MANCHESTER, England -- There will be no FA Cup triumph to paper over the cracks for Manchester United this season. Unless they win the Champions League -- and that seems as likely right now as Ralf Rangnick's team taking a midseason break on the moon -- the club's trophy drought will stretch to five years after Middlesbrough's 8-7 penalty shootout win at Old Trafford ended United's only realistic hopes of silverware this season.
Not since the 1980s have United gone so long without winning a trophy, but the club and team are in such a state of flux that only the most optimistic supporter would claim they could see an end in sight to the dismal run of failure.