Ruben Amorim admitted that winning the Europa League will not save the Manchester United season, with their problems deep.
The Red Devils travel to Bilbao on Thursday for the first stage of their semi-final, looking for a step in the direction of the final and possibly a Champions League place for next season.
United will record both their lowest competition finish and the points of the Premier League, where they are at 39 points 14th.
However, they are currently the only unbeaten team that has been left in the Europa League this season (W7 D5). Their 12 games without defeat are the longest in the major European competition since 15 in a row between November 2016 and October 2017.
However, United has lost three of the four European matches against Athletic, with their only victory that returns in February 1957 in the second stage of the European Cup quarterfinals of that season (3-0 at Old Trafford, 6-5 total victory).
Amorim says that this season there is an extra lead at stake that the form of United has given and remains unclear that their problems will not be solved, even if they cancel the trophy.
“Nothing is going to save our season,” he said. “Of course people will look in a different way this season, especially for the coach.
“Again, it's a little more at the core of our club. We have to change many things and we have to be consistent.
“Europa League is not [going to] Change everything into our problems – it will give us Champions League next year, more money to spend – but the problems are still there.
“We have to change the thoughts of our fans with consistency, good decisions, good recruitment, good academy. This is what we have to change to bring our club back to the top.
“This is more a shortcut to go to the European games. Nothing more. The problems we have to solve in a different way with more time, and we are really clear about that.”
United achieved their place in the last four after an excellent comeback victory on Lyon in the quarter-finals second stage, and earned a last 5-4 victory to get them up to 7-6.
This season they scored 28 goals in the Europa League, while they also had the most shots (222) and touches in the opposition box (458) from each side in the competition.
United has struggled lately for goals in the Premier League of recent times and scored 12 goals in their last 12 games, compared to the same amount in four knockout matches in Europe, and Amorim was not sure why the difference was so great.
“I don't know, because we had a few games that we didn't make any situations, but it's not the case in the last games,” he said.
“When we stopped for the national teams, we had situations against Nottingham [Forest]Wolves, Arsenal at our home. We create the opportunities, but we do not score any goals, and sometimes you have no explanation to make that happen. “
United has also been encouraged by the return of Amad Diallo, who has been out since February, and Matthijs de Ligt, who has not been seen since the beginning of April, to train this week.
Amorim explained that although they are not yet suitable to start, they are back in the team for the first stage on Thursday against Athletic.