.

Just like every other team United will look to strengthen when the window opens. They’ve already managed to convince PSV’s Memphis Depay to come on board and you’d imagine that there’ll be at least one more high-profile signing before the summer is over. To truly stop Chelsea from retaining their title United will need to invest in a centre-back, right-back and after Radamel Falcao’s poor showing a decent centre-forward. Hopefully the club will not have the need to go looking for a new goalkeeper but you just never know.

The next few years for United are going to be a new era for the club and it all needed to start with a return to the top four. The expectations for Van Gaal and United are just going to increase with some fans hopeful of the title coming back to Old Trafford as quickly as next year. There will be just as much competition for the top four if not more next season but for now Manchester United should be proud of themselves for reaching their Champions League goal but know that there really is a hell of a lot of work that still needs to be done.