RUBEN AMORIM plunged his own Manchester United future into doubt after the latest Old Trafford debacle.
The Portuguese manager’s admission that he is struggling to find a solution for his team’s shocking season was a clear sign of the uncertainty at the heart of the club.
But the bigger question marks will only be resolved in Bilbao next week.
A Europa League Final win for United over Spurs will mean far more than just the trophy and a silver sheen to cleanse many of the black clouds of despair.
But defeat in the Basque country will have ramifications to last far beyond the summer.
For Spurs, ending their 17-year trophy drought will mean everything to the fans who crave silverware more than any financial consideration.
It would also make Ange Postecoglou's promise that he would win a trophy in his second season into a reality, even if it probably would not be enough to save his job.
But for United, in simple terms, it is about cold, hard cash.
The reality is that winning the Europa League will ensure a looming black hole is filled.
It will also be another trophy added to the five won since the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson 12 years ago.
If United do not triumph in San Mames, the immediate cost will be clear.
A £10m cut in sponsorship revenue, as part of the contract with kit suppliers adidas.
No European football at all, meaning they will miss out on around £49m up front through Uefa’s complicated revenue distribution system plus the £20m-plus in gate receipts from the minimum four home games.
And if, as now seems likely, they do finish 16th in the Prem table, that will mean £23.8m less in TV-related prize money than for last term’s eighth-placed finish.
That all adds up to more than £100m, before the prize money for progress through the Champions League - up to a further potential £95m or so - is taken into account.
Less income equals less money to spend.
And that at a club where owners Ineos and chief executive Omar Berrada have also confirmed 450 staff job cuts already.
What the past nine months have proven, under both Amorim and before him Erik ten Hag, is that this United squad is simply not good enough.
But without the extra financial wriggle room offered by a Champions League campaign, transforming that squad is far, far harder - a situation made even more difficult by the decision of the 20 Prem clubs to extend the current Profitability and Sustainability Rules regime by a further 12 months.
No Europe means United would not have to meet Uefa’s new threshold of limiting wages and transfer fees to 70 per cent of club income - although qualification would make that an easy hurdle to cross.
But the precipitous income drop, combined with a wage bill that hit £479m in 2023-24 and the amount still “owed” on transfer fees for players whom Amorim might wish to lose point to significant PSR issues looming.
United need to agree fees of £28m on Andre Onana, £34m on Antony, £38m on Rasmus Hojlund, £29m on Joshua Zirkzee, £33m on Manuel Ugarte and £15m on Casemiro to break even on any of their sales.
Fees less than that will be book value “losses” on the PSR balance sheet.
And, in truth, it is hard to make arguments that United, as effectively distressed sellers, would be able to realise those sort of bottom line prices for too many of them.
By contrast, any fees generated by the departure of Marcus Rashford, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho, Diogo Dalot or even skipper Bruno Fernandes can be lodged at the full price.
It means that cold, hard decisions might be required, even the sales of players Amorim and the club might otherwise be aiming to keep at Old Trafford.
Amorim suggested that a win in Bilbao would not solve the issues he and the club face.
He is right in that. Yet losing will make them even harder to deal with. That is the scale of the importance of the match.