Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou both suffered defeats with Manchester United and Tottenham on Sunday in rather humiliating fashion.
The Red Devils were picked apart by West Ham at Old Trafford as goals from Tomas Soucek and Jarrod Bowen sealed a 2-0 win for the Hammers.
In regards to Spurs, the north Londoners lost at home to Crystal Palace by the same scoreline, following a brace by Eberechi Eze – who was asked to join Tottenham by a fan after the game.
Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou will hardly feel these results are the best preparation heading into the UEFA Europa League final, but the tactical system Tottenham were dismantled by should give Manchester United fans plenty of encouragement.
Oliver Glasner tears Tottenham apart using same system as Ruben Amorim
2-0 to Crystal Palace flattered Tottenham, in all honesty.
The Eagles also had two goals harshly disallowed, and ultimately registered 23 shots – ten on target – to just eight shots and one on target from Spurs, winning eight corners and making 404 passes, compared to four and 364 respectively from Tottenham.
Time and time again, Daniel Munoz and Ismaila Sarr had oceans of space to surge into down the flanks, and when Amorim watches this game back as part of his research, his eyes will surely light up.
This football by the way…#CPFC pic.twitter.com/J06mIsdOiv
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) May 11, 2025
The man from Lisbon and Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner, who Spurs like, interestingly use the same 3-4-2-1 formation, relying on wing-backs to provide width.
Tottenham were evidently struggling to contain this system against Crystal Palace in the 4-3-3 shape deployed by Postecoglou, which should give Amorim plenty of food for thought ahead of the showpiece event in Bilbao.
Of course, Tottenham rested several key men, such as Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson, but the relentless wave of attacks from Crystal Palace using the 3-4-2-1 system should certainly worry Spurs ahead of facing the same formation in the UEFA Europa League final.
Tottenham may also have two more key men missing
Postecoglou has already lost James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall to injuries ahead of the final, and now, two more stars could end up in the treatment room.
Dejan Kulusevski trudged off with a problem after just 19 minutes, while Mathys Tel was also seen receiving treatment on the pitch after the final whistle.
Therefore, a few things are certainly going the way of Manchester United in the buildup to the final.
