LONDON -- Ander Herrera has said Manchester United made too many mistakes to challenge for the Premier League title.
United have beaten each of their top-six rivals this season but are 19 points behind champions Manchester City after dropping points against six of the bottom seven -- Stoke, West Brom, Southampton, Huddersfield, West Ham and Brighton.
"We can be unconcerned about all the work we've done," Herrera told ESPN Brasil.
"I think that being at the second place is also worthy because the champions were practically impeccable.
"They did not make any mistake this season but we've made two or three mistakes against teams we should have probably beaten and that did not allow us to contend for the title."
Meanwhile, defender Phil Jones has said United are "not proud" to have finished second in the Premier League.
United secured second spot with a 0-0 draw against West Ham at the London Stadium on Thursday, but Jones said that was nothing to celebrate.
"We're not proud and shouting from the rooftops about it," the England centre-back said.
"But we've finished second and we go into the FA Cup final [against Chelsea] with confidence."
Jones added that United are not "bitter" about rivals City's title triumph but have themselves to blame for not mounting more of a challenge.
"They've done really well this season -- fair play to them, they've deserved it," he added. "There have been a few games this season where we've dropped points when we shouldn't have.
"If you turn those into points then maybe you are 10 points ahead of where you are now and challenging for more than second place."
United face Watford at Old Trafford on Sunday before the FA Cup final at Wembley next week.
It is a chance for manager Jose Mourinho to lift his third trophy in two years at Old Trafford, but Jones said that would only make for a "satisfactory" campaign.
"No excuses -- we need to win the final," he said. "It's going to be a tough game, a big game.
"We need to beat Watford on Sunday and then hopefully win the final for a satisfactory end to the season."