Manchester United’s time to hit reset button is now after pitiful Champions League group stage elimination

It’s probably for the best that Manchester United have not ended up in the Europa League. There is no sense in prolonging the embarrassment nor in delaying the rebuild that must now come.

Were it not for the FA Cup campaign to come, it might be fair to say that United’s season ended with this 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich, one that saw them exit European competition before Christmas for the first time in 18 years. Unless something radical changes in the coming weeks, Erik ten Hag’s side will move further away from the top four rather than closer to it. The man who took over with a warning to rivals that “eras come to an end” could have no complaints if it was his that concluded first. United should know by now though that a deeper cleanse is required.

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It says something that Tuesday’s display might have been United’s best of the competition so far. They posed no great threat to Bayern Munich, tootling along in second gear having long since secured top spot in Group A. The minute they even approximated their collective quality they put their hosts to the sword, Harry Kane’s elegant through ball finding Kingsley Coman to smash home the winner in the 71st minute. 

Still, at least United had not disgraced themselves this time around. There were no Andre Onana howlers. On only a handful of occasions were Bayern able to breeze through the space that should theoretically be occupied by a midfield. You would not have confused United’s press with a carefully choreographed hunt but at least everyone chased the ball with manic intensity.

There was an air of competence to proceedings. If only ten Hag’s players had delivered that over the past five games, they would still have European football to play.

When the draw was made in Nyon three months ago, United could scarcely have believed their luck. You could hardly have blamed supporters who started making their plans for the round of 16. They had got the team ranked bottom in Pot 3 and an opponent in Galatasaray who had not won a game in the competition proper for five years. A Premier League representative should have cruised to the last 16 on Bayern Munich’s coat tails.

Not United, who seemed to believe they were out even before Copenhagen won the playoff for second place in Denmark. That result meant the Red Devils could only have extended their European run with a win. The last few months have taught Ten Hag exactly what can go wrong when his side chase that result. Their European campaign has been pockmarked with the sort of basic errors of organization and individual standards that mean they will be watching on nervously when Barcelona travel to Antwerp tomorrow night. The last thing they need is a clean sheet from the Belgian champions that would mean Ten Hag’s side have the joint worst defensive record in the tournament.

It might have been worse but for Leroy Sane’s perverse insistent on never shooting unless he could help it. This more diligent, organized United side still allowed Bayern’s No. 10 to drive through the guts of their final third and into the box, where he insisted on an ambitious flick towards Jamal Musiala. A poked finish would surely have ended this game long before its second half conclusion. 

Even before Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire went off, there were chasms in front of the United back four. All too often Musiala and Kane had the space to take touches and pick a pass through the deep block. Had the mood taken them, Bayern might well have blitzed this contest.

United never looked like scoring. Manuel Neuer had only one save to make, a tame long-ranged effort from Luke Shaw, while Kim Min-Jae and Dayot Upamecano had Rasmus Hojlund at arms’ reach. Even Scott McTominay, the midfielder whose great upside is that he gets shots by the boatload, passed up his only opening. Old Trafford struck up that familiar cry of “attack, attack, attack” as doom loomed. United have tried that throughout this group stage though. It has gotten them knocked out.

Even if England secures a fifth Champions League spot — far from guaranteed given that United cannot add to the coefficient points after Christmas — it is hard to see United being back in this competition for a while. They might not have slipped away from the European places in the Premier League but any team that can play as pitifully as this one did against Bournemouth will do so sooner or later.

United’s is a squad that needs ripping down past the foundations. All bar one of the backline and midfield that started are 27 or over. This club has seen enough of most of them to know that they are not going to make up the core of a title-winning side. A clear eyed assessment by the incoming owners will point to hundreds of millions wasted on veterans who so many could see were not the missing piece of a champion. 

The solution to a decade of malaise might not lie in the current manager or in the few youngsters who could offer so little in this match. What is clear now — as it should have been for some time to those above Ten Hag — is that this team is only going to pile more misery on its supporters.