Having presided over historically poor Premier League seasons, the Europa League final was arguably as much about the managers as the clubs themselves.
Ruben Amorim left Sporting CP and a successful squad built for his style and tactics for Manchester United in November, and his first seven months at the helm have been disastrous. United are 16th in the Premier League and on track for their worst season since the mid-1970s.
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Tottenham Hotspur sit one place below them, with success in the Europa League final the only way for either side to book their place in European competition next season. If that wasn’t pressure enough for Ange Postecoglou, his declaration last September that he always wins trophies in his second season added an extra layer of jeopardy to Wednesday night.
Reputations were at stake.
So as Tottenham reigned supreme with a 1-0 win in Bilbao, ending a 17-year trophy drought in the process, The Athletic kept an eye on both managers from pre-match to post-match to see how the pressure told.
The tactics
Postecoglou’s tactical approach, irrespective of the occasion, has been fairly predictable since his early days in management at South Melbourne.
Heavily influenced by Ferenc Puskas, who stopped off at the Australian club in a nomadic managerial career that spanned six of the seven continents, Postecoglou teams play high-energy, attacking football. He maintained that philosophy in the Australian A-League, the international game, the Japanese J-League and the Scottish Premiership, before taking it mainstream with Tottenham in the Premier League.
But Postecoglou does things a little differently in the Europa League.
Ahead of the game, there were two big selection questions: whether Son Heung-Min would start, and who would round out the midfield trio with Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur. Both decisions gave an insight into Postecoglou’s thinking.
Postecoglou enters the arena (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
First, he opted to bench Son, who made his first start in over a month after a foot injury in last Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa. Richarlison started in his place, a forward who brings physicality and an aerial presence to Spurs’ wide attack.
In midfield, Postecoglou avoided the temptation to attempt a like-for-like replacement for the injured Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison, and instead went with Pape Matar Sarr, a more functional and industrious option in midfield.
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On their way to victory, they recorded just 27 per cent possession and had an abnormally low 61 per cent pass completion rate.
Ruben Amorim stuck to type, setting up in the 3-4-2-1 system from which he is so reluctant to waver. Despite Alejandro Garnacho dying his hair bleach blonde for the occasion, Amorim opted for Mason Mount and Amad to start wide of Rasmus Hojlund in attack. It meant both of the goalscorers in last year’s 2-1 FA Cup final victory over Manchester City — Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo — started on the bench.
Garnacho’s hair provided some of the night’s few highlights for United (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Pre-match
Postecoglou’s occasional tendency to be prickly in press conferences and television interviews is well-known, but there were no such signs of uneasiness ahead of the match.
As he took the microphone to speak pitch-side on TNT’s pre-match build-up, he looked left and right at Gareth Bale and Glenn Hoddle, smiled and said: “Spurs royalty here. These guys know it’s a special night for the club. As a football club, we’ve not had too many of these moments recently, so it’s important we take it tonight.”
Whether it was an attempt to keep up appearances or the natural confidence of a man who has always won in his second season since taking Brisbane Roar to A-League glory in 2011, he certainly seemed to be enjoying the occasion.
Postecoglou gave the impression he was relaxed pre-match (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
As was Amorim, who appeared remarkably calm in the tunnel, speaking to presenter Jules Breach and Rio Ferdinand.
“I’m relaxed, I did my job, if you can say that — now it’s with the players,” Amorim said on TNT. “I’m really confident. I really enjoyed the last two trainings, and when you have these kinds of trainings, you feel relaxed because I trust the guys.”
During the match
Postecoglou walked out in an all-blue outfit, sporting a smart zip-up polo shirt and trousers, with all white trainers. In the opposite dugout, Amorim ditched the United adidas hoodie and chino trousers he tends to sport in favour of a tailored Paul Smith suit with a white t-shirt and a similar pair of white shoes to Postecoglou’s.
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Yet, while there were similarities in their approach to touchline fashion, their enthusiasm on the sideline couldn’t have been more different.
From the first minute, Amorim stood on the edge of his technical area, occasionally stepping outside onto the touchline, barking orders, kicking and heading every ball. Just a few yards away to his right, Postecoglou stood with his arms crossed, watching on almost nonchalantly.
The managers’ touchline demeanours could not have been more different (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
But he could not contain his excitement when Brennan Johnson scored in the 42nd minute, turning round and celebrating with assistant coach Ryan Mason in the dugout.
While their touchline behaviour was broadly identical in the second half, there were a few moments where the ticking clock added some urgency to their respective approaches.
Shortly before Son replaced Richarlison in the 67th minute, Postecoglou gave the Brazilian a loud clap after he won a 50-50 challenge with Amad on the edge of Spurs’ box. Richarlison went down soon after with an injury and, while the physios were tending to him on the pitch, Amorim took the opportunity to speak directly to Casemiro while the rest of the team were having a drinks break.
Amorim instructs Casemiro (Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Amorim clapped his right fist and left hand together, seemingly indicating to the Brazilian that he needed to be more forceful with his challenges in midfield. Meanwhile, Postecoglou stood away from his players, arms crossed, while his assistants relayed tactical directions.
Postecoglou did take the tactical reins in the 79th minute, though. In swapping Johnson for Kevin Danso, a centre-back, he switched from the 4-3-3 system to a flat 5-4-1. Given that he rarely deviates from his favoured formation, perhaps he felt that Son, his captain, should be the one to help spread the message that his plan for the last 10 minutes of regular time was to shut up shop and protect the lead.
After the final whistle
As the final whistle blew, Postecoglou dipped his head and fell into goalkeeper coach Rob Burch, who wrapped his arms around him while several other coaches sprang out of their seats and joined the embrace.
Postecoglou then walked over to Amorim and appeared to offer a note of encouragement. After all, Postecoglou was on his second managerial job when Amorim debuted as a player in 2003 and has been in his position before. Then he turned away towards the supporters and took in a deep breath, appearing to savour the moment.
Postecoglou consoles Amorim (David Ramos/Getty Images)
Naturally, Amorim appeared less enthusiastic about waiting around to receive a runner-up medal. En route to collecting it, he enjoyed (or perhaps endured) a slightly awkward hug with United part-owner Jim Ratcliffe.
In his press conference, Amorim said he would leave United “without any conversation about compensation” if the board and fans felt he was not the right man to take them forward, but he would not quit.
Amorim digests defeat (David Ramos/Getty Images)
As you might expect, Postecoglou was having much more fun.
He communicated his desire to remain as Spurs coach on TNT, citing a desire to build on the trophy success with their young side.
He then joined CBS Sports’ post-match show, where Micah Richards said he had always believed Postecoglou would win a trophy this season. “I can’t say the same for everyone on the panel,” Postecoglou joked, referring to Richards’ colleagues Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher.
But against the odds, his second-season prophecy had come true. Whether he gets more time or departs the club in the coming weeks, that celebratory attitude suggests he knows his legacy at the club will forever be linked to that night in Bilbao.
(Top photos: Alex Pantling – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
