It’s not official that David de Gea will be moving on from Manchester United this summer, but what transpired in Gdansk, Poland tonight probably pushed him another major step in that direction. And that’s awful because this is absolutely the worst way for the Spaniard to end his very storied United career.
Villarreal won their first ever Europa League trophy, with their manager Unai Emery claiming his fourth, in an agonizing match that ended in a 22 kick penalty shoot-out. Villarreal beat United 1-1 (11-10 on penalties) in a match that was reminiscent of Liverpool vs Middlesbrough in the third round of the 2014 EFL Cup.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still can't get his hands on a trophy as Manchester United manager ? pic.twitter.com/EOCmlZhshE
— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 26, 2021
That match ended 2-2 (Liverpool winning 14-13 on penalties). De Gea will leave a club legend, but it’s really sad if this is his final moment in a red shirt.
There is blame to go all around, for sure, but the main narrative focuses on De Gea, who didn’t stop a single penalty shot that he faced, and then missed his lone attempt, sealing the defeat. Few would argue against Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to start him, but one could definitely question why Solskjaer didn’t sub him for Dean Henderson late.
OGS actually didn’t make any subs at all until 100 minutes in, and that’s definitely more fodder for the #OleOut crowd, as are these stats:
Trophies won by the last three United managers
Van Gaal: 1 in 2 seasons, 103 games
Mourinho: 2 in 2 and a half seasons, 144 games
Solskjaer: 0 in 2 and a half seasons, 151 games
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer didn't know how to react to Cavani's equaliser ? pic.twitter.com/YHjKY3WaQt
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 26, 2021
The trophy drought continues for United, as it will now hit a half-decade, at least.
Another valid criticism of OGS relates to Marcus Rashford- why didn’t he sub him off? Instead of Mason Greenwood?
Rash was off all game, didn’t have his first touch at all tonight, and blew a golden scoring opportunity in the second half.
Although had he scored, there may have been an offsides call made in the review. Rashford didn’t hold back in his postgame interview, making a vow to win trophies at United.
“There’s one winner and one loser. Today we lost and we have to find out why and make sure next time we don’t lose…When Ole came in, there was a process.
“The players we believe in this process and this isn’t the end of the process.”
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.