To say nothing is riding on the remainder of Manchester United’s Premier League campaign is simply not true.
Understandably, the club’s focus is on winning the Europa League and securing a route into next season’s Champions League, but a 4-3 defeat at Brentford now means there are only two points between them and 17th-placed West Ham United.
And do not let the scoreline fool you into thinking this was a close game, either. Two late goals from United via Alejandro Garnacho and Amad masked a dominant home display.
Still in 15th, United’s league campaign has been nothing short of disastrous. But to end up in 16th or 17th would be humiliating for such an expensively assembled squad.
Even with that context in mind, however, it is difficult to say Ruben Amorim was wrong to make wholesale changes to his starting XI given the second leg of their semi-final against Athletic Club is on Thursday — despite it leading to their 16th league defeat of the season, something that has not happened since 1989-90.
The only question worth asking when it comes to the Premier League is whether United can get to 40 points before Southampton can reach 12.
Amorim knows the importance of playing in the Champions League next season, especially when it comes to shaping his squad in the transfer window, and the defeat at Brentford should only focus the minds at United that minor surgery will not suffice.
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The United head coach turned to his most promising youngsters — Chido Obi, Tyler Fredricson and Harry Amass — in west London, but they were taught a brutal lesson by their opponents.
Amorim’s starting XI had an average age of 22 years and 270 days, making it the third-youngest team named for a Premier League match. Only Middlesbrough’s XI against Fulham in May 2006 (20 years and 181 days) and Arsenal’s versus Portsmouth in May 2009 (22 years and 237 days) were younger.
Obi was one of six players aged under 20 to start for United and became the club’s youngest Premier League starter at 17 years and 156 days.
Having joined from Arsenal’s academy in October, Obi has been tearing it up for United’s under-18s, scoring 12 goals in 10 appearances, and is the cause of much excitement among supporters.
Leading the line against Brentford, however, was a thankless task. Rasmus Hojlund, who has so often been starved of service throughout the season, can attest to what a tough task it can be. According to Opta, Obi managed just 18 touches and two shots — neither on target — during the game.
“Chido fought all the game, but you can feel that he is really naive sometimes in the way he puts his body (about),” Amorim said after the match. “He is going to understand what is the feeling in playing in these types of games, and this is the best way.”
Obi’s brightest moment came in the final minutes when he created space for himself inside the box before getting a shot away. It led to a repetitive chant of ‘Chido!’ from the away end.
The two defenders — Amass at left-back, Fredricson on the right — were given a torrid time by Brentford’s attacking players, who seldom gave them a moment’s rest.
Amass, 18, touched the ball 78 times, was successful in one of his two tackles, winning four of his 12 duels, recovered possession seven times, and made a neat interception in the second half that saw him then surge forward on a marauding run, only to give the ball away.
Fredricson’s best moment arguably came in the first half when he ushered two-goal Kevin Schade off the ball and won a throw-in in front of the United fans, much to their delight.
“I think they did really well,” Amorim said of the youngsters as a collective. “They are not playing so much, but then they have to play 90 minutes because we have to change other players to save them for Thursday.
“Tyler did quite well with the third goal; he needed more help from Amad, so the small things we can help them more, but I am really happy with the performance of the young kids. You can train a lot with the first team, but to have that feeling of feeling the players, the speed of the game, I think is the best thing.”
It is evident this defeat cannot be blamed on the youngsters, nor should it be — and that is something the United fans at Brentford made clear as they bellowed out “cause we’re going to Bilbao” despite staring a 4-1 defeat in the face.
But the loss, and manner of it, should not be forgotten simply because of their pursuit of a second Europa League triumph (they previously won the competition in 2017).
Using a young and largely inexperienced squad, heightened by the loss of Matthijs de Ligt in the first half through injury, backs up what Amorim has been saying so often: serious investment and work are needed to get United to a competitive level domestically.
That said, and a potential Europa League win aside, finishing as low as 17th is something Amorim should be desperate to avoid.
(Top photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)