Manchester United not playing any form of European football next season; club icon says win would have been “silver lining around a dark cloud”
Manchester United may have needed to lose the Europa League final in order to get a significant jolt that would encourage them even more to rebuild the club and change their fortunes on the pitch, former captain Gary Neville has said.
“I was in a pub watching it. I didn’t react at the end of the game. It was something that felt quite expected,” said Neville in an interview with GOAL.
“The club has made a lot of poor decisions over the last 10 years, and I think Wednesday night, it all came home to roost on and off the pitch.”
United ended their 2024-25 campaign in 15th place in the Premier League, their worst finish since the relegation season of 1973-74. Defeat to Tottenham then ensured that, for the first time since 2014, the club would not be playing any form of European football next season.
United’s hopes of salvaging their disastrous campaign had rested on the Europa League final. Head coach Ruben Amorim, who arrived from Sporting with high expectations earlier in the season, had a chance to deliver a Champions League lifeline but a sluggish, uninspired performance only reinforced how poor United had been all season.
“It would have been a silver lining around the dark cloud last Wednesday night if Manchester United would have won,” said Neville. “But the fact that they didn’t win, maybe it’s what the club needed. Maybe it’s the low that ultimately everybody at the club needs.
“When you win a final and you get into the Champions League, you can sometimes tell yourself, ‘yeah, we’re OK’. We’re not OK. The club’s not OK. It needs drastic change, and I’m hopeful of that drastic change coming.
“How far that will set Manchester United back that loss, we don’t know yet. But fans are patient. They love the club. They love the players. They love their manager. And they recognise that one day, Manchester United will return to success, but it could be quite a while off yet because of what’s happening in the current phase.”
