Manchester United won their record-tying, overall 18th championship today (May 16th) at Old Trafford after a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, killing any hopes of a Liverpool miracle comeback. That’s it, it’s all over for this year and it’s really pretty hard to say that it’s not deserved.

Yes, Man United may have dropped quite a few points to the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal during the course of this season, but they beat the teams they’re supposed to beat all season long instead of drawing with them, and this is basically how they earned enough points to take their 11th Premier League title. Liverpool only have themselves to blame after a series of uninspiring 0-0 draws earlier this season with some of the dregs of the league.

While United definitely didn’t look like world beaters today, they did enough against Arsenal to earn the draw and the right to celebrate. The Londoners had quite an edge in possession, but didn’t really create anything out of all the time they had the ball.

Andrei Arshavin came close for the Gunners, while Wayne Rooney almost put the home side in front with a header that just missed the post. Ronaldo saw a free kick curl just wide of the post and Cesc Fabregas slammed a shot off of the upright for Arsenal with a few minutes to go. Robin van Persie shot directly at United keeper Edwin van der Sar about a minute later and that was basically it as far as the offense went. It should also be noted that Arsenal received five yellow cards to none for United.

Though it came as no surprise really that the trophy stays at Old Trafford, it will be interesting to see who’s still around next season to defend it. Will Ronaldo still be there to lead the team in scoring, and will Carlos Tevez be hung on to as a source of energy from the bench? It appears Gary Neville may as well hang up his boots now as he’s fighting injury after injury and his recovery time is taking longer now because of his age. Wes Brown and Owen Hargreaves might as well be shipped out as well as they don’t seem to want to put in the effort to play, injured or not. They strike me as players who are perfectly satisfied in cashing their paycheques instead of working hard on their fitness, and are constantly injured because of it.

For United to improve, they need to cut the dead wood and give more playing time to youngsters such as Fabio, Rafael, Jonathan Evans, Rodrigo Possebon, Federico Macheda, goalkeeper Ben Foster, and perhaps striker Danny Welbeck. Of course, it’s hard to argue with Sir Alex Ferguson’s managerial record, but he can also show some improvement by taking every FA Cup and League Cup game seriously. He needs to at least dress his best players and have them ready on the bench just in case they’re needed, instead of leaving them at home.

With a combination of excellent depth, youth, and experience, there’s no reason United can’t hang onto the title again next year as well.