Three reasons Manchester United can win the 2014-15 Premier League Title

One year after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United, the most successful club in England have slipped from champions to a disappointing seventh place. Their lowest finish in the Premier League era.

Now that the ill fated reign of David Moyes is over, it is left to new manager Louis van Gaal and the players to get the club back to the lofty heights it once enjoyed.

Here are a few reasons they can do just that in the upcoming 2014-2015 season.

Louis van Gaal
The arrival of van Gaal is a real statement of intent from United. Vastly experienced and successful, he recently took Holland to the World Cup semi-finals in Brasil where his team narrowly lost out to Argentina on penalties. With clubs such as Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich listed on his impressive resumé (with trophies to match), he is the right man for the job.

New Players
The club has already began their summer transfer window shopping spree, securing players such as Luke Shaw and Ander Herrera. Arturo Vidal and other players are possibly on the way. Compare that to last summer when target after target slipped through the club’s grasp. With Marouane Fellaini being the only summer transfer of note.

No European Distraction
For the first time in over 20 years, the Old Trafford faithful will have no European football to look forward to.

Finishing the season in seventh is well outside the UEFA Champions League qualification places and even outside of the UEFA Europa League places. However, this will allow the team to focus on the Barclays Premier League just as Liverpool did last season. Liverpool finished in second place with a comparatively small squad partly due to a reduced fixture list. Imagine what Manchester United can do with less matches to play but with a larger and deeper squad than Liverpool had last season.

There is also an argument to be made that Manchester United are better off not having qualified for the Europa League. The extra travel to Eastern Europe and playing on Thursday instead of Tuesday or Wednesday as you would in the Champions League seemed to negatively affect Tottenham Hotspurs last season.

A strong Manchester United will keep things interesting, enhance the quality of the Barclays Premier League. A league already widely considered to be one of the best in the world. If not the best, atleast it is one of the most entertaining leagues.