Tottenham were slightly better than a terrible Manchester United to win an actual trophy, but still, they’ve got four players in this list of ten who took part in the Europa League final that should be axed this summer.
Rasmus Hojlund
After half an hour he had touched the ball three times. One of those touches saw him commit a foul while he lost possession after another. The ‘not getting the service’ excuse has gone past tired to the point where even his most effusive supporters have accepted that United have spent £64m on a willing runner. They’ll be very fortunate if any club offers even half that much for him now.
Liam Delap has been heavily linked and discussions as to whether he’s the best option are one thing, but there can be little doubt he’ll improve United as we’ve seen him do things like control and pass the ball on a semi-regular basis.
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Luke Shaw
There will definitely be Serie A clubs looking to do their absolute favourite of saving the career of a downtrodden Premier League star and if United can palm a guy off on one of them whose fifth start this season showed just how far off his best he now is then they surely should.
Rio Ferdinand blamed the goal entirely on Patrick Dorgu, but Shaw pointing at Brennan Johnson at least twice in the few second before he nipped in ahead of him to score was pretty damning evidence that he knew he was there despite the pundit’s claim to the contrary.
As was the case all night, Shaw appeared to be working at a speed somehow slower than his slovenly teammates.
Guglielmo Vicario
He’s given plenty of opportunity at Spurs to make your pretty saves – no Premier League team has a higher PSxG outside the relegated three this season – and made a couple here, including that one in the last minute to deny Luke Shaw, but his lily-livered attempts to come for crosses make him an absolute liability.
It’s a weakness that’s been targeted by opposition teams to good effect for at least the last year, and his bid to catch what looked like a very simple high ball ahead of Micky van de Ven’s extraordinary goal-line clearance from Rasmus Hojlund’s header showed that presumed work on the training ground has not made the required difference to remedy a flaw that will continue to be earmarked as a means to hurt and score against Spurs.
Alejandro Garnacho
We assume he took being benched after starting – and largely impressing in – all the Europa League knockout games to reach the final really well.
“Mason Mount gives us a different balance and is an extra midfielder” was Ruben Amorim’s explanation for the change and is also why he would surely bite your hand off for even £40m for Garnacho this summer.
Players in his position, or rather the position he’s played in in Amorim’s unsuitable system, are expected to do the dirty work Mount is famed for that’s alien to Garnacho, who may very well turn into a superstar, but commitment to Amorim and his philosophy means that journey will happen elsewhere.
Andre Onana
We were staunch defenders of him for a long time but the blunders against Lyon in the first leg of their bonkers quarter-final which appeared to be the point that Ruben Amorim and United decided he wasn’t for them was also the point we backed down.
It’s a real shame Emiliano Martinez wants to play Champions League football.
READ MORE: Martinez need not act the d*** if he’s Man Utd’s pick to replace oblivious Onana
Son Heung-min
The fourth-highest goalscorer in the club’s history (173) but a well below-par season that’s seen him score just 11 of them this term and Richarlison starting ahead of him in comfortably their biggest game of the season is a damning indictment of just how far his stock has fallen, absolutely correct call though that was from Ange Postecoglou.
Casemiro
The five-time Champions League winner claimed this has been “one of the most successful seasons of my career”. An absurdly bold statement in isolation but less so when paired with his “for turning things around” explanation.
He has indeed been key to United reaching the final, scoring in both legs of the semi against Athletic Club and claiming two assists in a Man of the Match display in the mad 5-4 second leg win over Lyon, and if United had won here we’re sure the Leader narrative would have seen Red Devils fans welcome the continued £350,000 per week outlay, but not now.
Cristian Romero
Romero is a very good footballer but we’ve never been convinced he’s a very good defender and with his head and heart already in Spain over the last few months he’s largely given up on that aspect of the game that he deems beneath him at the best of times.
Tottenham fans will quite rightly be singing his praises after this game, in which his tenacity, sh*thousery and quality made a rare appearance. But the evidence that he can do it is if anything more damning.
It’s now surely just a case of how much money Daniel Levy can squeeze out of Atletico Madrid, with a major trophy and Romero’s key role in winning it no more than a parting gift.
Pedro Porro
Reports in March claimed Tottenham are looking to ‘cash in’ on Porro this summer, with Bayern Munich and Barcelona both monitoring his situation, while Manchester City are also considering a move for the 25-year-old they sold to Sporting for just £7.5m three years ago.
Spurs’ £50m asking price represents a significant markup, even from the £33m they paid Sporting in 2023, and quite the coup if they can get it for a footballer who has retained his value after a standout first season at the club through an inauspicious second campaign in which his quality on the ball has been good in the main but his defending has been found wanting on multiple occasions.
That wasn’t the case here, with Mason Mount getting little-to-no change out of him and Garnacho’s introduction not as significant as it first looked as though it might be. His departure wouldn’t be an axing but a means to bring in some cash to put to far greater use to the team if reinvested elsewhere, with Djed Spence proving himself perfectly capable of taking Porro’s spot in the team moving forward.
Kobbie Mainoo
Once one of three ‘untouchables’ along with Garnacho and Hojlund, the FA Cup final hero a year ago came on in the last minute. Free Kobbie.
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