Even If Manchester United Win the Europa League… This Season Is Still a Failure | OneFootball

After another Premier League loss for Manchester United, Ruben Amorim came out in his press conference and said that he is embarrassed. How couldn’t he be? The 20-time English champions are languishing in 16th, and the best they can finish is 13th. In any other season, the Red Devils would have been fighting for their Premier League life. Yes, you read it correctly; the most successful Premier League club could have been fighting relegation.

This is not an article to argue for Amorim staying or being sacked, nor to assign blame. This is a normal fan rant about a new low that this club has reached.

A Trophy Does Not Make the Season Successful

Let’s start with the obvious; all the eggs for United’s season are in the Bilbao basket. Win, and at least something can be taken out of that disastrous season. Lose, and it is the worst season in the lifetime of a lot of 30, 40, or maybe 50-year-old Manchester United fans.

One year ago, United fans had been manipulated by winning a trophy. Everything was set aside by the fact that Erik ten Hag’s team beat Pep Guardiola’s side to win the FA Cup. That trophy is the worst thing that could have happened to Manchester United because it actually gave them the impression that they are better than they actually are.

This trophy raised the spirits, got the fanbase back engaged and actually gave INEOS a decision: stick with ten Hag or replace him? Unfortunately, INEOS made the wrong decision by sticking with the Dutch coach, which actually ruined Manchester United’s season.

But let’s be clear about something: finishing 8th and winning the FA Cup does not make the season successful. Finishing 17th and winning the Europa League does not make the season successful. At Manchester United, you are always judged by two trophies: the Premier League and the Champions League. The bar has been set so low, and standards are on the floor. It is not acceptable for Manchester United to finish second, let alone eighth or sixteenth, even if they win a treble of cups.

Thus, even if United miraculously win the Europa League, it does not make the season successful, even after achieving their primary target of qualifying for the Champions League next season.

An INEOS Mess

This embarrassment is totally of INEOS’s doing. They stuck with a manager after interviewing multiple candidates for the job. It was clear from the start that ten Hag staying was a marriage of convenience, not a decision based on actual analysis. How can you stick with a manager after interviewing 10 people for the job? How does the manager actually feel safe knowing his bosses were searching for a replacement for more than a month? The Dutch coach was done the moment INEOS started interviewing other candidates; unfortunately, they did not make the right decision.

After two months, INEOS took the decision they should have taken in the summer; they sacked the Dutch coach. Unfortunately, being that late has exasperated the issue because now the club has lost a pre-season and a summer transfer window to help the new manager.

After it, INEOS continued aggravating their fault by hiring a manager who plays in a totally different system than his predecessor. So, a manager was tasked with coming mid-season, without time on the training ground, without transfers, without a chance to build his players’ fitness to his liking and was tasked with waving his magic wand and fixing the team. Guess what; he did not.

This did not just destroy this season; it also put more pressure on Amorim to hit the ground running next season because the fanbase will be on its heels, and INEOS has cost the Portuguese coach his leeway time by hiring him mid-season.

Further, INEOS contributed to the culture of complacency and lack of accountability when they thought that finishing eighth and winning a cup was a good reason to give a manager another season in charge.

A Toxic Culture

Watching the latest West Ham game, the players were treating it like a glorified training session. There was no intensity, no energy, no desire. Actually, this has been the issue in most league games; the players have checked out of the league. How can a team that reaches the Europa League final unbeaten go two months without a win in the Premier League?

How can a team which was better against Arsenal, Liverpool, and Manchester City not be able to even put in competent performances against the worst English teams? The lack of consistency is mind-blowing, yet the lack of understanding of the shirt is more frustrating. You cannot play for Manchester United and choose not to show up for a game.

The culture of the club is embarrassing; the idea that players show up when they want to is disgusting. This was an issue under Mourinho, Solskjær and ten Hag, and it is bigger than one manager. Yes, they were all at fault because they had time to choose their players and could not instil the right culture.

How can a manager who’s been there for six months be embarrassed if a bunch of millionaires say, “No, we’re not playing today”? You earn the right to treat games like glorified training sessions when you are the champions, not when you are one spot above the relegation zone.

Additionally, this is not a lack of quality. The team consists of the Cameroon starting GK, the Morocco starting LB, the England starting CB, a prodigious French talent, a Uruguayan international, two Portuguese internationals, two Danish internationals and an Argentine international. These are full-fledged internationals; they don’t lack quality; they just succumbed to the culture of complacency and lack of accountability. Imagine if this was Real Madrid, Barcelona or Bayern Munich languishing in sixteenth. The players of the worst Manchester United team in the last 50 years did not earn the right to treat games like training sessions.

Manchester United need hungry players who are eager to prove themselves and earn it every game, not some players who just think they have achieved it all and treat Old Trafford as a retirement home. The Glazers have done a lot of bad things to Manchester United, but the worst is their absence.

When the owner is absent, you do what you please. When the owner does not care, why should employees? There is not a workplace in the whole world where employees get millions in salaries monthly and there is that lack of accountability. If my boss does not demand accountability and does not care, I will act as Manchester United players care. At the end, why would an employee care if the owner does not?

The worst thing the Glazers have done is that they have instilled a culture of complacency, lack of accountability and the idea that everything is okay as long as the money keeps flowing. Manchester United are no longer a big club because they win the major trophies but because they make the most money. The players are doing their job; they keep the sponsorships and the money from sales of shirts flowing. Manchester United stopped being a football club judged by on-the-pitch success and have become successful by the balance of pluses and minuses in accounting sheets.

In order for this club to get back on track, INEOS needs to introduce a culture of accountability. Success is what happens on the football pitch. Reaching the Champions League is not enough.

Winning the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, and Europa League is not enough. Success is about winning the Premier League and Champions League. Everyone needs to earn their place in the team and the club; they need to do it every game.