Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher says the players - not Tom Hicks and George Gillett - were to blame for last season's problems.
The Kop was torn apart off the pitch by a power struggle that eventually saw the two Americans replaced by Fenway Sports Group and John W Henry (right) last October.
But Carragher told the Sunday Mirror: "The last couple of years under Hicks and Gillett were difficult.
"But, to be honest, the players have to shoulder a lot of the blame for missing out on the Champions League. The ownership issue became an easy excuse to trot out. If you look at the Glazers at United, they are just as unpopular with the fans. Yet United have carried on being successful, winning the big trophies. It hasn't affected them one bit on the pitch."