Image focus issue C&C please

[Ernicus]

I have been working on manual focusing, and my images are not appearing as sharp. This pic has exposure issues, attributing to time of day and composition, so I know the exposure of foreground is not working with background.

Seems I am having this issue on my landscape b&w's. I just grabbed this image for example...but all of them really seem kinda not sharp.

The image just don't look sharp. I took one in manual and auto focus and they seem kinda the same though. So I am confused.

Does the incorrect exposure make it not as sharp? Am I doing something wrong? Is the scene just too "busy" to get good sharp focus?

Thanks for your opinions.