16th in The League, But Finalist in Europe? | The Samuel Luckhurst Show
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Hello and welcome along to the latest episode of the Samuel Lutker show from the Manchester Evening News. My name is George Smith and joining me of course is our Chief United writer Samuel Lutker. Samuel, first of all, how are you this Monday morning? Yeah, fine, thank you very much.

Brilliant. Well, obviously, Samuel, there is only one place to start, and that is that 2-0 defeat to West Ham United yesterday, a 17th Premier League defeat of the season for United, leaving them 16th in the table with two games left to play. After the thrill of Thursday night, it was back down to earth with a bang, and against a team that had not won a game since the 27th of February, it was almost meant to be in some ways that United would fall from grace like this again after the buzz of Thursday night.

Samuel, another really disappointing day at the office in the Premier League for United once again. It was worse than that. The recent defeats to Brentford and Newcastle, you could somewhat dismiss because they were sandwiched between two-legged European ties. West Ham wasn't. And the team that Amrim picked was stronger than a lot of people, myself included, would have expected.

which indicated that he wants to maintain some form of momentum in the league games, building up to the Europa League final and try and salvage something from the Premier League run-in.

But that was a real worry yesterday. I mean, when United lost to Brentford, that defeat confirmed that they were going to finish in the bottom half of the table. And it wasn't even backpage news the following day. Yesterday, Amrim ensured with his press conference that he was going to be the splash on backpages today. And he is on the majority of them. I think Trent Alexander-Arnold's probably quite grateful for what he said in his post-match press conference. And

What made, I mean, whenever United lose at home, it's appalling, but there has been a shrug of the shoulders about it because we've become so accustomed to it. But yesterday was different in that they lost the worst team in the league, apart from the three sinking ships that are plunging back down to the championship and West Ham are now above United. And there was a point during the first half yesterday that United were actually 17th, one place above the relegation zone in the Premier League table overall.

And it's not like we're talking here in August or September where the table is not settling. The season ends next week. So this notion that there shouldn't be drastic changes in the summer, which I don't think Amrim has entertained whatsoever. He's actually saying the club need to be brave. They need to change a lot in the summer because they do. He's completely right. And that's what made yesterday so atrocious, right?

And it's a real, it must really worry him. And there was a point about six or seven minutes after West Ham went 1-0 up where he's gnawing his knuckles. And I think it was during the stoppage when Lenny Oro got injured and was receiving treatment. I think it was part

and anxiety over Yoro's injury but also look at what was look at the hell was what was going on in front of him United losing at home to West Ham West Ham hadn't won at Old Trafford in the Premier League since May 2007 aka the Carlos Tevez game they've done the double over United six teams have done the double over United now in the Premier League this season and

And Graham Potter has, in recent weeks, been very tempestuous in press conferences. As you said, West Ham had not won a game since February 28th. Yet we think, well, United haven't won a Premier League game in two months. So there's not a lot of difference between the teams. And you can see that in the table. And that's what made yesterday so, so bad. The fact that they actually lost to a team that were at kick-off

technically worse than them. And that is why, at the risk of looking ahead to the Europa League final already, that Europa League final is a big worry for United because they're not coming up against a European team. They may be coming up against a team that are worse than them in the Premier League, but they're coming up against a Premier League team. And this team cannot cope with Premier League football.

They've only not been relegated because the three teams that are getting relegated are essentially championship clubs. None of them had a prayer this season. Ipswich spent quite a fair bit of money, but clearly, as everyone has noticed, did not recruit anywhere near well enough. And also, certainly since the Premier League's inception in 1992, this has been its worst season, I think. I know that's a subjective outlook.

But there's been no jeopardy at the bottom. There's not been a title race. The whole race to qualify for the Champions League has been massively overblown. And the quality has been diluted there because you can finish fifth and qualify for the Champions League. I know one or two big clubs will miss out on it, but it's still like if Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest finish sixth and seventh place,

I think you shrug your shoulders at it. It's not, there's nothing really about this Premier League season. Nothing has really grabbed you because the quality has plummeted so steeply. And look at how United are playing in this Premier League season. Their position is unforgivable.

and I know the Europa League has had a bearing on it, and Ange Postacoglu said pretty much yesterday, you know, if Tottenham hadn't got to the semi-finals of the League Cup, if they hadn't got to the final of the Europa League,

their league form would be better. Okay, but it still reflects absolutely appallingly on them that they're 17th and it reflects absolutely appallingly on United that they're 16th because these teams have been playing in European competitions for years. They should have the coping mechanisms to deal with it. But this United team, they can't do it. Ugarte let the cat out of the bag in Bilbao at the pre-match press conference when he was asked the same question that I asked Amrim. Why is this team...

essentially rubbish in the Premier League, good in the Europa League. And Amrim couldn't explain it. Ugarte said that the physicality is the biggest difference. And you saw that yesterday for the second goal. And look, West Ham fans asked yesterday, how SHIT must you be? And United gave them so many answers. And one of the answers was that they were so bad that Aaron Wan-Bissaka was the man of the match.

And I'm not saying that, I know it sounds like a backhanded compliment, but he was brilliant yesterday. He really was, played a key role in both goals. The second goal, not only did he get the assist, he robbed Ugarte of the ball. And that moment was this United team in a microcosm. A summer signing, £50 million, I think, overall fee, more or less, robbed of the ball by a player they sold to West Ham United for £15 million in the same summer.

and in that process west ham overtook united in the league table and ugarte needs time

on the ball because in Europe you saw against Athletic Bilbao and you also saw in the opening stages in Istanbul where the intensity is obviously very very different for different reasons early stage of the competition latter stage of the competition he struggled to cope in the Premier League he rarely copes because he doesn't get that time and when he got the ball yesterday he wanted all the time in the world you do not get that in the Premier League

And that's a failing of him. And it's also a failing of the recruitment staff and the hierarchy who identified him as the defensive midfielder they should sign and thought that he would be able to hack it. Well, he's what, nearly nine months into his United career. And there he is getting robbed of the ball by Aaron Wan-Bissaka at home to a West Ham United side that have not won in two and a half months.

and West Ham go on and score. And that, if you want one snippet of how bad this United team is, it was that moment yesterday. You didn't even have to fast forward to Jared Bowen putting West Ham 2-0 up. It was that particular isolated case. And it was so bad, it was actually brought up in the post-match press conference by a colleague afterwards.

And that's why yesterday we had to go to town on United. With the Brentford game, with the Newcastle game, you understand it. There was Roy Keane calling it a disgrace, the way they've dealt with the Premier League games last week, because that's what pundits do on podcasts. And I get the irony where we're speaking here on a podcast as well, and we are also very critical. But I didn't really have a lot of time for that. It just seemed like...

Just say something controversial so we can get it out there. And Amrim got asked about it at his press conference, predictably. But I understood why Amrim was rotating in those games. But yesterday, he went stronger than everyone expected. They still lost. They didn't score for the 14th time this season. They've lost nine times at home this season, which is the joint most in a single season.

There is a high probability they will lose half of their Premier League games this season because in their remaining two matches, Chelsea and Aston Villa desperately need points to qualify for the Champions League. Those two teams are patently more motivated than United. United haven't won in seven Premier League games yet.

As I said earlier, West Ham fans asked the question, how bad United are, albeit with an expletive added in. There were innumerable answers yesterday. I look at Rasmus Hoyland. He's a guy who, you know, he takes more time to curate captions on his Instagram.

than to how he perfects shooting at goal. He couldn't even score from three yards yesterday. You look at Bayan Deir, who wears the number one when he's the third best keeper there. Ugarte needs all the time in the world. He's not going to get it. Kobi Mane, who doesn't know whether he's coming or going. We're still being subjected to Victor Lindelof nearly eight years on.

I know he's come towards the end of his time and it's not his fault he got that contract, but he's still playing in meaningful matches for Manchester United in May. He starts in both of the semi-finals. And with Lenny Oro's injury, there's a reasonable chance he'll start the final as well. And honestly, if you're Tottenham, you can't, there's no point. Do you think Pedro Porre or Destiny Odogey

are thinking about Juan de Ramos in 2008 and all these finals they've had since then they've not won. They won't. They will be thinking about what they did to United earlier this season, what they did to United last season. As I said last week, from United's perspective, they can dismiss those games. They can be quite relaxed about them. One was under Ten Hag, which was a performance and a result that was essentially just

an extension of last season because that's the way it was going under Ten Hard. Another one was a League Cup game. The one in February, United had such a depleted bench. Lindelof was the babysitter with eight players who'd never actually played for the team.

But if you're looking at it from the Tottenham perspective, you look at Manchester United team, I genuinely believe Tottenham have the edge of them in most areas. And if you're just looking at that as a pure Premier League game, and it won't be, of course, because it is a final. And that, I think, is what is in United's favour. They have that know-how, they have that now. But it's such a fascinating and dicey dynamic going into it, because the problem for United is that they're coming up against a Premier League team in that final game.

And as we have seen so many times this season, and we saw again yesterday, they cannot cope with Premier League football. And that's why it's a shame for them. And I think Amram thinks it's a shame as well that relegation wasn't an actual threat to them because he spoke earlier this season about the club needing a shock. They desperately, desperately need that. Looking at some of those players yesterday, the way they were going about it, they actually need electric shock treatment.

Well, you mentioned it, Samuel, earlier on about the result yesterday, marking a seventh game without a win in the league. The first time since 1992, the very first Premier League season that Manchester United have done that, which highlights the scale of the issues. Ruben Amarim's post-match press conference, as you've already touched upon, it was quite explosive. Yesterday, he admitted he was embarrassed by the club's position and also warned that he could be sacked next season if they start next term, like they're ending this one.

just sort of talk people through that post-match press conference. It was quite revealing, quite eye-opening, but brutally honest at the same time. We had the sense that he would cut loose. When he billed them as maybe the worst team in the club's history back in January, it was after a Sunday game against Brighton and it was not televised in the UK. So he's not got as many rights holder players

media obligations post-match. He did, of course, speak to the BBC for Match of the Day and a lot of what he said to the BBC, he then said in the press conference as well.

But the way it works, of course, is that the BBC are filming it, they're getting it ready and packaging it up and what have you. And by the time they've done it, he's spoken to dedicated correspondents and we're filing, we've put some quotes out via Twitter and social media channels and it's going viral already. But he came in and it was, I didn't know whether to...

to laugh at this because the first question was about, and it was a genuine question, but it didn't feel like the, the, the person one at the time, it was about Lenny Oro. But after a game like that, it felt almost like maybe Lenny Oro should be tagged on at the end. Um,

But I think someone said afterwards, they said there were like, there were three or four lines in that press conference, but packaging it all together was, was far more compelling because he complained, like in terms of the great lines, he suggested United aren't a massive club anymore because it doesn't feel like the end of the world when they lose at home, which is absolutely right about it.

And I say this completely objectively. I absolutely despair at these half laps of honours United embark on after they lose at home.

They should clear off down the tunnel. And I know it's, I think it's different away from home. I think if you, if you playing away from home, whatever the result, you should acknowledge the away supporters because they've, you know, in a lot of cases they've traveled a fair distance and they deserve your appreciation for that. Whatever the score at home, it's different. Just get off the pitch. You know, this whole pre-match ritual of playing, take me home,

United Road after the handshake procession just before kick-off. That starts in September. Abandon it. Look

Look what's happened to the team. It's not worked. It's not as stirring as United tried to make out. It's actually, you know, part of... It's become the song that is the soundtrack to their worst season since they were relegated in 1974. The huddle as well, that does my head in. If you need to have a huddle on the pitch, you're not prepared at all.

as far as I'm concerned, unless there's some tradition there, as it is with Celtic or it is with Ajax, you should not need a huddle. United are trying to portray this United front. It's not working because they're 16th in the Premier League table. And so those are bugbears, personal bugbears, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. But this is the apathy with United. They're worth it.

fans who stayed behind and clapped them that it was an the stands were empty like they're they're largely empty there were fans left behind uh sorry who stayed behind I cannot understand that it's it's borderline remarkable that you would see a performance like that and you'd think you know what I'll stay behind for five or ten more minutes to clap Rasmus Hoyland for not scoring again I'll clap Manuel Ugarte for getting pickpocketed by by Aaron Wan-Bissaka I'll

I'll clap outside by Indir, who's conceded 10 goals in three Premier League games and United have lost all of them. I don't get that. And I'm also not saying boo them. I don't condone that either. I think just silence speaks volumes. In fairness, at half-time and at full-time,

It was just, it was kind of like that background noise you hear during the cricket in between overs, I suppose. It was just chatter. There was no, there was no reaction. And that's sometimes voting with your feet or just the science speaking volumes. That's the most effective way of going about it. And this lot are probably so bad. They don't, they don't deserve to be booed. They're not even worthy of that. And I get last season at Selhurst Park,

In terms of how United matchgoers react to dreadful performances and dreadful defeats, that was a watershed moment because they deserved Peltz that night and they didn't. The supporters were supporting them and it was worthy of note. And a friend who was in that night said how poignant it was. And of course, there was a final on the horizon. And again, there's a final on the horizon tonight.

Woe betide them if they don't have the Europa League trophy as part of their hand luggage when they come back from Bilbao, because that Villa game on the final day of the season could well be toxic. There's going to be another protest, unsurprisingly, because of, I mean, look at the plight of the team this season domestically, 20 years under the Glazers as well. So it feels like an opportune time.

for supporters and matchgoers to express their outrage at what the club has become. There is a lot to be angry about for supporters, the way they've been treated, how callously they've been treated in terms of ticket price hikes, unprecedented mid-season, season ticket price increases, and

fans who've been in their seats for decades being turfed out and there have been other really you know really sad stories um where where supporters who've been going to Old Trafford sometimes you know for more than half a century just being treated like like something that's on the bottom of someone's shoe but going back to the press conference I mean Amram said even suggested there was a cultural issue um

which I don't think anybody can dispute. He's spoken about the need to be brave. You look at that squad. I think the only brave decisions would be something like to sell Cobby Mayne or sell Alejandro Garnaccio. I don't think it'd be brave to say to Joshua Xerxe, you've done creditably this year, but you're out. Rasmus Hoyland, you've had two years. You're off as well.

There isn't any player in that squad that should be expendable. There are one or maybe two or three players for the supporters that it would be a wrench to see leave. And I would certainly put May new among them and Garnaccio as well. Bruno Fernandes has been United's best player again this season.

But again, would it be the end of the world if he left? I don't necessarily agree with that. He's been excellent in recent months, but Manchester United are still 16th in the Premier League table. And ultimately, this season could end with them

They could win a trophy and it's, you know, optimism is rife. It's right. Let's build on this. We've, we've got champions league football next season. We've got premier league football next season. However, I mean, again, in terms of his line, just say he suggested it might be better not to be in the champions league next season. And I don't, and I know he can be quite emotional, sometimes over emotional in post-match press conferences, but there is, there is some logic in that because look what happened last season, Man United won a final, the fans, the,

The fickle fans thought, got to keep him now, got to keep the manager because they've turned up for one game out of 52 this season. We've won the FA Cup against Manchester City, have to keep him. And it's the brains trust, or in that case, the brainless trust. They decided to keep Eric Ten Hag and look how detrimental it's been in the long run.

They've got the season. Those fans have got the season they deserved on that basis. And it shouldn't be as bad as it's been. But given the very drastic managerial change United underwent back in November, where you go from a Dutch coach who plays 4-2-3-1 to a Portuguese coach who plays 3-4-2-1 with the team 14th in the table.

There was always going to be, I mean, Amrim said himself, there was going to be a storm. And ever since he said that, it's barely stopped. It feels like they've been in a whirlpool, really, United for the past four or five months now.

And if they don't have Champions League football next season, there have been examples in recent years of teams who have thrived, who have made the most of those three midweeks. The caveat to that, of course, is that when United had no European football in 2014-15, they scraped fourth place and they won one of their final six Premier League games that season. So even United, when they're given, when they have this relative advantage of

They're the club that can't take it because they are the club where anything that can go wrong will go wrong. But really the prospect of them finishing 16th, if they were to finish 17th and lose to Tottenham in a final, the only thing that gets more humiliating than that is relegation. It really does. It really does because Tottenham are so derided for their trophy-less identity, I suppose.

And for this Manchester United team to be where they are, having invested more than £200 million in the squad in the summer, as I said earlier, it is utterly unforgivable. Yeah, it's certainly not good, not good at all. But I think the thing for me, Samuel, is, and it almost feels a little bit contradictory, as you've just said there, that the squad essentially, it needs gutting in the summer and rebuilding from top to bottom almost. Yeah.

But obviously, Ruben Amrim came in, as you quite rightly said, completely transformed the styles. But I think we are, even though obviously the Europa League run has been fabulous, it's been great to get to a final, even though they've got to finish the job. He's won six out of 25 Premier League games. For me, he can't be immune from criticism for that. He's won 24 points from 25. Ten of those points have been earned against the three that have gone down. So he's won 14 points from the 16 other clubs, essentially. You cannot escape criticism for that for me.

You absolutely cannot. And I mean, the crux of my relatively long piece this morning, the dust settler piece, if you like, is that his forecast was that at his first press conference in November, he said the time to judge him would be fairly, it would be after two years. It will be one year because the position they're in at the moment, the whole Europa League campaign is

It's almost it's not it's not immaterial because of clearly it has had a bearing on on their points tally and their position in the Premier League. But if they are somehow where they are at the moment, this time next year, there will be a new face in the dugout. And that decision will have been made some time ago. The time to fairly judge him now will be after a year.

Because he is part of the Manchester United team and squad that could finish a place above the relegation zone. Now, as he said, he said with that Storm quote, we accepted there was going to be some bumps in the road, that it would be difficult, that there would be

upheaval and difficult days, quite understandable as is often the case when a manager comes in mid-season. I don't think any of us would have expected United to be in a worse position than when Amrim replaced Eric Ten Hag on November 11th was his official start date. So he's been at the club for

the six months. He said himself in January when it was his birthday, he's turned 40, but he feels like 50 because that's what Manchester United does to people. It does...

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Moyes aged 10 years and 10 months at the club. But Amrim is not hiding away from it either. He has repeatedly said he is responsible. And there are times when he is too stubborn. Yesterday, did they just need to play with one striker? A striker who...

what's his goal record now, three goals in 31 games or something appalling like that. And you're just, you're flogging a dead horse. As I said, Rasmus Hoyland didn't even score from three yards out yesterday. It was, it was not even a great save from Alphonse Areola. Normally in those circumstances, the keeper has pulled off a save that beggars belief, but it didn't. And the reason for that was because it was Hoyland who was kicking the ball at goal and,

And if you continue to... And that's another issue with them going into the final, because obviously you need to score to just win a football match. Hoyland's got to have the game of his life, because again, he's coming up against Premier League defenders, and Premier League defenders on a weekly basis bully him. And you could tell from the start yesterday that Max Killman had the measure of him. And even still, Hoyland actually got chances. Amad played him in. He had that

very easy chance from Harry Maguire's knockdown that he somehow didn't score from. So he did get the opportunity yesterday. And I know he's berated teammates and complained that he doesn't get the service, which I've never really bought into. There've been one or two glaring examples where he should have got the ball and he didn't get the ball, but they are one or two. Can anybody else memorably, could you list more than on one hand of those glaring examples where Rasmus One should have got the ball and

And the fact of the matter is, as I wrote last year, the players are hesitant about passing the ball because they're unconvinced by him. And he's had a worse second season than his first season, which I thought was quite respectable and a reasonably decent starting point to kick on from. But it was interesting when he went down injured in the first half yesterday, clutching his shoulder, because at that point I thought,

what's Amram going to do here? Because there has been an argument to do what he did last, do what Eric Ten Hag did last year and take the striker out of the team and play a strikerless side in the FA Cup final. And it worked. Now, Amram has never really given any indication of entertaining that. The way he's operating, it's just, I've got to have a striker in this team. This is what the system is geared up for.

So I'm going to have to play Hoyland. And if he's not playing in the Premier League, it will be Chido Obi. But of course, in the Europa League, he doesn't have that option where Obi wasn't registered. And let's face it, I think even if he was registered and say Hoyland got injured, he wouldn't be putting a 17-year-old in the Europa League final side. But the more you watch Hoyland...

the more you think perhaps he should have trialled a striker's formation sooner, or sorry, returned to it because of course he did try it against Crystal Palace in early February. And in the first 15 minutes, United were quite enterprising, but of course they ended up getting beaten at Old Trafford again. And when you get beaten at home and you don't score and you've got two strikers on the bench, you invested £108.5 million in, it is an appalling look.

But that is a big worry for United going into the final. You've got Hoyland pitted against Mickey van der Veen and Christian Romero, probably. Two, on their day, robust centre-backs. Van der Veen, I think, is one of the best centre-backs in the league when he's fit and firing, which has not been often enough this season.

But I go back to what I said earlier, where I genuinely think Tottenham have got the edge on United in terms of ability and personnel in a lot of areas on that pitch. And that's one of them. You would back Tottenham's defenders to Newt or Hoyland in that final in Bilbao.

Yeah, definitely. And obviously there is no option for Ruben Amarim to change anything for that game in terms of a like-for-like striker. Obviously, Chido Obi not allowed to play in the Europa League. Quite surprised he didn't start yesterday, actually, Samuel. Even though, obviously, there was an element that he was struggling a little bit at Brentford, but that's expected with his age and he's only going to get better the more games he plays. But the team was a lot stronger than we anticipated. But looking forward, do you think the Chelsea game up next on Friday night, do you think that is an opportunity for Amarim

provided obviously nobody comes back from injury delicts, obviously this question marks over. Would you be using that as a dress rehearsal and going with the 11 he intends to start in Bilbao a few days later? It's a tough one, isn't it? That is a difficult one because he's got to get the balancing act right there. I've not understood or agreed with this goalkeeper rotation approach.

And especially yesterday, where he was playing a pretty strong side with the outfield players. It made no sense whatsoever. And look at how Bayon Deer has performed. He's the third best keeper at United, at best. There's no way he's a better goalkeeper than Tom Heaton. I know Tom Heaton's 39. He's not played a game in two years. But he's a better goalkeeper than El-Tayyip Bayon Deer. And so, Onano will obviously come in for that.

But then with the rest of the team, obviously he's not going to want to leave players undercooked. So I think Maguire and Casemiro will start having not started yesterday. Maguire came on in the second half. Casemiro was unused. But that team now, a lot depends on Lenny Oro's fitness as to what he does there. Because as soon as Jorah came off, he took Luke Shaw off at the same time because Shaw has gone from outside bet to a

genuine contenders to start the final if Yoro's not fit. If De Ligt is match fit, then he has to start given the circumstances with Yoro. But it's not ideal that... Obviously, it's not ideal that injury because Lenny Yoro has been playing quite well recently. He would certainly have been down as one of the starters in the final. But the ramifications of it are quite...

They feel quite complex because yesterday it felt like Masrari starting three days after Amram was fretting about his fitness and Ahmed on the right wing. That did feel like a trial for the final, which would have been certainly my inclination to go with that. And it still would be as well. And Ahmed showed yesterday that you can play him on the wing or you can play him as the number 10.

And he'll have an impact. He was the only positive yesterday. He was the only player who performed. He made things happen. He came reasonably close to scoring in the first half. He created one or two chances in the second half. He's direct. He's quick. He's incisive. Since he returned, he's looked like he's never been away, to be honest. He's done very well over the past year.

just under two weeks since he came on to the sub in the first leg against Bilbao. But it's difficult to really properly answer the question before this training session on Wednesday that United have to hold as part of their final obligation under UEFA, where we'll have a clearer idea as to who's going to be available.

against Chelsea because if Lenny Oro isn't there and if Matthijs De Ligt isn't there then they could they could feasibly be starting

they could be starting a European final with a back three that only comprises one centre-back. You could have Maguire in between Masraoui and Shaw. And I'd probably rather that than starting Lindelof. The prospect of starting Victor Lindelof, you cannot entertain. I thought it was really bizarre to...

that he started the second leg. The first leg you could somewhat understand because Shaw had played more than 100 minutes at Bournemouth four days earlier and that is a rarity for him. That's the only time he's played 90 minutes since February last year. But as I said, I think it's difficult to answer. I think he'll have to be something of a mix, but there are five days between Bournemouth

West Ham and Chelsea, then there are another five days between the Chelsea game and the Europa League final. So going off that, I would imagine Amram will be looking at it and thinking, well,

I'll go close to full strength of what he has available to him that represents a full strength side. And then during the game, of course, if something happens to someone, that might be the point where you start to look ahead to the final, which he did that in Newcastle, didn't he? Xerxe got injured and it was right. Garnaccio's coming off as well because he was starting to look ahead to Lyon. And he did it yesterday where Jorah got injured and immediately Luke Shaw was taken off as well.

Well, like yourself, I was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the team yesterday. I didn't anticipate it would be that strong. Despite six changes, obviously, jesting it is quite rotated. But there was obviously Fernandes starting, Hoyland, people I didn't expect to be in there.

So you would expect a near-ish team to the final to start at Stamford Bridge, which obviously is a massive game. Some you've already mentioned with Chelsea, obviously they're going for that Champions League spot. But for United as well to sort of sign off for the final with a win just to boost the confidence level, because if they lose again, like you've said already, they are teetering close to half their Premier League tally being defeats this season.

They don't want to sign off for that final on the back of back-to-back defeats and the sort of the mood in the camp being rock bottom. They've got away with it in recent weeks in that, as I said, the Newcastle game, it was between Lyon. Everyone just cared about Lyon. The Brentford game, everyone just cared about the Athletic Bilbao second leg.

Even the Wolves' defeat, everyone was still just coming down after the high of beating Lyon and remaining in the Europa League. And so that was dismissed as well. I'd be amazed if they got a win at Chelsea on Friday. And I know things are not great at Chelsea at the moment where there's clearly friction between Enzo Maresca and their supporters. Chelsea are still fifth, aren't they? Which almost feels like a trick of the mind because...

They've not had really that good a season yet. They could end up qualifying for the Champions League and winning a trophy. They've obviously walked to the Conference League final.

But they will be big favourites against United because United haven't won in seven league games. I mean, as you outlined earlier in terms of their record in the Premier League, how appalling it is. There are so many ways, so many different angles you look at it and all of them just look dreadful. None of them look flattering whatsoever.

Fulham must be absolutely embarrassed to have lost twice to this Manchester United side this season. I suspect Brentford, Everton and City are also feeling quite rueful to have been beaten by them. These remaining games, United, especially that Villa game as well, whatever happens in the Europa League final, United won't be motivated for that.

And straight after it, they're flying off to Kuala Lumpur for what will either be a tour of celebration or a tour of shame, depending on the outcome of the Europa League final. Chelsea desperately need a win after that defeat at Newcastle on Sunday. Their final game of the season is at Nottingham Forest, which I imagine will be...

Could be the biggest game of the last round of fixtures, although Forest have fallen away as far as the Champions League places are concerned. So they might actually be out of it in terms of in regards to a possible top five finish.

But as I said earlier, Chelsea and Aston Villa are far more motivated than United. You think, I mean, you look at Chelsea and think, crikey, they have got issues there. But then you look at United and they've got twice as many, three times as many, tenfold the amount of issues that Chelsea have. It's the supporters will go there. They're always great at Stamford Bridge and the shed end. They will be raucous on a Friday night, even though it's,

It is a bit of an inconvenient kick-off time. I think some of them will enjoy themselves. I imagine some will be flying on to Spain from London, quite possibly, and trying to almost have a mini-holiday around the Premier League away game and then, of course, a European final in the Basque country. So you can be certain that the Manchester United supporters will turn up at Chelsea on Friday night. You can't be certain that the players will turn up because...

They're a gutless bunch, most of them. They're the worst, certainly the worst I've ever seen, but that's not saying much. They're the worst that fans who are 50 or 60 years old have seen. As I said, it almost feels... I can see in a way why some people are angry that United could get Champions League football next season because...

So it does feel a little bit like a travesty that United and Tottenham is the Europa League final, but those two clubs have earned it. And it's not their fault that UEFA diluted the quality of the competition, that you can feel your way into that competition in a bloated league stage.

And then when it comes to the knockout rounds, there's an element of the luck of the draw. But certainly if you're United, whoever you come up against, you are on paper, you're better equipped to get past them. And they did get past Sociedad and Lyon and Athletic Bilbao. Two years ago, United needed to beat Barcelona in a knockout tie just to get to the round of 16.

Now, nobody can tell me that the Europa League is better off now than it was back then when the eyes of the world were on a Europa League tie in mid to late February. And it wasn't even at the round of 16 stage. United were only playing in it because they finished second in that group.

And there was jeopardy about that. You'd finished second in your Europa League group and you weren't immediately through to the round of 16. It was, no, you're going to have to play someone that's coming down from the Champions League group stage. And they got Barcelona and they were two brilliant, absorbing games and

United had a pretty good night in the first leg. They had a great night in the second leg, coming from 1-0 down to win 2-1. There's no way the Europa League is better off now. It's dreadful. In a way, they've lucked out because they've got the final they deserved, in a way, and they've got two appalling teams. But they've lucked out because they're two of the biggest teams in the competition. They're two teams who...

have got European pedigree, have got history, have got big followings and two of the best away followings in England. And do you think Alexander Seferin and the UEFA bigwigs care that Bilbao has a tiny airport and it's not really geared up for tens of thousands of English fans coming over? Of course they don't. It's the most consequential Europa League final there's ever been. And the eyes of the world will be on it.

They certainly will. And Jose Mourinho, of course, dubbed the pair of them as the favourites to win it, didn't he? Back in October when United played Fenerbahce. It was like a long time ago that now. So Mourinho was right on that particular front. And on that note, we will bring an end to this episode of the Samuel Lucker Show. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel or to wherever else you get your podcasts from. Make sure you leave a like and maybe a comment as well. Samuel, we'll be back again on Wednesday with Tyrone Marshall from the United Media Day at Carrington to...

Bring you up to speed with the latest from that training session and look ahead a little bit more to the trip to Chelsea on Friday night. So make sure you subscribe for when that drops and we'll catch you again soon for another episode of the Samuel Lucker Show.

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