Joel and Edward Glazer at San Mames
Joel and Edward Glazer at San Mames
Manchester United players returned to the Occidental hotel in Bilbao at 1.30am, ready to pull the duvet up and bury their heads under pillows.
Luke Shaw sounded as though he was on the verge of tears in the mixed zone. Alejandro Garnacho was the most devastated on the pitch.
The players were in their own bubble, as is often the case for defeated finalists. Cristian Romero dared to prick Harry Maguire's and was barracked by the United defender. Maguire had not forgotten Romero goading him after his own goal against Spurs three years ago.
It must be tempting for the penny-pinching Sir Jim Ratcliffe to dispense of Ruben Amorim at no cost after the United head coach's generous post-match offer. Amorim promised that "if the board and fans feel that I’m not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversation about compensation".
In a season of daft decisions at United, Amorim has got in on the act. Shaw in and Garnacho out against Tottenham. Flogging a dead horse in Rasmus Hojlund and like-for-like substitutions. Amorim does not get a free pass in this apocalyptic season.
The United fans stopped singing their Amorim chant in the second half. Nothing quite drains matchgoers of a belief that glory days will return like losing a final to Tottenham. United's end drained quicker than a bathtub.
Amorim is unnervingly honest and he is now practically daring United to dispense of him. Amorim's reputation is not intact though not in tatters, either.
He is not the biggest problem at United. The Glazers are immovable yet they have relinquished control of football operations to Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford.
Cycling is Brailsford's wheelhouse, not football. He admitted last year he is "no expert in football". He went to United and they have not been this bad since relegation in 1974. What on earth is he doing on the football board of Manchester United?
United's worst season in 51 years has to be viewed as an opportunity, a blessing in disguise. Clear the decks. Purge the squad. Send Brailsford on his bike.
Clive Woodward Mk.II
Clive Woodward Mk.II
Shaw has been at United for 11 years next month. He questioned afterwards if he was good enough for United. He isn't. He is too injury-prone, too unreliable and, given his years at the club, too long in the tooth.
The Sir Matt Busby player of the year statue continues to reside at Bruno Fernandes's home yet he too has practically dared United to cash in on him. It would be too extreme to say United cannot afford to do that. They can.
Fernandes has been a brilliant player and is one to keep, but he is not untouchable. He symbolises the team: something out of nothing, hit-and-hope. Fernandes has been involved in three of United's worst campaigns in living memory.
Fernandes has been a loser in two Europa League finals
Fernandes has been a loser in two Europa League finals
This has to be the most merciless, decisive and objective summer United have ever presided over. Ratcliffe and his cabal were swayed by emotion last year after winning a final, kept a manager they did not want to keep and invested more than £200m in the summer.
Four of those signings were defensive players. United ended last season on -1 goal difference. It is now -12. The striker they thought they had signed is not a striker.
Joshua Zirkzee was serenaded in San Mames and is a borderline cult figure. He is still not good enough for a United squad to get where they need to be.
United are targeting a sixth-place finish next season. Zirkzee and Rasmus Hojlund, arrivals from Europe's boot, have to be given the boot. Liam Delap, four days younger, is not the answer just because Jason Wilcox watched him in Manchester City's academy cash-cow.
Delap: is a 'City reject' the answer up front?
Delap: is a 'City reject' the answer up front?
Two different regimes sign two 20-year-old Denmark internationals 18 months apart, thinking they are good enough to start and they are not. Name the club. It was Hojlund in 2023 and Patrick Dorgu in 2025.
United's revamped recruitment strategy has had an iffy start. Dorgu, a mid-season recruit, has been overpromoted and started against Spurs by default.
Club sources have spoken effusively about Dorgu. They say he is athletic and has fine experience from playing in Serie A. Italy became a dumping ground for English clubs' cast-offs six years ago. Lecce, the team Dorgu left, could be relegated this weekend.
Could United seriously get through a Premier League season with Dorgu and Harry Amass as their left wingers, operating in the role that was Ryan Giggs's in his Nineties pomp? The idealistic answer would be yes but realistically, no.
Dorgu has been poor for weeks
Dorgu has been poor for weeks
United have to shift Shaw. He has arguably outstayed his welcome by seven years. Jose Mourinho wanted to jettison him in 2018 and was overruled. United have never truly recovered from that summer where Ed Woodward undermined the United manager. The authority of the manager's position eroded over four more years.
Matheus Cunha would bring guile but can be ill-disciplined. Amorim must have done his due diligence as he sent Marcus Rashford packing, mainly on account of his attitude. Garnacho is still prone to puerile posts on Instagram.
Garnacho is testing United's patience. In case anyone did not follow him on Instagram, he complained about his bench role in the mixed zone on Wednesday evening. A manager can do without that.
Garnacho said United's season was "s**t"
Garnacho said United's season was "s**t"
Garnacho puts United in an invidious position. Sell him (and possibly Kobbie Mainoo) and back a manager with six wins in 26 Premier League games? Technical director Wilcox has to lean on Amorim and map out a route to success with Garnacho and Mainoo integral to United's future.
United can be blasé about Rashford, Antony and Scott McTominay thriving in a change of scenery. It would be different with the 20-year-olds Garnacho and Mainoo.
Casemiro had a creditable knockout stage but will be redundant next season. His European form has not transmitted to the Premier League and he cannot be a regular at weekends. Manuel Ugarte is no spring chicken at 24 and does not have the coping mechanisms to anchor the United midfield.
Casemiro is redundant next season
Casemiro is redundant next season
Amorim has got to be less pragmatic, too. The 3-4-2-1 formation can be flexible but has hitherto been rigid. It is like-for-like substitutions and no shape-shifting. Amorim may plan ahead with substitutions but the opponents can as well. United do not deviate from a back three.
Pep Guardiola vowed on Tuesday night he would "quit" Manchester City if he had a large squad foisted onto him. United need a Guardiola-style streamlined squad for a season in which their League Cup campaign begins in August.
There are players and personalities to get behind: Fernandes, Garnacho, Mainoo, Amad, Maguire, Leny Yoro, Noussair Mazraoui, Ayden Heaven and Lisandro Martinez when he is fit again.
Amorim is consoled by Ratcliffe
Amorim is consoled by Ratcliffe
Free midweeks is often an advantage. Newcastle are Champions League-bound again in a season devoid of European football. Leicester City and Chelsea won the title in consecutive years with just a domestic calendar. Liverpool almost did in 2014.
When the Glazers left the Occidental, a fan yelled "w*****s" at them. They did not flinch. United are battered, broken and supporters have no faith in the hierarchy after the first 15 months under the inane Ineos rule.
One of the HR Carriages vehicles that ferry Ineos personnel around was at Bilbao Airport on Friday morning. That is hardly penny-pinching.