Ruben Amorim said that next season will be much better than the current campaign which has seen Manchester United lose the Europa League final, and could see them finish as low as 17th in the Premier League.
United host Champions League hopefuls Aston Villa at Old Trafford on the final day of the season but failure to win could see United drop below Tottenham Hotspur, finishing one place above the relegation zone.
A loss in the Europa League final on Wednesday has also cast a dark shadow over the club and Amorim’s future in particular.
But the United boss says that his understanding of his players and Premier League football is much better, which will help them progress as a whole.
“These six months were hard for all the club,” said Amorim. “So many changes inside our club, sometimes it takes five years to change all the personnel and a lot of things changed. Coach in the middle of season and the way we played.
“It has been really tough. Now the part we need to enjoy, to focus on the future and be positive. We know what we want to do and how we want to play. That is clear. With all the mistakes, I know how I want to play. Now is the exciting moment that we can change something.
“At this moment I am really glad we arrived six months before we started a new season. I think we will avoid a lot of mistakes in the next season. Now is the time we can use all the suffering to change things in the summer.
“It is not just the players. There are a lot of things to change. We have suffered a lot but I am really glad I arrived six months ago because it will help me in the next season.”
Amorim: No Europe is a gift, not a curse
Another positive Amorim has taken from his debacle of a first season in the English top-flight is the decrease in fixtures for next season.
Having failed to qualify for European football of any sort next season, United will now have less games to play and no midweek fixtures to attend to, giving the team more rest, says Amorim.
He added: “We have this game against Villa and we need to focus on that it is not over. We want to finish in a good way in front of our supporters.
“Then after that we will assess the squad. We know what we want to do. We will deal with that when the season is finished.
“What changes is there is one less competition and no game in the middle of the week. It means you can manage the squad in a different way.
“That rotation of the players and the depth of the squad, that changes completely if you have three competitions. That changes the plan but not the way I look at my players just by looking at the final.”