Manchester United suffered their fourth defeat of the season against Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final.
Both clubs viewed the game in Bilbao as the fixture that would save their season, and it was a close contest from start to finish.
As harsh as it would sound, it did look like a clash between two teams who were 16th and 17th in the Premier League table.
But, Tottenham got over the line thanks to a goal from Brennan Johnson in the first half of the game at San Mames on Wednesday night.
What Ange Postecoglou felt about Manchester United after Tottenham scored
Ange Postecoglou has been adamant over the last two years that his Tottenham side will only play highly attacking football.
That has led to a lot of criticism, but the Australian made some adjustments against Manchester United in the final on Wednesday night.
After taking the lead in the first half, Spurs’ tactics changed.
The North Londoners, instead of going all-out attack like they have done before, decided to sit back, absorb pressure and play on the counter-attack.
After the game, Roy Keane asked Postecoglou on CBS Sport: “Was it part of your tactic with so long to go to sit back and just shut up shop?
“Did you think one goal would be enough? Did you actually believe that?”
Postecoglou nodded and claimed that he felt Manchester United would not be able to score against his side after Johnson’s opener.
He said: “Yeah, I thought we could, Roy. We’ve been really disappointing in Europe away from home. We kept a clean sheet at Frankfurt, we kept a clean sheet against Bodo away from home, very similar performances. This group has got that resilience in them.
“Look, it makes a difference when I’ve got Van de Ven, Romero, Udogie, Vicario, obviously Porro at right-back, Bissouma and Bentancur, it’s a real solid foundation for us.
“I just felt with United, if we got ahead, then I thought they would find it really hard to break us down and we’d be a threat on the counter-attack.
“We weren’t as great in transition as I wanted us to be, they had some chances, but I just felt we were strong and resilient enough to keep them out.”
Ange Postecoglou has shown a new trait at Tottenham that could save his job
Before the final in Bilbao, all the suggestions were that Postecoglou would be sacked by Tottenham irrespective of what happened in the Europa League final.
That could still be the case, but the Australian has shown a different side of himself now.
After refusing to change his tactics for most of his time at Tottenham – even during injuries and a bad run of results – Postecoglou has shown a more pragmatic approach in recent games in the competition.
That ability to adapt makes him a significantly better manager, and there’s no reason why he can’t bring more success to the club if he continues to approach each game differently.
If anything can save Postecoglou’s job at Tottenham right now, apart from the trophy, it’s his newfound adaptability.
