Europa League beckons for Ralf Rangnick's wasteful Manchester United side after draw with Watford

As the half-hearted boos from Manchester United fans subsided and the sun shone on one corner of Old Trafford where Watford’s supporters were celebrating an unlikely point, two men became locked in conversation in the directors’ box.

Richard Arnold, United’s new chief executive, and his football director John Murtough will be at the forefront of a rebuilding programme at England’s biggest club this summer.

Whether United can secure fourth place and Champions League football next season or not — and this result did them absolutely no favours in that regard — change is afoot.

Spring was in the air at Old Trafford on Saturday, a time for regrowth, and the end of the season is in sight now. Tomorrow heralds the beginning of March and a month that could hardly be tougher for United.

Manchester City in the 187th derby at the Etihad on Sunday followed by home games against Tottenham, Atletico Madrid in the Champions League, then Liverpool away.

No one at Old Trafford needs reminding what Liverpool and City did to United in the reverse fixtures in the autumn, even though it took a crushing 4-1 defeat at Watford to put Ole Gunnar Solskjaer out of his misery.

Time will tell but this result against the Hornets — in what Solskjaer’s successor Ralf Rangnick called a ‘must-win game’ — may also have inflicted permanent damage on United.

They still occupy fourth place but Arsenal now have three games in hand to overhaul a two-point deficit and a significantly easier run-in. United must hope they are still in contention when the two clubs meet at the Emirates in a potentially pivotal clash on April 23.

West Ham, Tottenham and Wolves cannot be discounted either. There is no guarantee United will not find themselves in the draw for the Europa League when a new manager takes over from Rangnick.

That is where change will start. The club are still assessing their options but Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag are prominent among them.

Arnold wants to appoint the new man as soon as possible after the end of the season so he can play a part in recruiting new signings to replace those who will go this summer, which could feasibly run into double figures.

Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard and Juan Mata are set to leave as free agents and question marks hang over Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek — both currently out on loan — Cristiano Ronaldo, Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly, Dean Henderson, Nemanja Matic and Phil Jones.

An overhaul of a squad put together by five different managers is no bad thing and long overdue. It will free up places on the roster and room on the wage bill for new signings. It will focus on the forward line where Greenwood’s absence following his arrest on suspicion of rape, assault and making threats to kill has presented the club with an additional — and clearly unexpected — problem.

United would prefer to keep both Ronaldo and Martial if possible. The emergence of Anthony Elanga under Rangnick has been a huge bonus and if the German coach can revive Marcus Rashford in the same way he has Jadon Sancho then United have the makings of a vibrant attack.

There was no shortage of creativity against Watford but United’s failings in front of goal were plain to see. Ronaldo showed again just how far he has slipped from his pomp. Just one goal in 10 games for him now. Bruno Fernandes and Elanga also missed chances in a game United dominated.

‘This is not luck, this is just a question of sharpness and efficiency in front of goal,’ said Rangnick, who came up with the idea of displaying a peace sign before kick-off in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Aeroflot branding in the car park here has already been concealed.

For Watford, a point was most welcome in their battle to beat the drop. Arsenal are next up and it will be interesting to see if one of United’s rivals for the top four are quite so careless.