The season was a write-off long before the Europa League final but the loss in that game has ended it for good as it was the one thing holding it all together.
The focus now turns to the next season and while that is true for every club, the situation couldn’t be more different for Man Utd.
All the burden of expectations has been transferred to the future, but that future will soon become the present, with Ruben Amorim and his squad firmly in focus.
In the meantime, both Harry Maguire and Amorim have already agreed on what will happen at Old Trafford next summer. They have no choice anymore.
Photo by Michael Regan - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Ruben Amorim and Harry Maguire on next season at Man Utd
Harry Maguire can claim to be one of the few players who emerged from this season with their reputation intact and he wasn’t bad in the final either.
Amorim is expected to engineer a large-scale clearout of the squad in the summer with Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s blessing, but Maguire will be safe.
While that’s it for the summer, nobody will be safe when the season begins, with Amorim starting the season arguably under even more pressure than Erik ten Hag was under at the start of this one.
Armed with a pre-season and having just one game per week, there will be no excuses, and Maguire is well aware of it.
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Even before the final, the centre-back knew what needed to happen at the club next season.
He said: “When you play for this club you want to win every single football match. This season we’ve been far too inconsistent, and haven’t won enough games in the PL.
“I’m sure next season will improve an awful amount with a full pre-season. As players, we are all looking forward to that.”
It echoes Amorim’s thoughts about having more time to train and how he won’t be in a job if the next season begins like this one is ending.
But if there’s one thing Man Utd fans know by now, it’s that words are cheap.
Ruben Amorim’s judgement span of two months
It is cruelly poetic that Erik ten Hag got nine games in the Premier League this season which took him to October, because it’s looking like Amorim will be on the same watch.
Ten Hag left the team in 13th place after those nine games, a scenario that will likely seal Amorim’s fate as well if repeated next season.
United are a pressure cooker on the most normal days so next season will be excruciating pressure after this one was written off, effectively in January itself.
Unless Amorim has United at least competing for a top-six place by November next season, the writing will be on the wall for him.