Where on earth do Manchester United go from here?

Well it actually happened. The unthinkable, the unfathomable. Manchester United were beaten in the game they simply could not afford to lose.

After writing off a sinking domestic season in December to go all in for the riches of Europa League glory, with the pot of gold on the other side, United went to Bilbao and blew it. Blew it against a side even worse than us that does not win these types of games. United’s players, staff and fans will wake up this morning not quite knowing how damaging this will be.

United will struggle to get their signings

For one thing, we can forget any notion of Viktor Gyokeres and Rayan Cherki now. United will sign Matheus Cunha, whose goals and physicality will improve our toothless attack. Liam Delap will probably come in to complement Joshua Zirkzee. Rasmus Hojlund’s self inflicted fate remains unclear.

There will be a lower than usual summer spend. Certainly lower than necessary. An inability to move as many players off the books, meaning a reliance on the same squad next season. New ways for INEOS to make us fans feel the pinch – schemes to move them, to raise prices further and monetize things that previously were not. We will only watch as our rivals get stronger and we get weaker.

Ruben Amorim is not wholly to blame for this mess. He inherited a shambles of a squad in the middle of a shambolic season and barely had the funds to sign Patrick Dorgu from Lecce. He does deserve the summer and the start of next season, but his credit in the bank is fast running out.

Amorim not entirely to blame - but has to do better

Amorim got it wrong, badly wrong, in that final. United struggle against opponents who make a match even remotely physical. Yet Manuel Ugarte, the one player we’ve got who can handle that sort of contest, was nowhere to be seen. He had to start alongside Casemiro, who looked a shadow of the player that has come in clutch so often in this European run. Instead, he did not play a minute. 

Each stride United have taken to get here - from the first game against Twente to the thrill-a-minute classic against Lyon - count for nothing now. 

The Mason Mount selection failed. Alejandro Garnacho should have started. The substitutions came too late and there was no attempt to change anything and gain any modicum of control in a game that was slipping from our grasp. At the very least, we had to neutralise Spurs midfield, but failed to do so. Kobbie Mainoo, man of the match in the FA Cup final, came on with only minutes left. Luke Shaw looked unfit, off the pace and out of his depth at this level. Amorim ultimately shied away from what got him, and us, this far. He will go away and will regret the mistakes made. This will hurt for a long time. 

Managers can make mistakes. Pep Guardiola got it wrong in City’s final loss to Palace. It does not mean he should be sacked or leave immediately. Top level sport doesn’t work like that.

United facing uncertain future - and let the fans down 

From a purely sporting perspective, no one would have been expecting this United to challenge for the top honours. Nobody will expect us to qualify for it next season, either, with INEOS and this abhorrent group having resided over the worst season in the club’s modern history.

This was a match in which United came into at a crossroads: win it, and something beautiful could bloom. Lose it, and United’s road to recovery would be that bit more arduous, that bit more difficult.

This was more than just losing a game of football. This was a manager in desperate need of renewal after overseeing some of the worst performances this club has ever seen. It was a squad of players who have delivered those performances, many of them on massively inflated contracts (to go with their equally inflated egos) that reflect the size of the club they play for and not their contribution to it.

As ever, United’s magnificent band of travelling supports made the pilgrimage to Bilbao by any means possible – boats, trains, planes and automobiles – and were ‘rewarded’ by the worst display I’ve ever seen from any team in a European final.

The players do not deserve the unstinting loyalty and love bestowed upon them by the best fans in the world.

Spurs were not much better but did what they had to do. Their midfield beefed up by the presence and physicality of Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Betancur and Pape Sarr, Spurs made this like a Premier League game and United’s feeble follies had no answer. It meant Ange Postecoglou’s fitful side have beaten us four times in the same season. When United needed players to step up and help out workaholic captain Bruno Fernandes, there were none. Losing to the worst Tottenham team in a generation, on the way to their first silverware in a generation. These players will carry that with them forever. For a good few of them, there is no coming back from it. 

All eyes on INEOS as summer looms 

The ownership group have suggested they want a United side capable of challenging for the title by 2028. Strangely, at times we have not looked far away but the chasm between us and Liverpool and Arsenal – even the likes of Newcastle. Forest and Villa – tells a different, sobering story. But yet, United have lost so many games 1-0 in a dire domestic league there is enough evidence to suggest only minor improvements, namely in goal and up front, are needed. It is a bizarre and baffling paradox.

And then there is Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his merry band of men in the corridors of power.

With no Champions League revenue to pay off the debt, Ratcliffe and his committee need to take responsibility instead of foisting it on to others who have done nothing but shown unrelenting loyalty.  He made a choice to partly purchase a football club and reached an agreement to stagger the nature of a full sale; he ultimately took control of decisions which impacted the lives of the human beings devoted to the club – our club.
It is nobody’s responsibility except his.

What needs to be fixed can only be done so by removal of the debt. That is Manchester United’s Apocalypse now… a can which has been kicked down the road until last night’s loss.
The cost must be burdened by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, or he should step aside and allow someone else to do it. Before another manager, another player, another supporter or another employee pays the price.