United View: The Reds Go Out With A Whimper

Manchester United sign off their 21/22 campaign with a 1-0 defeat away to Crystal Palace.

A performance fitting for a complete mess of a season as United lose their sixth consecutive away league fixture. Let’s not forget this is the same team that didn’t lose once on the road last season in the Premier League.

The game itself was another forgettable affair, with former United player Wilfried Zaha scoring the only goal following a bizarre stray pass from Bruno Fernandes, performing a standing overhead kick. This is something he has tried on multiple occasions this season, it’s quite the party trick when it comes off, but not so much when you give the ball straight to an opposition player.

Honestly, I haven’t got much to add to a season finale clash that can only be summed up in one word, drab. I think most people chose to watch City or Liverpool over United, even I tuned in, whilst playing United on a separate screen of course.

One man who was there to witness United’s final game was their new manager, Erik Ten Hag, accompanied by his assistants, Mitchell Van Der Gaag and Steve McClaren. I can’t imagine he was too impressed with what he saw as he began work the very next day, turning up at Old Trafford to address the media and meet the internal staff.

The one thing that stuck with me from the club interview was his quote ‘good isn’t good enough.’ Spot on. Playing for Manchester United is a privilege, but over recent years the standards have dropped and those around Carrington need to be reminded that they play for the badge on the shirt. Above all else Manchester United players should be the hardest working in the league, no excuses.

I expect things will improve for United next season, because there’s no way that it can get any worse than this year, at least I hope not. It’s crazy how badly it all ended given how brightly it started.

Varane being unveiled at Old Trafford on the opening day sold me a dream, I was convinced we were on the cusp of returning to the top of English football, instead we’re back at square one. However, there is still reason to be positive with the arrival of the new manager.

There was at least a win of small proportions on Sunday as we secured Europa League football instead of the Conference League thanks to West Ham fluffing their lines against Brighton. Having said that, the Conference League final is in Prague, where the average price for a pint is around £1.20, so maybe a loss in hindsight. 

Apart from that there is not much to celebrate, Liverpool’s quadruple hopes are gone which is nice and hopefully their sorrows continue against Real Madrid in the Champions League final. You may hope for a Liverpool victory because they are an English club and want to see our country do well, but personally I would rather eat a chair rather than Liverpool win.

So as the Premier League curtains close, I can finally feel a sense of relief, at least until August. It’s been a crazy season, one that saw the return of Cristiano Ronaldo and the departure of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. It may have been miserable but I’m ready to do it all again.

I’d also like to say thanks to everyone who has been following United View, it’s been a pleasure, even if I couldn’t have picked a more tragic time to begin. Stick around until next season where hopefully there will be more positives to write about.