Manchester United have had darker days but I’ve never felt so low about them

I’ve never felt as low about Manchester United in all my life following Wednesday night’s Europa League final defeat.

This is statistically the worst United team I’ve seen, one which will finish just above the Premier League relegation places.

I was born in the relegation season, 1973-74, and was only six months old when the team that were supposedly too good to go down did just that, so that doesn’t count.

Manchester United have been dreadful all season, showing relegation form since Ruben Amorim took over in November. It’s that bad.

But all along there was a hope, the light of a Europa League win, a trophy, a golden ticket into the Champions League. It was always improbable, yet possible. Before the Real Sociedad home game in the last 16, one United official told me there was a 20 per cent chance of success in the competition. But as the first Basque team were defeated, then Lyon and then Athletic Club, hopes rose. Domestic away ends bounced to ‘Cos United are going to Bilbao…’ during defeat after defeat.

United reached a ninth European final and it kept the season going amid the worst league form for 50 years. It has been ‘Bilbao or Bust’ for months…

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But United lost another European final, the fourth defeat of the last five and this one hurts more than the others.

In 2009 and 2011, United had already won the Premier League before being defeated by one of the greatest club sides ever in Barcelona. In 2021, Villarreal won the Europa League on penalties, but Champions League football had already been confirmed for the following season. It hurt, but there was always a chance to right the wrongs next term.

Not now. I looked around during the seven-hour ride to Barcelona from Bilbao and saw Tottenham Hotspur and United fans talking to each other about the game the night before. Few fans travelled to Bilbao directly, but via a number of mainly Spanish or French cities. They were mainly respectful and sensible and clearly love their clubs. Despite some random altercations between fans, Spurs and United supporters deserve credit for their mainly good behaviour in Bilbao. Yes, they were like oil and water on the attractive streets of the city, but there was a general cordiality.

Spurs, who were not that good on Wednesday but were still better than United, will go again on the Continent in September, while this will be the last European trip for United for a while. Next season will look remarkably different from all but one in the previous 34 for United: one without European football.

That means a significant hit to the club’s bottom line with revenues dropping amid fewer games and sponsorship clauses being invoked for no Champions League football.

Another season where United slip gradually from global consciousness. Money for summer transfers will be tighter. Pressure to sell players and bring funds in greater. And no trips to Europe for the thousands of fans who love them. Weeks will drag with no midweek matches and when the team does play, results must improve quickly or the fans, who have been incredibly supportive of Ruben Amorim, will turn. United fans have sung his name more than that of any player since he arrived in November. It’s defiance, it’s desperation.

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But back to Wednesday night. Being surrounded by happy Spurs fans and their players as I tried to do my job. Thousands of them singing, “Nice one, Sonny, nice one, Son. Nice one, Sonny, let’s have another one.”

I went into the tunnel area. I saw an ashen-faced Sir Jim Ratcliffe walk by twice with senior club officials. I spoke to Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot. It was horrible. Was it ever going to be any different? What could they say? They were both far more adamant that Amorim is the right man than the different players I spoke to after the FA Cup final last season, when asked about Erik ten Hag.

All around in Bilbao, it was a case of, ‘look at how you would feel if you’d won’.

A 1am walk back from San Mames through Bilbao meant passing through streets strewn with beer cans and bars bouncing with happy Spurs fans. People were fist-pumping strangers who they assumed to be Spurs. That was a bit awkward.

And then, the cold light of day. Spurs fans smiling at breakfast and hugging each other. At least they had somewhere to stay — thousands didn’t. Spurs deserve their moment in the sun. They’re one of the great football clubs and their domestic season has been even worse than United’s.

And at least they had hotels. Thousands of fans had nowhere to stay and struggled to get out of Bilbao. Fans slept in coach stations and hotel lobbies. Hotel prices were exorbitant — £1,500 ($2,013) for a double room for one night. United fans kept telling me on the train the same things: no taxis, no way of getting back to the places they’d paid to stay in. There were many tales of woe.

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But back to United. You don’t think it can get worse but then it does. Football clubs get relegated every season. They go under or must start again. Don’t expect other fans to have sympathy for United, but it’s all relative: Manchester United are one of the biggest football clubs in the world. It’s also a club that nearly went out of business and came within a game of relegation to the third tier in the 1930s, then saw a side decimated in the 1958 Munich air crash. There have been darker days.

There are so few answers to the many questions being asked. Trust in United’s decision makers, who arrived last year aiming to right the wrongs of poor decisions under the Glazers is in the balance. Ratcliffe has benefited from much supporter goodwill, but things have gone from bad to worse on his watch. Maybe United need to hit rock bottom before rising again, but what is rock bottom? It feels like that’s where we’re at now, but what happens next season? Where’s the evidence that Amorim can get United winning?

United will stick with a coach wedded to a method of playing, but the players he has were not bought for that system. With time, Amorim should get more players for his system. Things should improve, but we’ve thought that all along with each of the managers United have had since Sir Alex Ferguson.

Oh, and there’s a game on Sunday at home to Aston Villa, one of the least-anticipated in United’s modern history.

The players flew back to Manchester on Thursday, will train today, then play Villa and fly straight to Asia for two games in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. United’s global support was boosted by great names, great games and “glory, glory”. United are so far away from being there right now.

(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)