The last player to solemnly and silently leave the Manchester United dressing room at Wembley on Saturday night and board the team bus was Raphael Varane. Then the doors swung shut and this team left together for the last time.
The first phase of Erik ten Hag’s rebuild at United is over and it has gone better than many expected. But changes are coming.
United may look a little different when they begin pre-season against Lyon at Murrayfield next month, and certainly by the time they begin Ten Hag’s second season in August.
Even if they had somehow thrown a spanner in the works of this Manchester City machine, the Dutchman would have pushed ahead with his plans to take United to the next level. The biggest topic of conversation after a painful defeat in the cup final was his goalkeeper David de Gea.
If you could forgive De Gea for not coming on for Ilkay Gundogan’s first goal, then his sluggish reaction to the German’s second goal was harder to excuse. The Spaniard won the Premier League Golden Glove award this season, but there was plenty of criticism for it.
David De Gea performed poorly in the FA Cup Final against Man City as United lost 2–1
Erik ten Hag has several decisions to make this summer as he continues to reform his squad
Again at Wembley, his distribution was erratic – especially when compared to Stefan Ortega, City’s second-choice goalkeeper who conceded his first goal in six FA Cup appearances this season when Bruno Fernandes equalized from the penalty spot. Having a goalkeeper who can play from behind is central to Ten Hag’s philosophy, as it is to Pep Guardiola’s. It was one of the reasons why Guardiola made the bold decision to jettison Joe Hart when he took over at City in 2016.
De Gea is about to sign a new contract. The 32-year-old has agreed terms, but it has yet to be signed off by United, and what transpired at Wembley could still have repercussions. In any case, De Gea knows that his number 1 status is no longer guaranteed.
Roy Keane is an old critic and Peter Schmeichel, United’s Treble-winning goalkeeper, had no sympathy when asked to analyze how Gundogan’s volley bounced twice and still crept in.
Another pressing issue for Ten Hag is that of Harry Maguire. The United captain took to the field in the final two minutes of normal time to clinch the Carabao Cup in February, but there was no room for sentiment on Saturday.
Maguire stayed on the bench and then, oddly enough, took off his full-time tracksuit. But he did not mingle with the rest of the players, feeling sorry for them and trying to raise the spirits as a captain should.
Maguire stood alone outside the United dugout talking to technical director Darren Fletcher, distant and disconnected from the rest of the group.
It was sad to see the decline of a good player and a good man, but the bottom line is that Maguire doesn’t fit into Ten Hag’s plans.
Not unless he’s happy to be fourth-choice centre-back. Only 16 starts in 62 games tell his own story. Maguire, 30, is still well enough to play for his country, and when he reports for England next week he will know that this cannot continue.
United must also find a solution and get Maguire a new club, even if they have to pay him £10 million to leave.
If that’s not possible – and it certainly should be – then Victor Lindelof is probably next in line for the exit.
Lindelof has gone to partner Varane in the wake of Lisandro Martinez’s late-season midfoot injury and has done a fine job, even though his rather weak header gave Gundogan the chance to put City ahead after just 12 seconds.
The Swede is one of a number of players who have improved under Ten Hag but have fallen short of United’s needs. Jadon Sancho, Diogo Dalot, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Fred and Scott McTominay also fall into that category.
But with the number of fringe players leaving Old Trafford this summer, the death toll has already risen into double figures, and Ten Hag can only move a limited number of the 20 men on duty at Wembley. Change will take time and, worryingly for United, you don’t see them closing the gap to City any time soon.
However, it is reasonable to assume that after this summer there will be no more McFred with one of United’s two central midfielders on the verge of being sold. Fred was preferred to McTominay at Wembley, but it will depend on offers.
De Gea probably should have been in a better position for Ilkay Gundogan’s second goal for City
“I still don’t know,” said Fred. “I need to talk to my family. I also need to talk to Ten Hag. He is the manager and everyone should be involved in the conversation. We have to wait and see what the next season will look like. I want to be important, I want to help the team, so we’ll see.’
Anthony Martial is another player who may have played his last game for the club. United are determined to sign a world-class striker this summer, assuming Marcus Rashford also signs a new contract.
The erratic Frenchman missed the cup final with a hamstring injury and Ten Hag isn’t the first United manager to be frustrated by his vexing injury record.
When Ten Hag needed a goal to take City into extra time, it was a symbol of United’s inferiority that he turned to Wout Weghorst.
The Dutchman was a stopover in January and has served a purpose. But there was a moment at Wembley when he tried to catch a ball and it went further than most City players passed him.
The future of several other team members such as Harry Maguire is also uncertain this summer
Weghorst returns – technically at least – to his parent club Burnley, but will probably no longer be seen in a United shirt. The same can be said of other loan signings Marcel Sabitzer and Jack Butland, United’s number 2 goalkeeper at Wembley.
Ten Hag moves on to stage two, but for now he deserves credit at the end of a long and at times turbulent season. Was it only in November that United unceremoniously pushed Cristiano Ronaldo out the door?
Ten Hag is rebuilding the foundations of this club. If you look at the mess he inherited a year ago, it’s been a good start.
The problem is that the neighbors just got a new sunroom and are about to start work on a swimming pool.