There are many who believe that 2020/21 was the greatest season of the post-Sir Alex Ferguson era for Manchester United. Hard to make that argument after last night’s result, which saw the Red Devils bottle it against Villarreal in the Europa League final.
As club legend Paul Scholes said heading into the match, United should have handles a 7th place side in a bad La Liga very easily. Instead they choked, and there was plenty of blame to go around, with Marcus Rashford being one of the goats (not g.o.a.t.s).
"The club, the desire, the hunger, the talent, the ability, the squad. We have everything to compete at the highest level."
That one hurt Marcus Rashford.
A passionate post-match interview where he holds nothing back…
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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. After the match, you can see in the players’ faces just how much the defeat devastated them, Rashford and Bruno Fernandes especially. Rashford didn’t hold back in his postgame interview, making a vow to win trophies at United.
“People say a lot about Man United going downhill, blah, blah, blah, blah but for me, the club, desire, hunger, talent, ability, the squad, we have everything to compete at the highest level,” Rashford said.
“I know in every club they don’t have this sacrifice. In the top clubs they do. That’s why they win trophies. We’re close, I promise we’re close.”
Jose Mourinho was able to guide United to a “plastic treble” in 2016/17, winning the Community Shield, EFL Cup and Europa League. The next season he led them to a second place finish, although they were still a whopping 22 points off the pace.
That’s pretty much been it, in terms of real banner seasons since Fergie stepped down, although Louis van Gaal won the FA Cup in his final game in charge in 2015/16.
This year saw United in first place after the New Year, but that top of the table period only lasted a couple weeks or so.
“We just have to show it to the world and ourselves, show why we belong in the top places and why we need to win finals like this,” Rashford continued.
“Second doesn’t count for nothing. Manchester City win the league, we finished second. It doesn’t mean nothing. Villarreal won the Europa League, we finished second. For us it’s nothing. I don’t want to hear ‘they were so close’ because it doesn’t mean anything.
“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.”
There are a lot of questions surrounding this club, and they need to be answered this off-season, which started today. Lots of unrest among supporters, major discontent from fans, and although winning a trophy would have helped, a little, the core issues are still there.
The Glazers need to FINALLY step up and really have a true dialogue with their supporters, showing them that they believe these people mean more to them than just simple consumers of a product.
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.