Red Devils Down: Manchester United face bleak future after UEFA Europa League loss
The tremor that ran through Luke Shaw's frame as he stood in the late chill of a Basque Country evening close to midnight, might have gone unnoticed any other day of the year.
The veteran left-back, who has fought through a succession of injury horror-shows and fitness issues for several years, has so often been a crucial operator for club and country.
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Here however stood a man unable to shy away from the desperation and disappointment of a night that captured a miserable domestic campaign in European microcosm.
As Tottenham Hotspur continued to celebrate ending their 17-year trophy drought a few hundred yards away, Manchester United stood frozen in cold, hard devastation.
A solitary goal is all that split the two sides in the end as the former edged an all-Premier League final low on quality to lift the UEFA Europa League at San Mames Stadium.
But Brennan Johnson's scrappy finish - aided in part by a huge deflection off Shaw as the pair tangled near the post and goalkeeper Andre Onana - has deeper repercussions.
Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim
Amid dire campaigns half a continent away on home soil, both United and Spurs - condemned to worst league finishes this century - had pinned their hopes on Europe.
Victory in Bilbao would not only have offered the balm of silverware their broader form suggested they did not deserve but also crucial UEFA Champions League qualification.
Now, for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign, United will be absent from continental football, with all the glitz, glamour, attraction and revenue streams that it brings too.
Shaw was acutely aware of this as he fielded media questions in his post-match interview, club-branded hoodie zipped firmly close around his neck as he struggled for words.
"It's so damaging," he told TNT Sports. "Not just tonight. We know how big it was for the future. The things that come with winning the Europa League. It hurts a lot.
"To be honest, this season, it's not been good enough. Us as players, we've got to question are we good enough for Manchester United. This season's not [been] acceptable."
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It has not been acceptable - nay, it has been traumatic, indeed - with serious questions continuing to linger over the choices of minority shareholder and INEOS CEO Jim Ratcliffe.
The boyhood fan arrived at the club last year with the promise to liberate them from the perceived regression of their glory days under the Glazer empire and return them to the top.
Yet his decision to reward Erik ten Hag with a new contract after last May's shock FA Cup final success over rivals Manchester City would hang like an albatross around his neck.
The costly decision to dismiss the Dutchman and bring in Ruben Amorim came with further fanfare and high hopes - but even with injuries aside, the Portuguese has fared poorly.
So much of United's ability to retain their season since the new year has been pinned on their European fortunes, where the club could forget their troubles and play with freedom.
Amid hard headlines on and off the pitch, as Ratcliffe embarked on a brutal cost-cutting exercise, the hope for fans was that their continental forays could salvage their dreams.
Any chance for Amorim to be allowed the war chest to reshape his squad - though to be fair, United's transfer habits have famously been suspect at best - hinged on such joy.
Manchester United v Twente – UEFA Europa League – League Stage – Old Trafford
Manchester United v Twente – UEFA Europa League – League Stage – Old Trafford
PA
Now, not only must United contend with a lack of trophies this term, they must brace for less money and a likely exodus to comply with Financial Fair Play rules to boot.
Several old hands - Christian Eriksen, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans - are all out of contract this year. Casemiro, intelligence now plagued by age, is out at the end of 2026.
So too is Harry Maguire. One of the few positive stories to take from the Ten Hag-to-Amorim pipeline has been the former captain's hard graft back into the form books.
But despite being the most expensive defender in history, and despite refusing a move to stay and fight for his place, the England veteran's loyalty is unlikely to be rewarded.
Maguire's Three Lions team-mate Marcus Rashford has spent the latter half of the campaign on loan at Aston Villa. His future surely will not be under Amorim either.
Yet the more pressing question will be if the club can keep hold of their younger talents too, the faces like Amad Diallo and Kobbie Mainoo they wish to build their future around.
Old Trafford is still the Theatre of Dreams. But after a campaign like the one Shaw and his team-mates have had, nobody seems to be dreaming about success stories now.
"I think where we are in the league, the results we've had, it's not acceptable for a club that has always been one of the biggest teams in the world," he added morosely.
"At the moment, we're so far away from that. I think us as players, we have to take responsibility for that, because on the pitch, we are the ones that have to deliver."
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