At the bitter end of it all, what we saw on the Old Trafford pitch on Tuesday night summed up the nine desultory years since Sir Alex Ferguson walked away.
A random bunch of superstars in Manchester United jerseys, arranged in no particular order and with no particular football strategy in mind, put out there in blind hope, rather than any coherent sense of expectation.
But though the team's season is over, their fans should be glad of it.
The trouble with the mirages of the past few years is that they have obscured the truth about how United have lacked a coach who is remotely good enough.