Sunderland vs. Manchester United: No Shame in Trophy-Less Season for Red Devils

For the first time since 2005, Manchester United will end the season without a trophy in a major tournament or league (not counting the FA Community Shield), thanks to a wild comeback by "noisy neighbors" Manchester City to secure the English Premier League title on Sunday.

It's a disappointing development for the Red Devils, to be sure, though not one about which players, supporters or even Sir Alex Ferguson need be ashamed.

Granted, there's not much pride to be taken in the way United failed to advance out of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, drawing on three occasions and losing once to Basel. Nor will anyone necessarily feel better about the way Fergie's side bowed out of the Carling Cup (against Crystal Palace), the FA Cup (against Liverpool) and the UEFA Europa League (against Athletic Bilbao).

That being said, it's difficult to look over the whole of Man U's season and not concede that this particular group overachieved, at least to some extent.

United came in as the defending champions of the Premiership but with a decidedly different look. The retirement of the great Edwin van der Sar gave way to the introduction of young David de Gea, who had his fair share of growing pains but eventually emerged as a star between the posts.

But it was an incessant string of injuries that truly made the 2011-12 season a trying one for Fergie's Reds. The loss of Nemanja Vidic for the vast majority of the campaign left United without their skipper and the lynchpin of their defense. That thrust the often overmatched Jonny Evans into Vidic's spot, one that he didn't always handle with the greatest of ease.

And that's putting it rather gently.

The arrivals of Phil Jones, Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck proved to be valuable, and Wayne Rooney was his usual, productive self upfront. Nani and Antonio Valencia (a.k.a. Tony V.) did well on the wing, albeit while essentially alternating quality.

Even their efforts couldn't quite mask the deleterious effect of United's midfielders dropping like flies. Tom Cleverley's foot, Anderson's hamstring and Darren Fletcher's bowels forced Fergie to call upon a collection of relatively elderly players to fill his starting XI, including the 38-year-old Ryan Giggs and the temporarily retired Paul Scholes.

And yet, with all that adversity, that never-ending turnover in personnel, United still came into the final Sunday of the season with an excellent chance to win the league, and would have had it not been for two miraculous goals by Man City in the waning moments of their match against Queens Park Rangers.

Frankly, it would've been a greater shock had City yielded the title to United. This was to be the year that the Citizens slaked their 44-year league crown drought, what with Roberto Mancini's side scoring more goals and yielding fewer than any other in the EPL. 

That being said, a summer of healing and new faces from the transfer market figures to strengthen United and put them in position to step onto a victory podium of some sort next season.

Follow @Josh_E_Martin