'Van Damned': Papers go crazy after 'embarrassing' Manchester United's 'Euro nightmare'

The Times's back page says it all:

The Sun's back page is rather more to the point:

The Daily Mail has a similarly gloomy view.

While the Independent attempted to be the first to get in the 'Thursday night football' jibe:

(For what it's worth, they were a bit late since this precise prediction was made on this very website less than a week ago.)

Beyond those catchy headlines, the Guardian picks up on Rio Ferdinand's comments on BT.

“It is embarrassing,” Ferdinand said. “I was in a squad that went into the Europa League.

"It is an embarrassment. You don’t want to come out of your house, or walk around Manchester.

"You look at people looking at you thinking ‘You are not good enough’, questioning you and questioning the team, a team that haven’t gone through a group stage they should have...

"If you strip it back and look at this one, this squad needs a real hard look. There is no space, there is no power, there doesn’t seem to be great resilience at times, or those leaders you look for in situations like these.

“It looks like people are looking around for each other rather than being the man to stand up himself to say: ‘Listen I am going to drag you through the forces’, and in top teams you can see there is not only one or two, there is three or four of that type of player, and I don’t see that in United at the moment.'"

Strong words indeed. And it chimed with Paul Scholes's assessment on the same channel:

The heavyweight writers in the nation's big papers were equally damning, and even more colourful.

"Embarrassing. Manchester United deservedly departed the Champions League because they defended like amateurs, not like elite professionals," wrote Henry Winter in The Times.

They were drawn in an easier group than Manchester City yet find themselves in the Europa League. Welcome to Thursdays. Excruciating.

"As well as lacking concentration at set pieces, United’s team lacked balance and depth. They also lacked a playmaker of the quality of Julian Draxler, Wolfsburg’s No 10 who bestrode this game like a fast-moving colossus.

"The German club were worthy winners, scoring twice through Naldo and once through Vieirinha, who finished off a glorious move masterminded by Draxler...

In The Guardian, Gregg Bakowski picked out one of United's big players for special criticism: Bastian Schweinsteiger:

"Schweinsteiger had a point to prove. As he trudged off in the 69th minute, having been replaced by Michael Carrick, there could be no doubt he hadn’t proved it," he wrote.

"Here was one of only two Champions League winners in United’s starting lineup being made to play the role of passenger on an occasion when he was entrusted with the keys by Louis van Gaal and told to drive his players safely home in territory he knew better than anyone else.

"These big occasions were the ones he was brought in for £14m to control. But the player whose nervelessness would surely see United right when others were losing their heads, at times, appeared to be losing his own."

Over in the Daily Mail, Martin Samuel picked on a particular decision by Van Gaal that he said lead to Naldo's crucial headed goal:

"It was Naldo again, a free header this time. Van Gaal claimed Chris Smalling had a groin injury that prevented him being able to jump, but if that was the case why was he responsible for Wolfsburg’s danger man? It makes no sense," he wrote.

"But then not a lot did last night; or this morning, when Manchester United’s directors survey the final standings in Group B, and wonder how a £250million programme proved no match for Wolfsburg and PSV Eindhoven."