Can Tottenham's new ‘sexy pragmatism' overcome Manchester United's chaos?
The Europa League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United on May 21 will be a defining night for both clubs – 90 minutes, or possibly more – that could change the entire outlook for one of their seasons.
Tottenham have had the upper hand this term, winning all three encounters between the teams. But United are more battle-tested in recent finals though, having lifted the FA Cup last season and the Carabao Cup the year before.
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Ruben Amorim's United side have thrived in chaotic, end-to-end games throughout their European campaign, while Ange Postecoglou's Spurs have discovered a newfound pragmatism which has been working for them in continental competition.
On the latest episode of The View From The Lane, Danny Kelly was joined by James Maw and Jay Harris to discuss the importance of Tottenham avoiding United's chaos and whether their opponents' recent trophy success will matter on the night in the Spanish city of Bilbao.
This partial transcript has been edited for clarity and length. The full episode is available via the 'The View from the Lane' feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Danny Kelly: I'm loving the fact that people like Paul Scholes went on television and said, 'Manchester United will win this now because they always win the big games.' That's great, let them be favourites. That's absolutely fine with me. Even with Real Madrid, I don't believe in this fated destiny of clubs and all the rest of it. You've got 11 players and we've got 11 players, they'll go out on the pitch and the managers will have an influence as well. The history means nothing. Go out and win on the day. We've got 90 minutes, maybe 120 minutes, just go out and win the blinking thing.
Jay Harris: Yeah, I think the slight difference between Spurs and Manchester United in the Europa League this season is that it feels like Spurs have probably been a bit more controlled — James has just mentioned their 'sexy pragmatism'. Whereas with Manchester United, it feels like they thrive on chaos. Even Thursday night's result is proof of that. When they went 1-0 down (visitors Athletic Club cutting United's semi-final aggregate lead to 3-1), I was seeing loads of people on X getting nervous, but then they somehow ended up winning 7-1 on aggregate. The Lyon game (United winning the second leg of their quarter-final 5-4 at home to advance 7-6 on aggregate) was also evidence of that. They just seem to flourish when games are absolutely crazy. I watched their game at Brentford last weekend, and that was another example of it. They were 4-1 down with 10 minutes to go and it ended up 4-3. I almost feel like Spurs need to avoid falling into Manchester United's trap of making it a very transitional, end-to-end game.
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But Spurs should take great confidence in the fact that they have beaten Manchester United three times this season, and Ruben Amorim was in charge for two of the three. There was that crazy 4-3 game in December, which featured Son Heung-min's olimpico over Altay Bayindir, which was another chaotic encounter. The 3-0 victory at Old Trafford in September was great but now feels like a ridiculously long time ago. But keep in mind the person who was central to that performance was Dejan Kulusevski, so when you two were talking earlier about trying to get him in the best position possible for the final, it made me think about how integral he was to one of this team's best performances this season that day. So hopefully he can do it again.
James Maw: That September game would be one of the three I would almost be tempted to disregard. It was when Manchester United still had Erik ten Hag (as manager), and like you said it just feels like so long ago. Spurs were playing in a way that we know they're just not going to be able to play now. But that Carabao Cup game in December, that was similar to their game with Brentford game last week. Spurs were absolutely cruising at 3-0 up, and a couple of mistakes from (goalkeeper) Fraser Forster playing out from the back let United back into the game, in a way that put a gloss on that scoreline that was more than a little generous to them. Even though that game was also quite a long time ago now, it feels like it is the more relevant one to go off. But again, with the chaos you just mentioned, Spurs will have to avoid that.
Danny: You're right, James, the more recent game is the more relevant one, because these teams are much nearer to that now than they were just before Christmas. But we have to be careful here because if we believe Manchester United's previous trophy-winningness is not relevant, then perhaps those three games Spurs have won this season aren't either.
James: Scholes, Gary Neville and all these other former Manchester United players-turned-pundits seem to think that United beating Spurs in games in 1997 is somehow relevant now, for whatever reason. You and I may still be wounded by what happened back then, Danny, but it isn't going to make a difference to Micky van de Ven or whoever else in this team. Some of these players weren't even born when some of these games that we're talking about took place. But you're also right when you say there isn't really any relevance in Spurs winning the most recent three games. That little bit of experience Manchester United have of winning trophies — winning the FA Cup last season, for example — yes, that is relevant. But the rest of it is just nonsense. The idea that this Manchester United team are some sort of relentless trophy-winning machine is just not accurate.
Remember, you can listen to full episodes of The View from the Lane for free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
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