Manchester United lost 4-1 to Como, Italy last night, one of their worst results in 70 years of European football. ‘Perry Como could have beaten us tonight,’ was one wag’s response to the insipid and shambolic showing against a team that was in Serie D just seven years ago and had never played in the competition before.

It would be tempting to declare Manchester United’s loss a fresh nadir in their tortuous and interminable quest for renewed glory. But that would be to forget such debacles as the FA Cup defeat to Grimsby, or the 7-0 and 5-0 hammerings by Liverpool, or the 4-0 loss to Brentford… the list goes on. In truth, this was just another in a long line of calamities. The club is starting to look cursed.

This humbling will prompt questions not just about their beleaguered manager Michael Carrick (who could be gone by the weekend) but about the long-term direction of one of England’s greatest clubs. It’s not the result so much, which will be quickly filed with all the others, but the manner of the performance and the mood at the club it revealed. Manchester United is not a happy ship. Nor is it........

© The Spectator