The last nail in the coffin of Manchester United’s 2024/25 season was driven in on Wednesday night as the Reds lost 1-0 to Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Europa League Final.
Folks, it’s not great.
Brennan Johnson was credited with a goal that looked a bit more like an own goal just before halftime in a match where Spurs had no intention of doing anything beyond that. They hunkered down and defended against a United team that had no ideas other than get the ball to the wing backs and cross.
It’s a bad loss for Ruben Amorim, who has been sure to remind us all that winning the trophy wouldn’t have meant anything anyway, but now that we’re empty-handed and near the bottom of the table, the reality of the situation is really setting in.
Tottenham have had as bad a season as United, continuing a steady and steep decline over the last calendar year under Ange Postecoglou, who may still have one of the hottest seats in the Premier League at the moment. He admitted even winning the Europa League might not be enough to save him, rhetoric that was typically blunt and honest of him, but there is no doubt that the financial and morale boost of winning the competition is as valuable to Spurs as it would have been to United.
For the Reds, there is simply no glossing over the obvious anymore.
This is a bad team, and one transfer window was never going to change that, regardless of the budget.
Well, okay, maybe one of those FIFA Career Mode buyout budgets you can start with now, but definitely not a real one in the real world, where players and their agents have real awareness of the results.
The financial aspect of building something new will obviously be affected, but now there is no getting around the point with the heartache of a loss in the final. The stench of the defeat will linger throughout the summer, a reminder as much as the league position of where the club is at.
And maybe that’s what the club needs to realize the position it’s in.
This sucks, that much is clear.
Time to reset and do something about it.
Well, after the Aston Villa match on Sunday.