It's Europa League or bust - so act like it!
Manchester United still have something to play for, but no matter what Ruben Amorim does, it'll probably make people mad
Should Manchester United lose their final seven Premier League matches of the 2024-25 season they will still comfortably finish well above the relegation zone. It won’t happen, but should United win their final seven matches they will still, likely, finish outside of the European places.
After 31 games Manchester United have effectively turned themselves into Crystal Palace - the team that perennially finishes between 11th and 14th. Safe from the drop but never threatening Europe either.
Palace are currently 11th in the table, two spots and five points above United. Neither team has anything left to play for in the Premier League. Their remaining matches will largely see them going through the motions - there may be some big home wins in there while equally there might be a big blowout in an away game.
Unlike Palace, United still have something to play for this season: the Europa League. Europe’s second tier competition presents one final last ditch opportunity to qualify not just for European football next season, but the holy grail of European football in the Champions League.
Most of the time, teams that make it this far in Europe are still fighting for a European position in the league. Qualification for the Champions League via your league position is far more lucrative than qualifying via winning the Europa League1 so it’s hard to just bin off your league campaign the way Jose Mourinho did in 2017.
Furthermore most teams that ever find themselves in this position are typically not in the same boat as Manchester United where they’re not only dealing with extreme cash flow problems, but also have a new manager implementing a new system who is effectively operating in a “year zero” mode.
This puts Ruben Amorim in a special spot. One of the things Amorim has been working on this season is assessing which of United’s current players can fit in his system and be a reliable player long term. Amorim has frequently spoken of needing to win to “buy time” but other than that results haven’t really been of paramount importance this season.
However Manchester United need to win the Europa League. On Thursday nights results are pretty much the only thing that matters.
Going forward United’s season has duel objectives and Amorim needs to act accordingly. The Europa League is about winning now. The Premier League has become about building towards the future.
When it comes to team selections the team for the Europa League has to be picked based on nothing more than who gives us the best chance of winning this match tonight? That’s the only thing that matters. If Christian Eriksen, or Casemiro, or even Victor Lindelof increase your chances of winning on Thursday nights, they need to be in the team. If Toby Collyer or Ayden Heaven increase your chances, they should be selected. There’s no such thing as too old or too young in this situation.
The Premier League is the opposite. With the Manchester Derby out of the way everything in the Premier League should be about building towards next year. If a player isn’t in your plans for next year, then he shouldn’t be on the pitch. Give those minutes to players who could be developing partnerships that will be utilized next season.
Similarly, players have to show that they can do what will be asked of them. Last week we talked about creating the right environment for a striker to succeed in. That’s something you should be working on now. If an attacker isn’t passing the ball to the striker or the wingback making the overlap, then he’s gotta sit on the bench for a few games. If your striker isn’t shooting, drop him. Eventually you’ll give them another chance but if he still doesn’t start displaying those traits then it’s back to the bench.
That’s the stance that I originally planned on taking and diving a bit more in depth on. Then I thought about it some more and realized that while this would be the ideal way to handle the final seven-ish weeks of the season, it’s entirely unrealistic.
If you’re selecting the players who give you the best chance of winning on Thursday nights, some of them may not be able to play both Thursday and Sunday. Even if they can play in both games, you’re going to want to rest them on Sunday to ensure they’re fresh for Thursday.
That is going to impact your ability to teach players lessons on Sunday. Let’s say Alejandro Garnacho starts next Sunday’s match against Newcastle and continues his habit of not passing the ball to the striker. You want to teach him a lesson so you drop him for the subsequent game against Wolves.
Now the question becomes, who plays in his place? United aren’t exactly blessed with a plethora of attacking players. Mason Mount has just returned from injury so he can get the call. But what if you’ve determined that Mount needs to start on Thursday and since his body is so fragile he definitely can’t play both games? What if Kobbie Mainoo isn’t fit yet, or Joshua Zirkzee is needed to play up top in place of Rasmus Hojlund? You’re quickly looking at a situation where Garnacho is thrown back out there, by default.
Or, what if you believe that Garnacho gives you the best chance to win in the Europa League and has to be in the XI? You can yank him off the pitch against Newcastle but if you throw him right back out there four days later, how is he ever going to learn the lesson you’re trying to teach him?
The easy thing to suggest - and let’s be honest it’s what most fans want to see - is to promote a player from the academy and give these dead rubber Premier League minutes to him. That’s easier said than done.
For one thing, if there are players that are ready for the first team, they would be with the first team (see Obi, Chido). There are some players that are almost ready and have trained with the first team and sat on the bench but these guys aren’t ready for much more than a potential runout in the final match against Aston Villa when everyone is letting guys on the bench get some minutes. Throwing guys into the big time - especially within this dysfunctional team - could very easily do more harm than good for their development. While you want to see what they could do and give them the chance to take a place in the team, you also don’t want them developing bad habits themselves.
Furthermore, United’s academy still have fixtures they need to fulfill. If you promote a bunch of players at once that could leave the U21’s shorthanded. Thus the U21s would then have to pull players from the U18s which could leave them shorthanded.
You want to avoid starting a chain reaction where a kid from the U18s is now playing at a level that he’s not ready for because a player from the U21s who isn’t ready for the first team was called up simply so you could stick a senior player on the bench. The potential for doing a lot more damage than good is really high.
These are all the things a manager has to think about. Injuries happen. Players pick up knocks. Red cards and suspensions throw a wrench into your plans as well. The path of least resistance is the one most travelled. Yes you want to build for the future but in some cases, the best way to build for the future is to just stay the course.
It’s not the most exciting path. It’s probably not what you or I want to hear, but sometimes it’s just what has to be done. It’s frustrating because there very well might be a kid in the academy who is ready for the first team only we just don’t realize it yet. But that kid isn’t usually the one you think it is2 and calling up a bunch of players just to find him is what may lead you down a dangerous path.
At the end of the day, Amorim is most likely going to stay the course. He’ll pick the best team on Thursday nights, but his Sunday’s team are going to be more of the same. It’s going to be quite boring. The team selection in the Premier League is going to leave a lot to be desired for many fans.
The current players are going to continue to frustrate fans and continue to be in the team. As much as I’d like him to do something, *anything*, else… there really isn’t all that much he can.
Just win the Europa League.
This is based on how much money United brought made from the Champions League in 2017-18 when they qualified via winning the Europa League vs how much they made in 2018-19 when they qualified via league position. I’m not sure if UEFA have changed the distributions rules on this matter.
It’s important to remember that Marcus Rashford only got his debut because Will Keane also got injured
Amorim’s boys veering dangerously towards bust, if today is anything to go by!