People travelled for that. People got on planes, decanted liquids into 100ml bottles, queued at passport control, booked taxis and hotels, set the alarm for 4.30am, counted down the days, for that. People braved Northern trains and Avanti West Coast, negotiated the closure of the M67, for that.
And so the first thing you really have to say is: fair play, those people. It was Ed Woodward seven years ago who most strongly articulated the vision of the modern Manchester United, a world in which “playing performance doesn’t really have a meaningful impact on what we can do on the commercial side”.
