The beauty of a Wembley cup final is anything can happen. Newcastle United needed no reminding that plenty of pre-match 'underdogs' have rocked up to the national stadium and pulled off history-making scalps over the years.
However, on Sunday the writing appeared to be on the wall for Eddie Howe's side as Manchester United scored their second goal in the space of six first-half minutes. The positive about this Newcastle team is that they will always continue to battle, which they did at Wembley, but the Red Devils simply had too many cup final veterans in their side.
Lisandro Martinez is a World Cup winner, Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw are European Championship finalists, and even late substitute Marcel Sabitzer has won trophies in both Germany and Austria. That is before even mentioning experienced figures such as David de Gea, Fred, Bruno Fernandes and a duo who boast a mere nine Champions League titles between them - Casemiro and Raphael Varane.
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"Varane, De Gea, and Casemiro, they know how to win trophies and you need those players on the pitch to coach and manage the team not only from a tactical perspective, but from a mental perspective also," Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag said at full-time. "They have to bring it in the dressing room during difficult situations and they did that today."
There is no shame to losing to this Manchester United side. They are the Premier League's most in-form side, have just beaten runaway La Liga leaders Barcelona and are playing impressive football under Ten Hag.
However Newcastle, as they begin to disrupt the Premier League 'Big Six' and reach cup finals on a regular basis, could really benefit from adding players with similar experience to their own side.
Kieran Trippier is the perfect example. Someone who has appeared in more monumental clashes than he would care to remember. It still remains a huge coup that the Newcastle ownership persuaded him to jump ship for a relegation battle on Tyneside.
Trippier's experience shows each and every week as he marshals players into position, barks orders to his three defensive counterparts and lifts the team when they are struggling. If Newcastle are able to find players with similar qualities in different areas of the pitch, their planned ascent to the top will be a swift one.
Newcastle's recruitment under the current ownership has been nothing short of superb but sporting director Dan Ashworth's focus for the future is signing young players who are seen as long-term prospects, rather than imminent first-team stars. Ashworth made this clear in a recent interview when quizzed by former Magpies stopper Shay Given.
"It's not sustainable for us to keep going out and buying 'here and now players' - we have to buy some potential and we have to get some potential through the building," Ashworth told Sky Sports. "We've already got some in the academy now but we have to try and invest and upgrade that so Eddie has a nice problem to have. He's got a lot of good young players coming through the system trying to get in the team as well.
Buying youngsters with potential is by no means a bad idea but Newcastle's cup final inexperience compared to Ten Hag's side showed on Sunday. The ownership, along with Howe, have grand plans for the future and the appetite of fans has now been whetted.
Next time around they could do with some cup final experts to get them over the line.
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