Manchester United limped out of the Champions League on Tuesday but crumbled long ago, long before this latest crisis spiraled into stunned silence at Old Trafford.
It crumbled not in Copenhagen or Istanbul, nor against Bournemouth last weekend, with Old Trafford’s stands emptying and boos pouring. They poured after a 3-0 defeat, United’s 11th of this still-young season. They poured down on a scorned head coach and his inadequate players. They poured because beatdowns by Bournemouth and early Champions League exits don’t befit England’s most storied soccer club.
But they also poured because none of this is novel or surprising.