Former Manchester United coach Rene Meulensteen has warned current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer that he needs to "play a certain style of football" and "compete for trophies" if he is to be successful at Old Trafford.
Meulensteen spent almost six years as part of Sir Alex Ferguson's coaching staff at United and the Dutchman has backed Solskjaer to be a success.
However, he believes that if United go trophyless for another season then Solskjaer will be under immense pressure.
Speaking to Stadium Astro, Meulensteen said: "If you are manager of Manchester United then you are under the magnifying glass. United is the biggest challenge.
"You not only need to win games, you also need to play a certain style of football, a certain brand. You need an attacking style and to win games and get results.
"It is important for him this season to stay within touching distance of the top of the Premier League, especially after getting knocked out of the Champions League. He needs to have another run in the Europa League.
"Last year they got to three semi-finals and didn’t get to the final in one of them. For now, Ole can only do one thing and focus on the games in hand. He has stressed that he is it in for the long term, the club have backed that, but he needs to compete for trophies."
Meulensteen believes United have improved under Solskjaer but there is still plenty of room for improvement.
He added: "He has had a chance to bring certain players in, and the most important player he has brought in is Bruno Fernandes. The evidence is there for how much he is the catalyst of getting United to play in the United way.
"He is very skilful, he has got great vision, he’s intelligent, he has got a lot of creativity in his play, he’s not afraid to take risks. There are a lot of things there.
"There have been other players come in like Donny van de Beek, who I think we still haven’t seen the best of, Alex Telles at left-back, so bit by bit they are starting to put the pieces together.
"Up front they have got bags of pace and goalscoring opportunities so it’s not a surprise that they are up there in the league.
"But it’s still early doors and he still wants to be there at the end of March, early April. If they are there then, or even top of the league, then they are truly title contenders again.
"That would be a fantastic job and mean really good progress. At the moment they are sitting nicely with a game in hand."
