It feels a little weird to be writing this after Manchester United just clinched their second FA Cup final appearance in as many years, but that's the stage we've reached in the Erik ten Hag journey: Even the wins are starting to feel like losses, though technically, Sunday's semifinal win wasn't even a win -- it was a 3-3 draw with Coventry City decided on penalties.
The last time Manchester United failed to win a game they were leading by three goals was May 19, 2013. After going up 3-0 within 30 minutes, they conceded twice to West Bromwich Albion on both sides of halftime, before re-establishing another three-goal lead, only to concede three goals in the final 10 minutes. That game ended 5-5 ... And it didn't matter at all. It was Matchweek 38, and United still won the Premier League by 11 points.
As a fitting point of comparison: It was also Sir Alex Ferguson's final match in charge. He'd helped push the club so far beyond everyone else that they could afford to blow a three-goal lead multiple times in a single match.
Fast forward to today, and Manchester United are blowing three-goal leads in knockout games they need to win, against the eighth-place team in the second-division league. So pyrrhic was the victory Sunday that as Rasmus Hojlund wheeled around the back of the goal to celebrate scoring the winning penalty, no one else on the team even bothered to join in.
• Stream live on ESPN+: Man United vs. Man City, FA Cup final (May 25)
Unlikely results have masked the team's poor level of play for a while now, but Sunday seemed to be the day when the whole world -- including the players themselves -- came to terms with the reality of the situation. Over the past two seasons, Man United have spent more on transfer fees than all but two other clubs in the world, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. The end result? A team with a negative goal differential with only six games left in the season.
So, let's take a look back at United's squad-building approach from the past two seasons and see how it all went wrong. We've ranked all 16 signings under manager Ten Hag, including the transfer fee paid and their age when signed. In addition to statistical analysis, we're judging them by the thought process behind these moves -- which was too often based on who Ten Hag happened to have coached previously.