When the final whistle blew for the end of the Premier League season, fans could have been forgiven for thinking Manchester United had finished inflicting misery on them.
Not even the Europa League - in which they reached the final - could save their blushes, with Tottenham Hotspur beating them to the trophy after Luke Shaw essentially bundled the ball into his own net.
All of this in a season where Erik ten Hag was sacked, employees were made redundant - including Sir Alex Ferguson - and free meals for staff on matchdays were scrapped by Sir Jim Ratcliffe as part of cost-cutting measures.
The Red Devils travelled to Asia for two friendly matches - one against the Asean All-Stars in Malaysia, and another against Hong Kong’s national team. Easy opponents who they could spank 5-0 while putting on a show for their die-hard Asian fans.
Instead, they lost one match, won the other by the skin of their teeth and one of their players flipped off fans as he got off the team bus.
On Wednesday, May 28, Man United were beaten 1-0 by the Asean All-Stars, despite putting out a relatively strong first-team, with the likes of Rasmus Hojlund, Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire making up the spine of the starting XI. But a surprise goal from Maung Maung Lwin (so good they named him twice) meant that the Red Devils were actually booed off the pitch at full-time.
Meanwhile, Amad Diallo was making headlines for wagging his middle finger at fans, alleging that they made insults about his mother. I’m sorry, but this is football - you need thicker skin than that.
This is a sport where people have chanted that Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s “nose is offside”, jeered at Sunderland fans because of Adam Johnson and called basically every goalkeeper a “fat b******”. For the most part, it’s done in jest, and even though you don’t expect it in the neck from your own fans, to an extent it comes with the territory.
Posting on social media, he said: “I have respect for people but not for the one who insults my mom. I shouldn’t have reacted like that but I don’t regret what I did. We had a great time in Malaysia with good people.”
Then it came time for the game against Hong Kong earlier today (May 30), and Manchester United did what they do best - concede an early goal. Juninho put a speculative shot past Tom Heaton in the 19th minute, and even though it was against the run of play, there’s no way a chance like that should even have been presented.
Again, Ruben Amorim put out a strong team, with Fernandes and Garnacho both getting minutes while Jonny Evans played his final game for the club before his contract expires next month.
While youngster Chido Obi was able to save Man United from further embarrassment, grabbing two goals as the Red Devils eventually secured a 3-1 victory, this tour has summed up their season in a nutshell.
Losing to teams far below their level and conceding early goals while established players create PR disasters left, right and centre - all for one of the youngsters to jump in and salvage whatever’s left.
Glory glory Man United indeed... keep playing like this and they’ll be walking out of the tunnel to face Sheffield Wednesday.
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