Manchester United's shock exit from the Champions League could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. Not only does it allow the Red Devils to concentrate on their domestic campaign, but it will almost certainly force Alex Ferguson's hand in spending big to secure the creative midfielder the club so desperately needs after the retirement of Paul Scholes.
The disastrous 2-1 defeat at Basle also raised doubts over the readiness of some of Ferguson's youngsters to consistently compete at the top level. Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Danny Welbeck and Federico Macheda - all 22 or younger - were part of the sorry cast at St Jakob Park.
Injuries or suspension meant the likes of Javier Hernandez, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Carrick, Anderson and Tom Cleverley were all unavailable as United became the first-ever Champions League finalists to be knocked out in the first round of the following season.
As former skipper Roy Keane harshly remarked from the analyst's chair on British television: 'Everybody's building them up, but it's a reality check for some. I'd be getting hold of some of these lads, saying 'you'd better buck up your ideas'.'
The European letdown followed some unconvincing performances in English action. Although the champions have lost just one of their past seven league matches, they've failed to score more than a single goal since October 1.
United are now likely to give the Europa League as much importance as the League Cup, from which they were dumped last week in the quarter-finals by Crystal Palace.