Arya News - United were beaten by Tottenham in a dismal Europa League final as their biggest issue was exposed yet again
Cunha and Delap won’t be enough of a panacea to their striking ailments. United’s strike department needs gutting and starting all over again.
It is unfair to single out young strikers like Rasmus Hojlund . This is not what he signed up for , at 22, to be the might of Manchester United’s only central strike option. But here we are.
All too often in Bilbao, long balls into the Dane were swallowed up with glee by Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero. Time and again, Amad Diallo got to the byline, but failed to deliver the telling cross. Mason Mount deserved his big moment from the start, but barely got a touch – the story of his Old Trafford career to date.
All three can be useful players when they want to be. But none, at this stage of their careers at least, are going to be enough to drag United back up towards the top of the table again.
Pre-match, the contrast in demeanour was stark. While Postecoglou cut an even more prickly figure than normal, biting back as suggestions he could be labelled a “clown” should Tottenham fail to end their nadir-filled season on a high, the beaming smile never left the faces of Amorim and Bruno Fernandes for long, as their quipped and joked their way through their media responsibilities.
Ruben Amorim’s upbeat pre-match press conferences proved worthless (Getty)
On the pitch, both teams assumed their customary psychologically fragile, physically inept Premier League selves for a first half that was every inch 16th versus 17th. While the lack of fluidity and cohesion hardly made for gripping viewing, one thing remained to keep those within the stadium glued to every wayward pass straight out of play – the encounter reeked of desperation.
United’s performance was the perfect microcosm of their entire season. Fernandes, in a deeper role, simply could not be everywhere at once, as much as his team-mates wanted him to be, wide players got into dangerous positions only to get the final passes glaringly wrong, while sluggish defending, in key moments, ultimately became their undoing.
Goals, or lack thereof, have been a problem for far, far too long around M16. It is all well and good to want to stick to the “United way”, signing young players over more proven names. But look how that has turned out.
Enough is enough. Sir Jim Ratcliffe will be aware of such. Everything must go, for the right price, and start again. Especially in attacking areas.
Quite how they can attract the right talent, to a team hurtling in the opposite direction from where it needs to be, without a continental carrot to dangle in front of prospective charges’ faces, is another challenge altogether.