Amorim, Martinez and Garnacho trudge past Ratcliffe
Amorim, Martinez and Garnacho trudge past Ratcliffe
If only Victor Thorp had cut his toenails that April Sunday morning. If Thorp was onside in the 120th minute at Wembley, he would have consigned Manchester United to one of their most ignominious defeats to second-tier Coventry City. It would have been sacked in the evening, rather than the morning for Erik ten Hag.
United's season would have ended trophyless. Instead, it ended gloriously, and the game is about glory. No United fan at Wembley in May last year will forget their day in the sun.
But the club's 13th FA Cup triumph was detrimental in the long run. Sir Jim Ratcliffe lost his nerve, kept Ten Hag and United have lost 18 Premier League games already this season. They are assured of a schedule devoid of jaunts across the continent next season.
United's wallets will be hit. There will be a derisory merit payment for what could be a 17th-place finish in the Premier League, no European revenue, no matchday revenue in the Champions League and a penalty clause invoked in the Adidas deal. Roughly, that is an £80million black hole.
They have squandered nearly £15m keeping Erik ten Hag and then hiring and firing Dan Ashworth. There is also the £200m they largely misspent on players in Ten Hag's last transfer window.
2019 was the year of the 'cultural reset' at United. Reset, revamp or reboot, none of those words do United's current position justice. Without relegation (never a tangible threat), they are at rock bottom.
They have to frame next season positively. Free midweeks for Ruben Amorim to coach the players to within an inch of their lives, ample rest between matches and the motivation to ensure United do not end up anywhere near to where they are now.
Here is a five-point plan to make United a force again:
More proactivism, less pragmatism
Amorim has agonised over whether to play pragmatically or proactively. In Bilbao, he did neither. Alejandro Garnacho was benched as Mason Mount retained the faith of a coach who "loves" him yet overlooked the fact that the playmaker is not as much of a goal threat as Garnacho. And United did not score for the 16th time.
One of the accusations levelled at Mount is he does little with the ball. Amorim bristled at the suggestion he had got it wrong by starting Mount, reminding this correspondent that Garnacho missed a one-on-one in the semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao, a match Mount emerged in to end the Spanish side's chances of a comeback.
Garnacho dubbed United's season "s**t"
Mount's fleeting purple patch consisted of three goals in two games and he did not play 90 minutes in either. Garnacho had started 14 successive games until his 'rest' for the defeat against West Ham. That he remained on the bench at Chelsea five days later was significant.
Had Leny Yoro not recovered from a foot injury, Amorim would have started the same side that lost at Chelsea. United were competitive for around an hour at Stamford Bridge when matches last for 90 minutes. They managed one attempt on target. Garnacho forced Guglielmo Vicario to dive down to his left within minutes of his belated arrival on Wednesday night.
United also had glaring issues in midfield against Spurs: full backs as wingers. Noussair Mazraoui admitted last week he is more settled as a right centre back as it is the closest position to playing at right back. Mazraoui is not an attack-minded winger and United offered no threat down Tottenham's left-hand side when they ought to have doubled up on the shaky Destiny Udogie.
Bruno Fernandes seemed to have been reinvented as a central midfielder before the March internationals. Then he moved forward again when United's season resumed at Nottingham Forest. Suddenly, he was back in midfield for the dress rehearsal at Chelsea. Amorim maybe wanted some finesse in midfield against the conservative trio of Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr but Fernandes, United's top scorer, had to be in the front three for the final.
Fernandes may have come to the end of the road at United (Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images.)
Mazraoui should be considered a centre half from next season and United need an upgrade on the right wing. Amorim played wingers in the 3-4-2-1 system at Sporting yet has settled on full backs at United. The ends have not justified the means yet United have already invested £25million in the Danish left back Patrick Dorgu, who started by default in Bilbao.
Compromise with youngsters
Garnacho is becoming a problem for United. Like Marcus Rashford before him, he has developed an inflated air of entitlement and it should startle United that a 20-year-old brazenly sounded off about a "s**t" season, criticised the manager's decision to drop him and cast doubt on his future. His gobby brother had also joined in online.
The authority of the United manager's role should always be protected but Garnacho is a nuanced case. There has been a willingness from the player and coach to make it work since he was dropped from the Manchester derby squad on December 15 and Amorim has enthused about the adjustments Garnacho has made to his game.
Ten Hag and his academy legacies
Garnacho remains one of a handful of fan favourites. He was serenaded when he warmed up at San Mames and there was a bullish roar when he was ordered back to come on. He was seen as such an ally of Amorim's he flanked him for the pre-match press conference for the semi-final second leg against Athletic.
United are renowned for wingers and Garnacho is one of the academy's biggest success stories this century. Only Garnacho jars with Amorim's system and a new number 10, Matheus Cunha, is expected to occupy one of those two roles behind the striker.
There has been interest in Garnacho and there is an obvious temptation for United to cash in. He would represent pure profit, you can't tolerate any player publicly questioning the manager and he does not naturally fit into the system.
Napoli, on the verge of a fourth Scudetto, wanted Garnacho in January and deemed him worthy of replacing Khvicha Kvaratskhelia. Antonio Conte, the Napoli coach, oversaw one of Eden Hazard's greatest seasons at Chelsea. Those are ringing endorsements United should be wary of.
Garnacho has had a trying season
All parties need to sit around a table, thrash out their differences and seek a compromise. That also applies to Kobbie Mainoo, the poster boy of United's future as recently as the start of this season but no longer a regular. Amorim has misgivings about Mainoo as a midfielder and has trialled him as a playmaker and a striker with mixed results.
It would be beyond bold for United to cash in on Mainoo and/or Garnacho when it is not a stretch to imagine them requiring a new manager in the autumn. United can improve with Amorim, Garnacho and Mainoo all on the bus, despite Garnacho's brother claiming he was thrown under it.
Recruit for the club, not the manager
If United fans were given the choice between Liam Delap and Viktor Gyokeres the majority would opt for the latter. Gyokeres is older and more proven, albeit in a much weaker league, and United know all-too-well the pitfalls of stockpiling players schooled outside one of Europe's top five leagues.
Gyokeres: better than Delap
Gyokeres would be a legitimate exception, yet United have settled on Delap. The dynamic suddenly shifts as the scrutiny would be on Jason Wilcox, rather than Amorim. Sir Jim Ratcliffe claimed Wilcox possesses "the best eyes in football" and he has not looked far for United's next starting striker, having watched Delap develop at City when he was the head of their academy.
United's recruitment will be severely impacted by the absence of European football from their schedule next season. Cunha and Delap are attainable through release clauses. That feels like a cop-out with Delap, only four days younger than the dismal Rasmus Hojlund. They have a -12 goal difference. They cannot cut corners with the striker's role.
Last year, United operated by a one for the manager, one for the board policy. Ten Hag reunited with Ajax alumni but also integrated two signings from the French league with no links to Dutch football. Leny Yoro should have ushered in a very different recruitment era at United, only their next arrival was the Dutchman Joshua Zirkzee.
Yoro's signing was regarded as a coup
The mid-season signings of Dorgu and Ayden Heaven have offered a glimpse of what could come this summer and beyond. But the worst United side in 51 years needs proven commodities, particularly if Bruno Fernandes heads for the Riyadh retirement home.
Expendable culture
United are bound to be saddled with some immovable players. Luke Shaw was raw in the San Mames mixed zone, questioning if he is good enough. We all know the answer and he should, too. He is not going to put his own contract through the shredder two years before its expiry date.
Nobody should be off-limits if United receive an acceptable offer. How could they be after a season like this one? That applies to Garnacho and Mainoo. If they want a change of scenery then that is the clincher.
Jose Mourinho was standing in the doorway when he spoke to some of us in San Jose in 2018 and said he would not stand in the way of Anthony Martial, who wanted to leave. But Ed Woodward did. Ratcliffe was still cursing Woodward's methods as recently as March. United have let innumerable players outstay their welcome and Martial was one of them. Shaw is another. Victor Lindelof, too.
Mourinho was right about Martial
The profitability and sustainability rules have influenced the length of contracts but United have got to stop doling out five-year deals like a volunteer with leaflets on Deansgate. Shorter contracts would keep players on their toes. Amorim's deal only has two years left to run and he will be judged much sooner than 2027.
A new fall-guy at hierarchical level
Sir Dave Brailsford sunk his claws into Ratcliffe a while ago and Ratcliffe is quite taken by him. Two years after the Ineos delegation visited Old Trafford, nobody has given a satisfactory explanation for Brailsford's presence on the United football board.
Brailsford has admitted he is "no expert in football". You can see that from United's results since he started to have input on their performance. Brailsford was an ally of Ashworth's. United spent longer courting Ashworth than the five months he lasted at United.
Ratcliffe should send Brailsford on his bike. That would show Ineos are serious about arresting United's staggering decline.