There will be many memories of Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League triumph, the club’s first trophy in 17 years.
One of them will be the change in tactical approach during the knockout stages, which saw Spurs become a more ruthless and efficient team.
“I have always felt that knockout football is different from your league football,” head coach Ange Postecoglou told UK broadcaster TNT Sports after his side beat Manchester United 1-0 in Wednesday’s final. “When you are in that situation, it comes down to really good organisation, having a clear game plan and then moments, and if you can minimise the moments the opposition have by having a really strong foundation.”
The biggest “moment” of last night’s match fell Tottenham’s way, when Brennan Johnson put them in the lead towards the end of the first half, but it was the “good organisation” and “clear game plan” provided by Postecoglou and his staff that guided them to victory.
Spurs started the match in a 4-2-3-1 shape, with Rodrigo Bentancur partnering Yves Bissouma in midfield behind Pape Matar Sarr, and Richarlison getting the nod over Son Heung-min to start on the left flank.
Apart from Johnson’s goal, Tottenham didn’t create much, but their organisation without the ball and physicality in midfield limited their opponents too during the first half.
Out of possession, Spurs smartly pressed United towards the wide areas, where they could minimise the spaces.
When Dominic Solanke forced Harry Maguire to try to build the attack towards the left side, Sarr was marking Casemiro in the middle of the pitch as Johnson moved up towards Luke Shaw and Tottenham’s right-back, Pedro Porro, pressed Patrick Dorgu.
The dynamic of Spurs’ pressing on the right side meant that Mason Mount, United’s left-sided attacking midfielder, could be free, but Bentancur dropped to mark him.
It was a similar situation when they defended by the halfway line. When Solanke’s press forced Maguire to go to the left, Johnson and Porro immediately pressed Shaw and Dorgu, while Sarr and Bentancur were marking Casemiro and Mount.
Richarlison’s narrow position provided an additional safety net in case United’s left side wanted to find Bruno Fernandes between the lines, because Bissouma’s role in this situation…
… was to provide additional zonal cover to Cristian Romero and Bentancur.
In this example, Tottenham’s defensive organisation forces Shaw to play the ball into the space behind Porro…
… but Bentancur and Romero are in position to defend that area, and Bissouma is also dropping to support.
In another example, Solanke’s angle of pressure forces United to build down their left side and Spurs adjust their positions to limit that.
Solanke and Sarr mark Maguire and Casemiro centrally, Johnson and Porro immediately press Shaw and Dorgu as Bentancur covers Mount, Richarlison is in a narrow position to keep an eye on Fernandes and Bissouma is ready to support the right side.
Without any forward passing option, Shaw is forced to go back to goalkeeper Andre Onana. United then tried building up down the other side.
Tottenham’s pressing approach was different down their left (the United right) because Sarr continued marking Casemiro, leaving Bissouma to move up towards Fernandes. Meanwhile, Richarlison and Destiny Udogie mirrored Johnson and Porro’s roles in pressing United’s wide centre-back Leny Yoro and right wing-back Noussair Mazraoui.
However, as Bissouma was the one pressing Fernandes, it was Micky van de Ven’s job to defend Amad (out of shot in the first image below).
When Spurs defended deeper on that side of the pitch, the only change of role was for Sarr — the Senegal midfielder dropped deeper to support Bissouma against Fernandes.
Here, infield pressure from Sarr, Johnson and Solanke forces United to attack down the Tottenham left…
… and Bissouma moves towards Fernandes while Van de Ven and Udogie are tracking Amad and Mazraoui.
When Yoro plays the ball to Mazraoui, Bissouma drops deeper to defend Spurs’ left side in a zonal capacity, while Sarr picks up Fernandes and Udogie presses Mazraoui.
The Morocco international’s lack of options then forces United to reset the attack.
They circulated the ball towards their left side, triggering the other part of Postecoglou’s defensive organisation, which locked them in a build-up loop, before Spurs won a throw-in from Shaw’s long ball.
When Tottenham were in a winning game state, they protected that lead in a deeper block.
Despite the difference in the approach between the left and right sides, one of Bissouma and Bentancur defended the half-space to neutralise United’s wide combinations, while the other maintained a more central position.
The introductions of Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee from the bench altered United’s attack. Zirkzee could drop from centre-forward and link the play, while Garnacho offered a better one-versus-one threat down their left wing and an option to switch positions with wing-back Dorgu.
Ruben Amorim’s double substitution improved United but Postecoglou adjusted seven minutes later, replacing Johnson with centre-back Kevin Danso and moving to a 5-4-1 with Sarr and Son, on for Richarlison, as the wide players in midfield.
Sarr and Son had important roles to play towards the end of the match because their defensive work supporting the wing-backs — especially with Shaw pushing forward as United chased an equaliser — allowed Bissouma and Bentancur to concentrate on dealing with the central space.
Tottenham still needed an incredible goal-line clearance from Van de Ven and a good late save by Guglielmo Vicario to maintain their clean sheet, but the side’s overall defensive organisation minimised those moments as much as possible.
“I felt having Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Porro, (and) Vicario in goal — we haven’t had that luxury a lot (this season because of injuries) — and with Bissouma and Bentancur, we were going to be really hard to break down,” Postecoglou told TNT Sports after the match.
“I always felt comfortable that if we got ahead, we could negate most of what Man United were going to throw at us.”
Tottenham’s plan to keep United out didn’t need to be pretty, because what eventually mattered was its effectiveness, and it delivered their fourth European trophy.