Hated, adored, but never ignored.
It is safe to say, Manchester United continue to be talked about, no matter their position in the table, their on or off-field matters, or the fact that they could now be heading for Champions League football next season, against all odds.
Ruben Amorim’s side have had a disastrous campaign in the Premier League, no thanks to the early form overseen by Erik ten Hag up until his dismissal in late October. But with yet another European final on the horizon, how have the Red Devils got here despite another sub-par season on all fronts?
Amorim arrived at Old Trafford in November knowing a revival in the Premier League was almost certainly off of the cards.
Despite his bold prediction that the Red Devils have to look at winning the English top flight in the not-so-distant future, Manchester United are now just (potentially) one game away from a chance at Champions League qualification for the 2025/26 season.
How they got there, well, you have to cast your mind back to Ten Hag’s best day as Manchester United boss.
Having guided his side to an eighth-placed finish last season, their FA Cup final with local rivals Manchester City was dubbed as all or nothing, and boy was it just that. Goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo secured a 2-1 win over the then Premier League champions, securing them Europa League football for this year, but the drama and the plot thickens and leads us to where they are now.
Ten Hag was handed a new two-year contract, but after splashing sizeable fees on the likes of Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, things failed to improve and thus, Amorim was brought in to replace him.
His focus, despite all the background noise around redundancies, issues with Marcus Rashford and heavy INEOS pressure, was simply, secure Champions League football, no matter the route.
Heavy criticism has followed, but Manchester United finished third in the Europa League table and have progressed, albeit despite late drama against Lyon, with flying colours into the semi-finals and now have a 3-0 advantage to boast against Athletic Club at Old Trafford in their second leg showdown.
Outside of Football Manager, we here at FourFourTwo cannot think of another team who have won their domestic cup to get into the Europa League, and then won the Europa League to get into the Champions League, prior to the possibility of Manchester United doing so this season. It looks like a cup football first.
Amorim will likely receive wholesale praise, but Harry Maguire’s heroics, Bruno Fernandes’ steely never-say-die attitude, and the recent revival of Casemiro mean the Red Devils have some unlikely heroes to thank along the way. A huge financial buffer is heading their way should they do so, estimated by BBC Sport to be in the region of £100 million. Que the grinning INEOS faces…
“I think you have to see the quotes in the moment, so things can change,” said Amorim in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. “And for me, in that moment, and if you look to the Premier League, since I arrive, we are the worst team in terms of results. In the end of this season, we can be the worst team in Premier League history but with a European title.
“That will change nothing. We know that this season was really disappointing for everybody, nothing is going to change, so in that moment… sometimes I have to think a little bit more. But I felt that, and I still feel that. This season was the worst one, I don’t know if in history but, for sure, in the last 50 years.”
In FourFourTwo‘s view, Manchester United know how important this cup run is to their financial woes and winning the Europa League would help heal the cracks of recent months, but in terms of winning trophies, that would be three in three years for a team described by most onlookers as in supposed ‘turmoil’. Not bad going at all, so would some other teams bite off the Red Devils’ hands for the same amount of success, we certainly think so…
A cup team they may be, but Tottenham could stand in their way, or even minnows Bodo/Glimt should things dramatically change in Norway on Thursday night. One thing is for sure, that famed Manchester United spirit lives to fight another day, as the Reds go marching on, and on and on…
