Despite Marcus Rashford’s speculative strike at the Balaìdos on Thursday night, the atmosphere surrounding Manchester United’s unremarkable 1-0 win in Vigo was predominantly subdued. The Spanish opposition undoubtedly had the chances but could not cancel out the opener and Mourinho’s men will head into the second leg at Old Trafford with a precious away goal.
As is quintessential of the build-up to any United game we have seen this campaign, Mourinho will undoubtedly play down the hype and excitement but it seems difficult to envisage a heroic Vigo comeback.
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Ordinarily, I’d be looking to applaud any English side for making the final and in-turn maintaining the extensive number of qualification places in the league, but everything about United’s Europa League campaign has rendered them undeserving to take home the crown. Here are just some examples of why the club simply do not deserve to be named champions of Europe’s subsidiary competition...
#1 Little respect shown for the competition
It goes without saying that, as a big club, Manchester United want to be competing in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League but to let such a desire transcend to a striking lack of enthusiasm towards the Europa League is somewhat disrespectful.
Speaking in September, José Mourinho claimed that the tournament “is not a competition that Man United want… it is not one I want or the players but it is a competition where we are and that is the reality”. These claims expel an air of making do with what is available, suggesting that the players’ hearts aren’t in the competition at all.
The Portuguese naturally attempted to soften his sharp words by stating, “we have to respect the competition” but he has done little to demonstrate such respect, often lambasting it for its interference with the fixture schedule and fielding, on occasion, weakened sides for the games.
#2 The Ajax resurgence must be completed
One of the most striking arguments for why United don’t deserve to be crowned Europa League winners is that their Dutch counterparts Ajax simply deserve it more. The Eredivisie side obliterated Lyon in midweek, after having demonstrated incredible psychological prowess to dispatch Schalke 4-3 on aggregate in the last round. As things stand then, it seems Peter Bosz’s side will lock horns with the Red Devils in the final.
The Amsterdam Arena, soon to be named officially after Ajax and Netherlands legend Johan Cruyff, has been a fortress in the Europa League, with the club having conceded just three goals at home in the competition this term.
It is not, however, robust defensive football which leaves opponents quaking in their boots, but the youthful exuberance and flair with which they attack. The average age of the side which beat Lyon was just 22 years and 137 days and of the ten youngest XIs put out in this season’s competition, Ajax have fielded nine of them.
It’s been a fairy-tale campaign for the Netherlands’ most successful club and if there’s any justice left in football, they’d secure the title with victory, most likely over United, in the final.
#3 They would not use the competition victory effectively
When a club has players such as Wayne Rooney, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Juan Mata in its ranks, a trophy is commonplace at the end of a season. If Manchester United were to inevitably navigate their way past Vigo into the final and go on to lift the crown, it would be another trophy in the cabinet and Champions League qualification for next term and that would be the end of that.
If any of the other three competing sides were to claim victory in Stockholm at the end of the campaign, the implications could be massive. Lyon and Vigo look certain to be out of the picture at present, but if they were to somehow overturn their respective first-leg deficits, victory in the final would guarantee crucial places in the UEFA Champions League next term which looks, for both sides, an impossibility to obtain via the league this term.
Ajax meanwhile, although already in a position where elite European football looks a certainty in 2017/18, would see the face of their club and players changed forever if they were to lift the Europa League title. The Dutch outfit last won a European Cup in 1995 and for a youthful crop containing the likes of Kasper Dolberg, Hakim Ziyech and Davy Klaassen to triumph would not only bolster their future career chances massively but be a testament to the effectiveness of youth in football.
#4 Struggled against mediocre opposition
Manchester United may seem to have made light work of the Europa League this term, but, in reality, there’s been more than one occasion where they’ve barely scraped past very average sides. What we desire from the victors of a big competition is exciting and quality football, not a side which places emphasis solely on conservative, defensive football and which aims to win by slim margins.
In the round of sixteen, Manchester United drew 1-1 with FK Rostov in the first leg, a side lingering in mid-table of a low-quality Russian league. Granted it was a somewhat intimidating away leg, but the club only managed to defeat Rostov 1-0 in the home leg, a game where Mourinho’s men had the opportunity to demonstrate what they are capable of going forwards.
The quarter-final match-up with Anderlecht played out in identical circumstances, with United needing extra time to defeat the Belgians by a single goal on aggregate. Naturally, any side should be respected for advancing in a competition regardless of their style of play, but this is Manchester United and very few of their performances in the Europa League this term warrant silverware.
#5 They’d be ‘buying’ a trophy
In order to be a top club in modern day football, money is required and a lot of it at that. This does, however, make it all the more admirable when a side triumphs in an elite competition despite spending very little.
The £157 million spent by Manchester United at the start of the season may have paved a path to the Europa League semi-finals, but the money spent by the other three clubs at this stage of the competition – Celta Vigo (£6.97million), Ajax (£30.18 million) and Lyon (£22.53 million) – amounts to less than United’s pre-season splurge, even when added together and doubled.
One cannot help but help that there is no sense of financial fair play about this competition and that Manchester United have attained a slight advantage over the other clubs because of their ability to invest heavily in personnel. From a football connoisseur’s perspective, it would be a lot more refreshing to see a side less capable off the field winning the Europa League this term.
