It was disappointing to return from my commentary duties with MUTV prematurely. It was obviously a very different away trip with the COVID-19 situation. I was tested four times in nine days, once before we left by the club and three times over in Germany by UEFA. There was five of us from the media that stayed in our hotel. Even though we were on the plane with the United team, everything was kept separate. You couldn't get close to the players. There was social distancing measures in place all throughout the ground.

Obviously everyone was disappointed on the flight home. I chatted to Kieran McKenna, goalkeeper coach Richard Hartis and when we were waiting for our bags to come through I had a word with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as well. There was a mood of disappointment to have not gone through because they had so many chances to win the game. They played some really good stuff at times so there was still some optimism after the game.

Although Ole's side lost three semi-finals this season, you have to think that those setbacks will help them in the future. I think if they are going to move forward then they have to think about this season positively. The immediate time afterwards you are obviously going to feel as though you were so close and you've underperformed. But you could argue there have improvements all the way through the season.

I always go back to the game that we lost at home to Burnley at the end of January. There were numerous people thinking that not only were we not going to qualify for the Champions League but we might be finishing off the season with a different manager. I thought it was that close to Ole losing his job. But they went on that unbeaten run that they took into the lockdown and came through the other side to eventually finish third. You have to take the positives. It was an unbelievable achievement to finish third when people did not think they would be in the top-four. Let's hope they can build again over this short break and be ready for next season.

DEFENCE NEEDS AGGRESSION

The problem I have with both Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire is that they need to be more aggressive.

Lindelof was caught ball-watching for the winner against Sevilla and Maguire was left out of position for the opener. There's been reports in the papers that Ole is going to try and find somebody to pair alongside Maguire. Now, Victor Lindelof didn't have a good game against Sevilla but I actually think since we restarted he has performed at a slightly better level than Maguire.

With that being said, when Maguire does play well, he is a classy centre-half. We just need more consistency from him. I think Lindelof is a very, very good footballer with the ball and he takes up some good positions. But for me, both of them aren't aggressive enough. And taking that a little bit further, we have found somebody who can deliver those set-pieces in Bruno Fernandes, and Maguire should be scoring more goals. It is important that if you're a centre-back partnership that you don't get bullied.

But on too many occasions this season, especially with Victor Lindelof, he has been bullied. The one centre-half that doesn't get bullied or care about who he is facing is Eric Bailly. The only problem with Bially is that he can be erratic and you always get the feeling that he is one mistake or ill-timed tackle away from giving a penalty or a card. It is a problem that Ole must solve if they want to challenge next season.

Victor Lindelof in the loss to Sevilla

GO GET KANE!

I certainly hope that Manchester United have other irons in the fire other than Jadon Sancho.

For me now the Sancho saga is dragging on too much. Over the years, United have got themselves into positions where their rivals have gone out and got players early. Look at Manchester City, who have already gone out and bought Ferran Torres and Nathan Ake. That business is done and dusted, and those players get more time to integrate into the squad.

Now I know it isn't always United's fault. As soon as a club hears that United are interested in their player, they straight away play hardball. I haven't heard anything of Jadon Sancho coming out and saying that he wants to put in a transfer request to force a move to United. It's been rumbling on for months and I'm sort of switching my attention to another potential transfer.

With the position that Spurs are in with obviously a brand new stadium and nobody to fill it, knowing that paying it off will take a lot longer, I would go and test Daniel Levy's resolve and offer a substantial amount for Harry Kane. I say that because I think how we lost against Sevilla highlighted that if any of those chances would have fallen to someone like Kane, we would probably still be in Germany.

I don't think Levy and Spurs are in a position to ask for exorbitant amounts of money. I know that Levy is a businessman and he knows the club have to move forward. And if that means selling one of your prized assets for that to happen then I think they will be open to offers. Jose Mourinho would be a stumbling block as well, because he's not going to want to sell his prized asset, especially to a club who has sacked him.

But I would call them and say here's £100m, let's have Harry Kane, and see what they say. With the creativity of Bruno Fernandes, Kane will be easily scoring 30 goals for Manchester United because we are creating chances but we need somebody with that quality to finish those off. That's obviously a long-shot and I think Ole and his staff should be lining up options other than Sancho.

Kane finishing calmly past Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel

NEWEST KID ON THE UNITED BLOCK

Ethan Galbraithwasn't usually mentioned in those group of young guys coming through the academy over the last 12 to 18 months. It was Tahith Chong, Angel Gomes, Mason Greenwood, James Garner, Brandon Williams and Ethan Laird. But Ethan has turned in a number of good performances for the U23s this season.

He's an industrious midfielder who has scored some very good goals this season and obviously that has caught the manager's eye. I know that Ole does go to as many U23 games that he can when they are playing in Manchester. Ethan thoroughly deserved his place in Germany, and although he didn't get any minutes on the pitch, he would have enjoyed being included in the squad and training with the first-team squad to see what sort of a level he needs to be at to get a first-team game, and that experience will be invaluable.

Angel Gomes has left, Tahith Chong has gone away on loan, James Garner is expected to do the same, so there are little gaps appearing where Ethan Galbraith will be thinking he can start all U23 games and maybe win a place in the first-team squad heading forward.

I think Ethan has the potential to get some experience in that first-team, he's very tidy on the ball and works extremely hard. Plus he throws goals in the equation, and goalscoring midfielders are worth their wait in gold. Overall, I think you can see how well the academy is doing and hopefully there will be more players like Mason and Brandon cementing their place over the next season.

Galbraith scoring for the U23s in Premier League 2