Andy Cole has disagreed with Gary Neville that it is possible for Manchester United to finish 'a good second' place this season.
Barring a collapse of historic proportions, there is very little United can do to prevent Man City winning the Premier League this season, with the Reds facing Liverpool this afternoon knowing a defeat will hand Pep Guardiola's side the title.
United's position led Neville to state in March that their priority should be to finish as close to City as possible in order to focus on closing the gap next season.
"The purpose of Manchester United, I said it a few weeks ago, is to finish a good second, not a bad second," he said on his podcast.
"The position they’re in now, I think you’ve got to finish as close to Manchester City as possible, it does matter how close you finish to them because it is played back at the end of the season: ‘Oh, you finished 16 points off them’, you’ve got to try and get within single figures so you can ask yourselves where you can make up those four points, those eight points.
"You can see that, you can visualise it."
Yet Neville's former United teammate Cole disagrees.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the ex-striker said that, for a big club like United, there is no such thing as a good second place.
He said: "I understand what Gary Neville's saying about a good second, but there's no good second.
"When you play for the biggest clubs, you know and appreciate what it's like to win the title.
"Unfortunately it will be second this season but no doubt, when it comes to next season, they'll be thinking about competing and trying to beat Manchester City or Liverpool to the title."
He added: "For me, personally, if Man United do go onto win the Europa League this season, of course it's success as it's a trophy.
"It's no different to Man City winning the League Cup last week - it's a trophy and you can't downgrade it because it's not the Champions League.
"It's a great opportunity for Ole to win his first bit of silverware and Manchester United to win some too.
"Unfortunately there can only be one winner. To finish second is what it is but, naturally, you do want to kick on and, come next season, try and win the Premier League.
"It's not just about competing, it's about trying to win the competition as well."
