Ange Postecoglou enjoyed the best night of his 26-year career by lifting the Europa League trophy with Tottenham Hotspur and did so by making all the right moves throughout the match.
The 59-year-old put aside his free-flowing, attacking football for the final as his Tottenham Hotspur team produced such a well-organised defensive display.
For the closing stages, the Australian manager opted to switch to a five-at-the-back system as Manchester United threw the kitchen sink at them.
Tactically, his team were excellent and his substitutions were spot on. After the match, the Spurs supporters have been praising the performance of one of his substitutes.
Tottenham fans hail Kevin Danso’s Europa League final performance
Tottenham Hotspur supporters have been praising the performance of Kevin Danso in the Europa League final. The Austrian international came on for the final 11 minutes against Manchester United to help Tottenham get over the line in the Europa League final.
As Harry Maguire switched to his role as a centre forward, Ange Postecoglou reacted by bringing off Brennan Johnson and sending on another central defender. It was a bold move by the former Celtic boss, but one which paid off as Danso produced a brilliant display.
Danso said he wanted to win trophies at Tottenham and on Wednesday evening, that became the reality for the 26-year-old as he lifted the Europa League. Given how good he was against United, Spurs paying £21m for Danso now looks an astute piece of business.
After the historic night, Tottenham fans did not forget to thank their heroes in Lilywhite and Danso was certainly a player who received a lot of adulation.
One fan said: “I will ensure that Danso gets his flowers… He defended everything like a brick wall.”
Another said: “Ange showed a pragmatic streak that he hadn’t shown before in Spurs’ biggest game of all. Then subbed in Danso to mark out Maguire’s aerial threat and switched to 5-4-1.”
There was yet more praise: “Danso three touches, three clearances. I love that man.”
Finally, another supporter said: “Danso’s insane cameo so far. He’s won like three big aerial duels.”
Kevin Danso’s Europa League final stats
Danso’s display in the final just encapsulated the second-half performance of Tottenham as he batted away every effort United launched at his team.
Stat | Total |
Minutes | 11 |
Clearances | 3 |
Aerial duels (won) | 2 (1) |
Dribbled past | 0 |
The former Lens defender completed three clearances in 11 minutes as Ruben Amorim’s team threw the kitchen sink at Tottenham.