The Guardian

The Tottenham afterparty was in full swing at the Hotel Carlton in Bilbao; players, management and family members just surrendering to the moment. Many of the players were still in their full match kits, medals draped around their necks and the centrepiece was the Europa League trophy, 15kg of the purest bliss.

It is heavier than you think, according to Son Heung-min. “Very heavy, very heavy,” he said. The Spurs captain had accidentally head-butted it as he hoisted it high into the sky after the 1-0 win over Manchester United, a teammate having pushed into him as he performed the move he had dreamed about ever since signing from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015. The angry red cut on Son’s forehead was a part of the tapestry.

It was about 3am and, suddenly, the lights in the Carlton’s function space were switched on. How do you think that went down? According to one of the revellers, it was the lamest attempt in the history of lame attempts to end a party, to usher people off to their beds. Nobody was leaving. And so they did not, the celebrations pushing on from the small hours into the slightly larger ones. It was the night that nobody connected to the club wanted to end. When you have waited 17 years for a trophy, 41 years for one in Europe, this is going to happen.

There was food laid on. Probably. Maybe … The drinks flowed. One of the musicians who plays at Spurs’ stadium did a turn. There was a DJ. And for Ange Postecoglou, who was there with his family, posing happily for pictures, it was an impossibly sweet time.

Vindication had to be prominent in his emotions. When he pointed out after the derby defeat by Arsenal last September that he always won a trophy in his second season at a club, it was an attempt to rally the troops behind him, to inspire confidence. Postecoglou did not imagine that the comment would track him so remorselessly; the memes, the growing levels of ridicule. As he has suggested, this is life at Spurs.

But Postecoglou has delivered again and in the fuzzy afterglow, as the club prepare for an open- top bus parade on Friday at 5.30pm, there were two questions that pounded, both related. Did the glory of San Mamés make this a successful season, making up for the historically awful Premier League campaign? And will it mean that the lights do not go out on Postecoglou’s managerial tenure?

Ask any Spurs fan about the first – certainly right now – and they would probably say that the trophy trumps everything, even a season in which they have lost 21 times in the league, a club record for a 38-game campaign. If it becomes 22 on Sunday against Brighton in the final match, it would equal their all- time low from 1934-35 and that was across 42 games. In terms of the win-loss-draw record, the club have only been worse off once – in 1914-15.

Whether the chair, Daniel Levy, feels the same way is key; it is easy to believe he does not, even if Champions League qualification via the Europa League has been salvaged.

It was interesting to hear the reaction of the players to the second question, many of them treading a diplomatic line. Guglielmo Vicario and Micky van de Ven essentially dropped their shoulders and stressed a desire merely to celebrate. Brennan Johnson, who scored the goal in the final, his 18th of the season, said that “if there’s ever a time for a mic drop, it’s now” – raising the prospect of Postecoglou striding off gloriously into the sunset.

None of the squad explicitly called on the hierarchy to stick with Postecoglou, despite showing their obvious affection for him, although Son came the closest. “He won the trophy, nobody [else] did it, so … ” the South Korean said. “Look, it’s not up to me or the players. But we just have to look at the facts; at the fact thatwe hadn’t won in 17 years. It’s the manager who wins the trophy. So we see what’s going to happen.”

The Spurs supporters had been heard singing Postecoglou’s song in one of the tight streets that led towards the stadium before the game. And afterwards, at a little before midnight, as he and the players stood before the packed Spurs end, a wall of brilliant white, it was heard again; the rolling, rhythmic tribute. If Postecoglou is to leave – and he says that he wants to stay – it would be with their eternal gratitude and as a legend. Only two previous Spurs managers have won European silverware: Bill Nicholson and Keith Burkinshaw.

Postecoglou gave a speech at the afterparty in which he talked of his players as family and paid tribute to their own nearest and dearest. In the team meeting before the game, he had shown the players a series of video messages from their family members, a man- management touch that went a long way.

“It was very emotional and in the back of our minds they were a big part of the game,” Vicario said. “My mum and dad spoke on my bit. They just said to fight for the badge, for Tottenham Hotspur and to make them happy.”

Son said: “I was emotional when I watched the video and I desperately wanted to win for the family. People think players are deserving of this trophy but it’s the families who deserve this for their sacrifice, their commitment.”

It was a difficult decision for Postecoglou to omit Son from the starting XI; the player had only recently returned from injury, which was a factor. Postecoglou preferred Richarlison, hoping to harness his physical threat. Son said last week that the reason he had stayed at Spurs for 10 years was to succeed where so many others had failed and win something. Being a substitute in one of the most important games of his life was not a part of his thinking, and he did not attempt to hide it.

“Look, you always want to start,” Son said. “Obviously, I was a bit disappointed. But this was not a stage where you can be selfish. You just have to think about what the team needs and, of course, I was ready to do it. It was difficult but I was committed to the team.”

For Levy, an even bigger decision looms.

LADS, IT’S UNITED

You won, [Ange]. Enjoy [Bigger Vase], I hope it makes you happy. Dear lord, what a sad little [final]. You ruined my night completely so you could have [Bigger Vase] and I hope now you can spend it on lessons in [tactics] and [recruitment]. Because [your team] had all the [season] of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on. So Ange, take your [Bigger Vase] and get off my [TV screen].

Watching the Bigger Vase final might have been more painful than Charlie Nicholas’ Sky Sports News b@nter, but you have to hand it to Ange Postecoglou. In one swoop, with one absolutely abysmal goal, the Australian has won Tottenham Hotspur’s first trophy in 17 years, secured Bigger Cup qualification and delivered on his promise that he “always wins a trophy in my second season”. Being bold and coming good on a footballing prophecy is bada$$, whichever way you cut it. We loved Brian Clough for his bravado and brash quotes but only because he could back it up. When José Mourinho announced he was “the Special One”, shortly before laying waste to the rest of the Premier League, we all nodded along afterwards with a begrudging respect. Heck, even when Sean Dyche suggested on co-commentary for this year’s FA Cup final that Crystal Palace should “hit it up to the big man” to beat Manchester City’s press, 10 seconds before they went long to Jean-Philippe Mateta who set up their winning goal, Football Daily sat back in awe. So fair play to Big Ange.

“All I’ve done in my career is win,” roared Postecoglou, as he channelled the vibes of Carlo Ancelotti atop a rooftop bus, wearing sunnies and smoking a cigar. “Even Daniel [Levy, Spurs’ chairman] said: ‘We’ve gone for winners [in the past] and now we have Ange.’ Mate, I’m a winner. All I know is I’m going to go back to my hotel room, open a bottle of scotch, have a couple of quiet ones and prepare for a big parade on Friday. I don’t feel like I’ve completed the job yet, we’re still building. The moment I took the job, I wanted to win something. We’ve done that. It’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done.”

Watching that final was genuinely one of the toughest things Football Daily has done, but at least the celebrations and shenanigans were worth staying up for. James Maddison had a lovely pop at Roy Keane in his post-match interview. Archie Gray showed exceptional ball knowledge by doing the Ronaldinho/Bigger Cup anthem lip-licking meme (Gray was three when Ronnie originally did that). You’d have to have a heart of stone not to be touched by Son Heung-min sobbing uncontrollably into the shoulder of his father and renowned taskmaster, Dad Heung-min Son Woong-jung, after the final whistle with the first club trophy of the South Korean’s career.

Just as they have been all season, Manchester United were dreadful and deserved nothing from the contest, with Ruben Amorim admitting afterwards his head was on the chopping block. “I have nothing to show to the fans,” shrugged the Portuguese. “If the board and fans feel I am not the right guy, I will go in the next day without any conversation about compensation, but I will not quit.” Football isn’t always the beautiful game. Sometimes you just need to win, and that’s what Spurs did. Congratulations to them and good luck next season in Bigger Cup. Based upon whatever that was in Bilbao, they might need it.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“Obviously it’s hard for everyone. Our season was sh!t. We didn’t beat anyone in the league. We lacked a lot of things” – Alejandro Garnacho brings some understatement to his funky analysis of Manchester United’s season.

Re: yesterday’s Football Daily letters. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to your other 1,056 readers that, far from making the Premier League a laughing stock, the fact that that the 16th and 17th ‘best’ in the Greatest League in the World™ competed in the final for the second best Euro trophy shows the strength in depth and talent within that league. In fact, if one wants to be unkind, you could say that all of the other ‘European’ clubs in the competition must have been rubbish if they couldn’t prevent this from happening” – Martin Bleasdale (and no others).

Someone please give me the Manchester United manager job please. If I do nothing, absolutely nothing, they will still finish better than this year. And I get to watch 38 games from the dugout, chewing gum, throwing tantrums, fighting with the officials, gesticulating wildly, giving interviews. And I am ready to take 20% of Ruben Amorim’s salary. That is a huge amount saved for Big Sir Jim” – Krishna Moorthy.

For Spurs, a trophy. For United, atrophy” – Mark McFadden.

Not sure if I’ve been in an alternate dimension, but bravo to the Magpies, Eagles and now the, erm, C0cks on ending their respective avian trophy droughts. Special mention to Spurs (and Manchester United) for their part in the most awful, inept match I’ve seen in some time. As someone watching Luton all season (and thus being a connoisseur of such things) that’s quite the achievement” – Kevin Goddard.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winner is … Martin Bleasdale, who lands some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.

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The Football Weekly pod squad are back for an extra dose of aural entertainment as they pick over Bigger Vase final.

For Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham, there was only one story, one mission. It was not about what happens next with the manager; that can wait. It was about grasping an opportunity that does not come around very often, about emerging from what has felt like a generation’s worth of jibes; about winning.

On a golden night for their longsuffering followers, they chased the baggage from their backs, they changed the narrative. Yet again, Postecoglou won in his second season at a club. For the first time since 2008, Spurs got their hands on a trophy.

There was an idea that success here could do more than rescue the season and bring Champions League qualification; it could unlock something. Yet in the release of all that pent-up frustration upon the full-time whistle, all that mattered was these 90 minutes – plus those nerve-shredding seven extra ones – inside this stadium.

It was a long way from being a classic but try telling that to the hordes in white who danced and pulled each other tight when it was all over, lost in the emotion. Spurs scored just before the interval when Brennan Johnson attacked a Pape Sarr cross, the ball spinning home – just about – with assistance from the unfortunate Manchester United defender, Luke Shaw. And thereafter, Postecoglou’s team simply defended. They did so with their lives. Their expected goals statistic for the second half? 0.00. It did not matter. The only thing that did was keeping United out.

Cristian Romero, who started as the captain after Postecoglou named Son Heung-min among the substitutes, was a titan of strength, ably supported by his central defensive partner, Micky van de Ven. But there were heroes everywhere in white. Like Sarr, whose energy was remarkable in the No 10 role. Like Yves Bissouma.

United had their openings, none bigger than when Rasmus Højlund looped a header goalwards in the 68th minute and saw Van de Ven take off towards his own line, stretching out one of those long legs to acrobatically hook clear from high above it; one of the defining images.

Plenty of the others came after full time. Son’s tears; after 10 years at Spurs, he finally has what he has craved. Postecoglou’s broad smile. He has succeeded where Mauricio Pochettino, José Mourinho, Antonio Conte and all the rest failed. If he departs, after what has been a historically terrible Premier League season, he will do so as a legend.

Spurs will arrange the open-top bus parade – it is slated for Friday – and, hey, their fans will probably tell you that they have now won more than Arsenal over the last five years.

United fought until the end, Shaw working Guglielmo Vicario deep into stoppage time with a header but yet again, they paid the price for their lack of end product. Winning a trophy would not have papered over the cracks that have yawned wide during a truly awful domestic season but it would have given them a good feeling. They departed with only emptiness.

The hype had been extraordinary: redemption or Armageddon. For both clubs. It felt as black and white as that. But if the line about Bilbao bobbins got a laugh, it overlooked how hard the teams had fought to get here; how much it meant.

The nerves jangled; hearts hammered. On the pitch and in the stands. There were errors as both teams fought to settle; fouls conceded, clearances fluffed. It was end to end, the tempo lifted from a weekend Premier League fixture. Composure was sorely missing.

Postecoglou has shown that he can be more flexible with his approach in the knockout rounds of this competition. It need not be relentless waves of intricate attacks. Spurs were happy to look long for Dominic Solanke.

The individual battles pounded. It was easy to fixate on Amad Diallo versus Destiny Udogie, with the Spurs left-back intent on taking risks, on driving upfield – and not without success. Diallo was booked for tugging at his shirt during the first half. In the other direction, Diallo shimmered with menace.

Spurs blew the game open in the 42nd minute. There had been few clear chances up to that point. Sarr had a shot blocked after a loose Harry Maguire pass for Shaw, Johnson having got in on the initial phase while Diallo flashed in a couple of dangerous balls.

The breakthrough was of a piece with the overall scrappiness. Sarr’s whipped cross from the left was dangerous, with Johnson making a trademark run from the far post. He could not finish on the bounce and that was when fate intervened, the ball rearing up, striking Shaw’s upper arm and squirming, via a brush with Johnson’s boot, into the corner beyond André Onana’s desperate dive.

United had been here before this season; trailing Spurs, needing to find an answer. In both of the league fixtures and the Carabao Cup quarter-final, they could not do so, losing all three.

Spurs sank deeper, measuring their progress in duels won, clearances executed. Udogie made a crucial tackle on Diallo inside the area before surging forward at the other end, narrowly missing a pass to Solanke. Son got on for Richarlison and Spurs dug even deeper, the Van de Ven clearance standing as a symbol. Vicario had spilled a Bruno Fernandes free-kick and Højlund was able to measure his header.

Ruben Amorim made changes, including Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee for Mason Mount and Højlund. United probed. Fernandes blew a header when well placed and Garnacho extended Vicario. Postecoglou sent on Kevin Danso for Johnson and went to a back five. When Vicario denied Shaw, Spurs were there.

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The Europa League / Uefa Cup roll of honour. Spurs are looking for their third success in Uefa’s secondary competition tonight, United their second. Here’s where they currently stand on the all-time list.

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Pre-match postbag. “As someone who was lucky enough to have spent six months of a master’s degree living in Bilbao, during Marcelo Bielsa’s reign when they thrashed Manchester United home and away en route to the final, I can’t help but feel it’s a travesty that Athletic aren’t playing tonight. But then, like back in 2012, they’re quite good at bottling it. A bit Spursy, almost” – James Walter

“I’ve been a long distance Spurs supporter since 1975 and has seen a fair amount of disaster and too few trophy highlights (all on the telly). With that success rate it would probably be better for the outcome of the final if I supported my three Danish countrymen in the United squad tonight - but I’ll keep hoping for a little bit of recent glory. COYS!” – Lars Bøgegaard

“Lads, it’s United vs Tottenham. It is not every day you get to watch a Europa League final where both sets of fans are singing ‘you’ll be sacked in the morning’, and we’re not even sure about which coach” – Ben Barclay

“Could the convergence on San Mamés be the largest amassment of British legions in this part of Spain since the Peninsular War of the early 19th century? Interestingly, the term guerrilla warfare came out of this conflict, and I have a feeling that we will see plenty of this tactic on the pitch today. Irregular attacks, unexpected ambushes, chaos in the ranks, panicked retreats, close combat, attrition and ragged glory” - Peter Oh

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Our man David Hytner is watching all of the red-carpet arrivals in Cannes San Mamés. “Just got to the ground to see Ian Wright being serenaded on his way into the VIP entrance by a large group of Spurs fans. Which certainly made him smile. David Dein, too, who was with him, along with Theo Paphitis. Bumped into Thomas Tuchel moments before and it really is one of those occasions when the stars are out. The anticipation is building!”

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Ruben Amorim talks to TNT. “I am relaxed now … I did my job … now it’s with my players and I am really confident … I really enjoyed the last two trainings … when you have these kind of trainings you feel relaxed, so I trust in the guys … so I have that feeling and I’m really confident … Mason Mount in this moment gives us a balance … really good attacking but one extra midfielder … also to have speed on the bench … legs to change the game … in the beginning it is really important to feel the game and we are getting better at that … the result is not going to change so much [regarding transfers] … it can help to add one more if we need … the most important thing is the feeling of winning … we need to deliver that feeling … I am not thinking about the money … we will arrange money because we are a big brand … we are a club that needs that feeling … without trophies it’s really hard to get a connection … we are getting better … this team can step up … I truly believe my players are going to do it.”

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Ange Postecoglou speaks to TNT. “A great feeling … a special night … as a club we haven’t had too many of these moments recently so it’s important we take it tonight … we’re looking forward to it … the moments you remember … the stuff you share with your family … we’re going to need some running power tonight … we’re going to have to work hard … United are a tough opponent … a couple of key players we have to shut down … we’re going to have to be really disciplined … it’s a final … form doesn’t count for much … head-to-head record doesn’t count for much … it’s all about today … we all come and go but the fans are the constant … we want to give something back.”

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Ange Postecoglou has gone with Richarlison ahead of Son Heung-min up front. The Spurs captain has been struggling with a foot problem, and takes a place on the bench. Pape Matar Sarr is the only starter for the 2-0 loss at Aston Villa to keep his place.

Ruben Amorim prefers Mason Mount to Alejandro Garnacho up front. Joshua Zirkzee, previously thought to have been out for the season, is named as a sub. There’s only one change to the starting XI from the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea, with Leny Yoro coming in for Viktor Lindelof.

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The teams

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie, Sarr, Bissouma, Bentancur, Johnson, Solanke, Richarlison.

Subs: Austin, Whiteman, Danso, Son, Tel, Gray, Spence, Odobert, Davies, Scarlett, Moore, Ajayi.

Manchester United: Onana, Yoro, Maguire, Shaw, Mazraoui, Casemiro, Fernandes, Dorgu, Diallo, Mount, Hojlund.

Subs: Bayindir, Lindelof, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Garnacho, Dalot, Ugarte, Heaven, Evans, Mainoo, Amass, Collyer.

Referee: Felix Zwayer (Germany).

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Updated at 20.05 CEST

How Spurs reached the final. They beat Qarabağ, Ferencváros, AZ, Hoffenheim and Elfsborg during the group, finishing comfortably in fourth. They’ve since beaten AZ in the round of 16, Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarters thanks to a Big Ange Defensive Masterclass (!), and the first Norwegian team to reach the semi-finals of any European competition.

How United reached the final. They had to wait until matchday four for their first mega-league victory, but then beat PAOK, Bodø/Glimt, Viktoria Plzeň, Rangers and FCSB en route to third place. They’ve subsequently seen off both Basque giants in Real Sociedad and Athletic Club of Bilbao, relatively easy victories sandwiching an absurd one over Lyon.

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Both of these clubs have contested an all-English final in Europe before. Tottenham Hotspur won the very first Uefa Cup final, in 1972, by beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on aggregate. The decisive and most memorable moment of the two matches was the Martin Chivers thriker at the end of the first leg at Molineux. Manchester United saw off Chelsea on penalties in the 2008 Champions League final after a 1-1 draw at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium. The most memorable moment of that one? Oh JT.

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The clubs have faced each other many times back home, naturally. Manchester United have the upper hand here as well, with 95 wins to Tottenham’s 57 (and 52 draws). But while the overall history skews red, the recent stuff is pure lilywhite. Spurs are unbeaten against United in the last six, wining four and drawing two. They’ve won all three of their previous meetings this season, the high-point being the 3-0 rout at Old Trafford last September.

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Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United have met each other in Europe before. A long time ago. In December 1963, Spurs were the holders of the Cup Winners’ Cup, United the most recent FA Cup winners. They were drawn in the second round of the Cup Winners’ Cup, and Spurs won the first leg at White Hart Lane thanks to a Dave Mackay piledriver and Terry Dyson taking late opportunistic advantage of a careless Tony Dunne backpass.

A week later, the second leg at Old Trafford was just seven minutes old when Mackay – described by this paper as “barrel-chested and bursting with energy” – broke a leg in an accidental collision with Noel Cantwell. United had already by this point taken the lead through a David Herd header, but Tottenham’s ten remaining men battled hard, and though Herd scored again just after the break, Jimmy Greaves restored his team’s aggregate advantage almost immediately after. United’s numerical advantage eventually told, though, and Bobby Charlton scored twice in the last 13 minutes to see Matt Busby’s side through.

Whether it was worth United’s bothering is a moot point. In the quarter finals, they beat Sporting Club 4-1 at Old Trafford, only to capitulate 5-0 in Lisbon three weeks later. Still, they were a team generally trending in a positive direction, with George Best about to be folded into the mix. Bill Nicholson’s glory-glory side were heading the other way, Mackay’s injury ending his imperial phase, John White soon cruelly taken away by a bolt of lightning. A pivotal tie for both clubs, in retrospect. And here we are again.

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Preamble

C’mon kids, let’s stop talking this down. Because while it might be true that …

… yeah, that … because while that might be true, two genuine European heavyweights are facing off in Bilbao tonight. For a proper European trophy. Never mind what it means for Champions League qualification, the size of the summer purse, the destiny of the managers … silvery shimmering glory is up for grabs here, and you can be sure that’s what every last one of the fans who have battled so hard to wind their way down to Bilbao are preoccupied with. So yes, let’s stop talking this down. Up! Up! Up! It’s the Europa League final! It’s Tottenham Hotspur! It’s Manchester United! It could well be a wild nonsensical classic!!! Kick-off is at 9pm Basque o’clock, 8pm BST. It’s on.

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Shaun Tooze emails: “So we know we’ve got six Champions League places and that one of Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur will grab one of those tonight.

“But for the rest of the Champions League places, I think this is, sort of, right.... (feel free to correct me)....

“As we go into the final weekend, City are virtually there. Even if they lose (at Fulham), goal difference dictates that Forest can’t catch them, so they’d just need any one of Newcastle, Chelsea or Villa to not win. These three all winning, AND coupled with a City defeat is the only way City don’t qualify.

“So let’s go to the bottom of this group and look at the least likely side - Nottingham Forest (home to Chelsea).

Firstly, they’d need to beat Chelsea to put themselves on 68 points and Chelsea almost out of it on 66. If that happens, Chelsea’s only hope would be that Villa (away at Man United) lose AND Newcastle (home to Everton) lose by a few goals, probably by 3 or more. So Chelsea need the win to be sure.

“If the Forest-Chelsea game is a draw, Forest are cooked, but Chelsea could still squeeze in if Villa don’t win at Man United OR again if Newcastle are well beaten.

“Villa need to win and hope that one of Newcastle OR Chelsea don’t. A draw would leave them needing Chelsea or Newcastle to lose, but as Chelsea play Forest, a win for either side would have them above a drawing Villa.

“So, in short, Forest need to win with only one of Newcastle and Villa winning and Villa need to win, at the same time needing one of Newcastle and Chelsea not to.

“Right, that’s (sort of) cleared that up then. Off for a lie down.

“Here’s to a cracking final.”

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If United are to win, it feels like Bruno Fernandes will be pivotal. If Spurs can somehow keep him quiet, they could be onto a winner. Whenever United have shone this season, Fernandes has been at the centre of it.

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Reaching the Champions League would be huge for either club. United and Spurs have proved they can cope with European competition but it feels like they need to invest in the summer if they can compete with the continent’s best.

United have been heavily linked with Matheus Cunha but it also seems somewhat inevitable they will need to sell to balance the books. Could Alejandro Garnacho or Kobbie Mainoo be sold regardless?

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Crystal Palace will be in Europe next season after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final. The fans are, it is fair to say, somewhat emotional about it.

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Which Premier League teams will be playing in Europe next season? There is plenty still at stake and it could result in 10 English clubs crisscrossing the continent.

Andy Hunter takes a look going into the final weekend of the campaign.

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Jamie Jackson is still pounding the pavement and has come across some Spurs fans enjoying a trip down the river.

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Each set of supporters in Bilbao have a designated fan park where they can enjoy the day. United are in Etxebarri Parkea and plenty in red are soaking up the sun and refreshments on offer.

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Looking at the football … it does not strike me as a fixture that will go to penalties. Neither team are particular good at defending, so there will be gaps to explore in normal time. You’re welcome to send your predictions. I keep thinking Spurs will edge it but this is based on absolutely nothing.

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A couple of very useful guides on Bilbao. You should go (when it’s a bit quieter).

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Updated at 12.40 CEST

Shall we have some double JJ?

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United have placed flags in the seats that will be occupied by their supporters later. There are not many guarantees for European finals, many become stalemates, but I think this will be an entertaining one with a cracking atmosphere.

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Want to learn more about the start of Ange Postecoglou’s start in management out in the Greek third tier? Don’t worry, I wrote about it ruddy ages ago.

(More tangential content to come).

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Rumour from Bilbao is that Jamie Jackson went for a morning run along the river. It is a sensible route as going up and down the Nervion is about as flat as you’re going to get. I can’t imagine many of the supporters have been out for a morning jog.

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Jamie Jackson

It is 11.30 in the AM here in sun dappled Bilbao and the beer is flowing and the sounds of songs rent the air from United fans near where Lord Dave of Hytner and I are quartered in the old town.

The mood is bright and new and shiny - as Europa League final day starts to gather a little pace. Will Ruben Amorim maybe play a false 9 in Bruno Fernandes (or even Kobbie Mainoo) to ‘solve’ the quasi-toothless Rasmus Hojlund ‘issue’: last night the head coach was non committal on what seems perhaps his biggest selection dilemma …

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Shall we have a David Hytner Tottenham hat-trick? Go on then.

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Bilbao is a small city and therefore the cost of travelling and staying there have become astronomical. We have witnessed plenty of merriment in Bilbao last night but thousands have travelled to San Sebastian and Santander before heading the hour to the San Mames later. Taxi drivers will be having a good night, I am sure.

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Jonathan Wilson is in Bilbao and he has really embraced what this final is all about.

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Hello, Kaixo in Euskera, if we want to go all Basque. I feel sorry for Tom having never been to the San Mames, thankfully dear reader, I have seen matches at the old and new version of the stadium. As a former resident of Bilbao and someone who covers Manchester United for a living, we should be a safe space for the coming hours. Fire in your correspondence and I will tell you where to eat and drink in Bilbao, with some football chucked in.

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Right, time to play a searching 40-yard crossfield pass to Will Unwin, who’ll talk you through the rest of the morning. Bye.

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Elsewhere, Nick Ames has been in Kyiv reporting on how amputee football is helping Ukraine’s war-wounded.

“It’s about emotional gain, helping them rediscover this will to live. In some cases they’re now doing something they weren’t able to before their injuries. The key thing is that we don’t kick anyone out of a team. If you want to play, come to training and let’s do it. Everyone can try, we’ll always encourage each other.”

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“Both Spurs and Manchester United have reached the Europa League final in Bilbao tonight on merit, and deserve respect for doing so rather than the disdain being showered on them simply because their PL campaigns have been poor,” writes Rick Harris. “Winning the Europa League isn’t a given for PL sides just because they have bigger budgets, they still have to earn it through winning games of football against motivated teams.”

Indeed, call it “cup specialism” and enjoy it, though a Proper European Final really should have clubs from different countries in it.

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Updated at 11.46 CEST

Wimbledon’s Hutchinson had heart attack in match before scoring winner

The AFC Wimbledon midfielder Sam Hutchinson revealed he had a heart attack during their recent match at Grimsby in which his goal later sealed a League Two play-off place, reports PA Media.

The 35-year-old has undergone surgery to place a stent in a blocked artery after he fell ill following his side’s 1-0 win at Grimsby on 2 May. Hutchinson, whose career began at Chelsea, had a heart attack in the sixth minute but went on to play the full 90 minutes at Blundell Park, scoring the 53rd-minute winner.

It was only on the journey home that his symptoms worsened, leading him to have heart surgery. “I was experiencing a lot of pain,” he told the club website. “I got on the coach after the game, the adrenaline wore off and I started having more pains in my chest. From there we made a pit stop in Nottingham.

“We went into the hospital and they essentially told me I’d had a heart attack. I was in there for five days having tests done. A branch of an artery was blocked 75% – I had an angiogram and had a stent put in by a specialist in London who was unbelievable. I’m on the road to recovery now.”

The Dons made it through to Monday’s play-off final against Walsall, where Hutchinson will take a watching brief. However, he is already back running and is expecting to resume his career.

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From the photos and broadcast footage, Bilbao, and San Mamés, look an absolute picture. In fact San Mamés is high up my list of grounds I haven’t been to but really want to, along with the likes of Dortmund, San Siro, La Bombonera and the Mestalla. Got a stadium bucket list? Share it here.

In Bilbao plenty of stories being told of circuitous routes to get there and hotels being packed out. Are we heading for a mass sleep-out event along the lines of Celtic in Seville 22 years ago?

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Updated at 11.51 CEST

Lots of statistical fun to be had with tonight’s final, and The Knowledge this week has gone in hard on them, asking whether tonight’s match features the worst aggregate domestic league positions of any European finalists. Relive the 1988 Uefa Cup final and more here:

All of which should get you in shape for our English Euro-finallists quiz. I got only eight and am having stern words with myself right now:

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To parade or not to parade? While Liverpool prepares to welcome up to a million people on to its streets this weekend for their Premier League title festivities, Gary Neville reckons Manchester United shouldn’t do anything similar if they win tonight, as PA Media reports.

“If Manchester United win, they’ll celebrate a trophy but there will be a cautious celebration tomorrow – not by the fans, though, because they’ll obviously go crazy. Their interviews will be along the lines of them saying that they’re so happy and delighted for the fans, but it’s been a difficult season,” sniffed the former United full-back. “That will be the tone of it. I don’t think there should be a parade through the city for them winning the Europa League.”

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Updated at 10.50 CEST

Whatever happened to old-school cup final records? Well, Spurs have one, To Dare is to Do, written by Oscar-winning singer songwriters an producers Jimmy Napes and Paul Epworth. More a gentle swayalong number than a raucous terrace chant but a reasonable equivalent to Arsenal’s North London Forever. And proceeds all go to Noah’s Ark Hospice in Barnet.

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Guardiola threatens to quit over squad size: An interesting line from Pep Guardiola’s post-match presser last night, the Manchester City manager threatening to quit unless his squad’s size is reduced. Guardiola feels it’s unfair on those members of his squad denied sufficient game time. Guess he’ll never get the Chelsea gig then. Whether he’ll still say that in the midst of a mid-November injury crisis and lean run, well we’ll see.

“I said to the club I don’t want that [a bigger squad. I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don’t want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay. It’s impossible for my soul to give my players in the tribune [stands] that they cannot play. Now it happened to add players immediately.

“Maybe [for] three, four months we couldn’t select 11 players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult. After people come back but next season it cannot be like that. As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club. I don’t want that.”

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Preamble

Morning everyone and happy Europa League final day, whether you’re reading this on the sly at work or on a park bench in Bilbao. There’s a curious air of anticipation around this evening’s final – on the one hand it’s an absurdity, two dismal English top-flight sides flaunting the Premier League’s wealth on Basque Country streets, a damning indictment of European football’s dysfunctional, lopsided finances. Scores of much better run clubs across the continent will be looking on enviously, and perhaps bitterly.

On the other hand, cup football … isn’t it. The very randomness of teams being mostly rubbish except in one competition is part of the allure of knockout football, and it’s notable that almost everything good about this season has come in eliminator rounds, from a revitalised English FA Cup to the Inter-Barça blockbuster the other week. So let’s drink it in, as those carousing on the streets of Bilbao will be – with or without hotel rooms.

We’ll be counting down the hours to kick-off with all the latest news and buildup, as well as looking back on last night’s semi-meaningful but very emotional Premier League action, as Palace fans greeted the FA Cup for the first time and Manchester City’s home crowd serenaded Kevin De Bruyne for the last time.

In the meantime, make yourself a brew and get stuck into Jonathan Wilson’s big-match preview, David Hytner on Big Ange’s likely Spurs exit regardless, and Daniel Harris’s look at Ruben Amorim’s necessary emotional intelligence:

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Updated at 10.28 CEST

Gatwick on Tuesday morning was full of Spurs fans. They were in the Pret a Manger, they were in the Pizza Express, they were in the Wagamama, but mostly they were standing gawping at the destination board, which featured a baffling number of Vueling flights to Bilbao, a squeezing of the schedule that led to inevitable delays and confusion.

The queue for the three open booths at passport control in Bilbao was a vast python of white shirts, speckled with the occasional tree green or purple. The bus into town was almost entirely Spurs, with a handful of businessmen and a bewildered older couple returning from their holidays, who admitted they had no idea their city was hosting a major European final.

In fairness, it has not felt much like a major European final. This is 16th against 17th in the Premier League, a battle of two sides who have each won one of their past 10 league games. As such, it has been regarded as an indictment of the inequitable distribution of resources in the modern world and something from a Victorian freak show, simultaneously an English boot grinding its studs forever into the face of Europe and a bout between a blind bear and a pair of three-legged badgers. None of which is entirely unfair, and yet it is a major European final, as the mass migration of excited fans attests.

That a final could comprise two such struggling teams is undeniably funny, but the game matters. For Tottenham, this could be a first trophy since 2008 and a first European trophy since 1984; for United, it could, inexplicably, be a third piece of silverware in successive seasons, and a seventh European trophy.

Neither side will need reminding that their ostensibly more successful local rivals have won nothing this season.

Almost more importantly in the remorselessly capitalistic environment of the modern game, victory on Wednesday would secure passage to next season’s Champions League, with all the financial benefits that will bring. It could rival the Championship playoff final as the most valuable game in English football. The way potential qualification for the Champions League has been touted as a means of salvaging dismal seasons is itself indicative of the way football has been financialised.

A trophy may have meant the world for Crystal Palace on Saturday, but for at least some at United and Spurs (although not Ange Postecoglou, as he was determined to point out), the Europa League feels like a means to a more lucrative ends; winning silverware in order to generate the revenue that will allow them to generate more revenue. The game, as Danny Blanchflower nearly said, is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and creating sustainable revenue streams for the future.

When Postecoglou arrived at Tottenham, he seemed a natural fit. His attitude to the game had been shaped by Ferenc Puskas, who coached him at South Melbourne, and there was a stylistic congruence between Arthur Rowe’s Tottenham of the early 1950s, which established the push‑and-run style, and the ethos of Hungarian football in the same period.

For all Postecoglou’s cussed insistence that the way he plays is the way he plays, Spurs’ best performances this season have been in away games when they have played in a style that would not be described as Angeball. When they beat Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad Stadium, it was by playing on the counter and controlling the game in the second half. The Europa League wins at Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodø/ Glimt were almost like tactical plans devised by José Mourinho, stifling their opponents and assuming superior quality or physicality would tell in the end.

Which presents Postecoglou with a conundrum. Tottenham have beaten United three times this season: twice with classic Angeball and once in a grim scrap when neither side played remotely well. Does he go with what worked at Old Trafford in the league and at home in the Carabao Cup or does he go with what has worked in Europe and opt for something more cautious?

He may not have much option. Spurs do not have the natural advantage they had over Frankfurt and Bodø/Glimt, but neither are they likely to have their three most creative midfielders with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski out and Lucas Bergvall a major doubt. That probably means Yves Bissouma and Rodrigo Bentancur sitting with Pape Matar Sarr driving forward.

It had looked as though Postecoglou’s team without a midfield would be facing Ruben Amorim’s team without a defence, although with Leny Yoro and Diogo Dalot back in training the injury situation at United is not as acute as it had appeared. If there is an explanation for the disparity in United’s European and domestic form this season, it is probably that the lower pace of the Europa League allows players such as Casemiro and Harry Maguire to play under less immediate physical pressure. The dilemma for Postecoglou, then, is how to press them without losing the defensive structure that saw Spurs through the past two rounds.

Despite all the noise around it, the talk of finals of the undeserving and the economic rewards on offer, this is, almost despite itself, a major final. Somebody will win a trophy and whatever else that means it will be celebrated on the night and go down in posterity. Football is made of this.

Ange Postecoglou said he had left plenty of his previous jobs after the most important matches and achievements as he sounded resigned to his fate at Tottenham before the Europa League final against Manchester United on Wednesday. The manager is not expected to carry on into next season after a dismal Premier League campaign in which his team have lost 21 times and lag 17th in the table before the final game against Brighton on Sunday.

The showpiece against United here offers Postecoglou the opportunity to lead Spurs to a first trophy since 2008 and he made clear that his focus was trained on what would be a momentous feat. Yet the subject of his future is an unavoidable sideshow and he did not run from it on Tuesday. What was also striking was Postecoglou’s suggestion that he was not ready to leave, believing his work at the club was far from finished.

“I’ve said to the lads from day one that nothing is guaranteed in life, nothing is guaranteed in sport,” Postecoglou said. “You just need to try and make sure you take every opportunity before you. That’s what I have done my whole career. I’ve been in this position before where the big game was the last game I managed. It’s not unusual territory for me.

“I have always navigated it pretty well because, for me, nothing is more important than my responsibility for this football club and its fans. Me, the players … our mind is only on one thing and that is to create something special.

“I qualified for a World Cup [with Australia] and left. I won the treble with Celtic and left. I won at Brisbane and left. It’s more common than you think.”

Postecoglou reacted spikily to the suggestion that his future would be decided by the Spurs hierarchy. “My future is assured,” he said. “I wouldn’t be the first person who changes job. We all change jobs. I am sure you’ve had more than one job.

“I have got a beautiful family, I’ve got a great life. I’ll keep on winning trophies until I finish – wherever that is. Don’t worry about my future. My future is not intertwined with anything. My future is assured provided, God willing, my health remains, my beautiful family is beside me, my friends … there is nothing wrong with my future, mate. Don’t stress. Sleep easy tonight. I’ll be OK.”

It has been possible to wonder whether Postecoglou might ride off into the sunset if he were to beat United, content he had achieved his ends at Spurs. He gave it short shrift. “No. Because I don’t think my job is done here. I really feel like we are building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerate that.

“It is quite obvious with the challenges we’ve had this year, which are well chronicled, but there is some reasoning in the context of that. But also there has been some growth and I would like to see [that] through. Whether that happens or not is not that important right now, but I don’t think this job is finished, far from it. I certainly feel there is some growth there, that we can take this club to where it needs to be.”

Postecoglou said he had not felt the need to address the subject of what happens next in terms of himself with the players. “I’ve said before that whatever happens beyond tomorrow is kind of irrelevant when you think about the opportunity that exists right now.

“If I was worried about my tenure at this football club, it’s fair to say we wouldn’t have been in this position [in the final] because I would have been distracted long ago. Whatever happens after, I’m very, very comfortable.”

Postecoglou bristled with defiance, a window into his soul provided when he slaughtered a journalist he has always seemed to respect; the writer had said that Postecoglou was in a strange position before the final, “teetering between hero and clown” – the latter phrase going down incredibly badly.

Postecoglou spoke emotionally of his late father, Jim, who he said would always be with him, and also of his Greek-Australian heritage. Postecoglou will become the first Greek or Australian to manage in a European final. “I love being Greek, I love being in Greece, it’s where I’ll retire one day,” he said. “And I love that I grew up in Australia. When you grow up there, you have the attitude when it comes to sport that you’ll take on anyone. It doesn’t matter how big or small they are.”

Postecoglou reported that Pape Matar Sarr was available after picking up a knock at Aston Villa last Friday. He reiterated that Lucas Bergvall was out with an ankle injury.

BIGGER THE VASE, BIGGER THE COST

With more than 80,000 English football fans expected to descend on Bilbao for the Bigger Vase final, it’s safe to assume that approximately half of them will return home in despair, while almost all of them will be seriously out of pocket. But despite its status as a fine location with a proud football heritage, Bilbao doesn’t have the infrastructure to cope with the myriad demands that come with hosting a game between the 16th and 17th best teams in England. With “budget” flights costing well north of a grand and even the most low-rent accommodation priced up at £500-plus a night, one can but hope for the sake of those Spurs and Manchester United fans who use plane, train, automobile or boat to arrive in northern Spain for this season-defining match that Bilbao has no shortage of doorways and park benches. Expect plenty to be occupied on Tuesday evening by green-around-the-gills landlubbers who set off on Sunday evening’s Portsmouth ferry, a vessel which docked in Bilbao earlier.

The players and staff of both clubs involved are likely to be feeling similarly queasy before an encounter that would be considerably less stressful if it weren’t for the fact they have to play each other. Having left the acrid, smouldering skips that constitute their respective domestic campaigns behind them for one last shot at redemption at San Mamés, all concerned will be painfully aware of the potentially damaging consequences of defeat. While silverware in the form of Bigger Vase, a place in next season’s Bigger Cup and tens of millions of pounds are on the line, the sheer volume of nationwide and international derision that will be heaped upon all connected with whichever side loses this final is uncontemplatable. After the debacle of Spurs’ and United’s seasons, for either to lose a Bigger Vase final against [insert random mid-table European side here] would hurt but be reasonably tolerable. For either to lose a Bigger Vase final against the other will prompt generational levels of entirely-justified ridicule.

“You can imagine what impact that will have on their lives, their family’s lives, the people who are in their circle,” sighed Ange Postecoglou, who it’s only fair to point out was contemplating the consequences of a Spurs triumph. “It will be something they never forget and it’ll be something that they’ll share with two, three generations of people in their circle. So it doesn’t escape me – the enormity of it.” And in the event of defeat? “You can imagine what impact that will have on their lives, their family’s lives, the people who are in their circle etc, and so on,” he added because sometimes the gags just write themselves. Meanwhile in the United camp, Ange’s opposite number was musing on the quirks of fate that have led to English football’s most high-profile crisis clubs meeting in this winner-takes-all showdown. “I think it will have an impact on the fans – and when I say ‘the fans’ I mean our fans – because they need this win,” roared Ruben Amorim. “They will look at the coach in a different way, because it would mean [Bigger Cup] football. These games have to be won and if you don’t there is nothing left but sadness.” Well, sadness, a sleepless night on a Bilbao bench and a miserable, overpriced journey home to a lifetime of unbridled mockery.

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Join Taha Hashim at 8pm BST for updates on Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth in Kevin De Bruyne’s final home game.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

A very beautiful career is coming to an end, a very full life. I feel very fortunate for what I’ve experienced. I didn’t expect it, but I think the time has come and I feel like bringing it to a close here” – former Barcelona, Liverpool and Spain vibes-man, Pepe Reina, is hanging up his gloves aged 7842 after Como’s final game of the season on Friday. He might have a busy last day at the office given Inter will be desperately fighting for the title. Look out for any loose beachballs, Pepe!

Trust the Germans to have a word to describe every situation or feeling. Liverpool’s current performance (or lack of) can be defined as Erfüllungsleere” – Krishna Moorthy.

Given this appears to be the year of the underdog in cup finals, Tottenham and Manchester United must be really optimistic” – Martyn Shapter.

Re: Memory Lane (yesterday’s Football Daily, full email edition) – that mascot got a bit more than they bargained for” – Jim Hearson.

I’d question the wisdom of publishing both of Michael Glogower’s pun-laden Eredivisie missives in recent letters sections. Remember, two De Jongs don’t make a right …” – Derek McGee.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s letter o’ the day winners are … Krishna Moorthy, who wins some Football Weekly merch. We’ll be in touch. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, can be viewed here.

RECOMMENDED LOOKING

It’s David Squires on … moving scenes and mind games as Crystal Palace win the FA Cup.

“It’s easy when things aren’t going well to come up with excuses,” Brennan Johnson says and, with things not going well for him at Tottenham, there was plenty of stuff that he could have hidden behind.

The weight of the £47.5m fee which took him from Nottingham Forest in September 2023; Spurs have paid more for only three players in their history. The sky-high expectations of being at one of London’s glamour clubs. Apart from a loan to League One Lincoln in 2020-21, Johnson had known life only in Nottingham and at Forest, whose academy he joined at the age of eight. And then there was the social media abuse; kryptonite for confidence.

If there was a low point for Johnson, it surely came after the derby defeat at home to Arsenal last September when he looked at his Instagram account and was assailed by the hurtfulness of the messages. The winger made the decision to step away from his socials but more than that, to reach even deeper into the depths of his resolve; to blot out the noise and the naysayers, to focus on what he could control.

Johnson does not lack mental toughness. There was always pressure on him as he grew up in West Bridgford to the south of Nottingham and made his way at Forest because his father, David, had been a favourite at the club, scoring 50 goals for them across six seasons after the turn of the millennium. Johnson withstood that.

It has always been about the hard yards for him; he knows he has the ability on the ball but it is nothing without the physical application. And so the 23-year-old focused on making the right runs, better runs, getting into the areas where the Spurs manager, Ange Postecoglou, wanted him.

The results have been spectacular. As Johnson prepares for the Europa League final against Manchester United in Bilbao on Wednesday, he does so as Spurs’s top scorer with 17 in all competitions – plus seven assists. The turning point came straight after the Arsenal game when he got his first goal of the season – the stoppage-time winner at Coventry in the Carabao Cup. He would score in each of Spurs’s next five matches, including against United at Old Trafford in the 3-0 Premier League win.

“It was just about trying to nail down the stuff I could do,” Johnson says. “So, a lot of work and a bit of luck when you get into those positions but just trying to train as hard as I can and be in the position.”

Johnson contributed five goals and 11 assists in his debut Spurs campaign and his greater productivity this time out is best talked up by the line that says no player not called Kane or Son has scored more for the club in a single season since Dele Alli got 22 in 2016-17.

It is still possible to feel that Johnson is not fully appreciated; he has somehow drifted under the radar. The idea is linked to the notion that Spurs fans want David Ginola on the wing. They prefer aesthetes to athletes. But Postecoglou is not the only modern manager who will tell you that they need runners, first and foremost. Johnson’s in-game physical data has been consistently excellent and Postecoglou has praised him for his work ethic, his receptiveness to feedback. Which brings us back to those runs.

Postecoglou has joked that he would love to be a winger in his team and there is certainly a trademark Johnson goal – a burst from beyond the far post, sometimes in front of a defender, to meet a low cross from the left with a first-time close-range finish. Ten of his 22 for Spurs have followed the blueprint, one being the goal at Old Trafford after a storming Micky van de Ven run and cross.

“It’s a demand that the manager puts on us to be in the back post,” Johnson says. “Last season, there were a few instances where I wasn’t in the right position and he gets frustrated because people think it’s a tap-in but if you’re not there then it goes out for a throw-in.

“It’s knowing who I am playing with, knowing the type of crosses I am going to get, almost studying other players in the team. This season I made it clear that I had to be in the right positions to try and score.”

Johnson has played in previous showpieces, including the 2022 Championship playoff final in which Forest beat Huddersfield. He was on the losing Lincoln team in the 2021 League One playoff final against Blackpool. He downplays the emotional detail before this game about how his father started his career as a trainee at United; he did not make a first-team appearance for them. But there is surely something to be taken from Spurs having beaten United in all three domestic meetings this season, including the Carabao Cup quarter-final.

“We can’t rely on that,” Johnson says. “It’s about coming up with a plan because each time we’ve beaten them has been down to different reasons. I feel like we’ve done good work preparing for Man United and this is a new opportunity. We want to be as confident as we can.”

It was never meant to be a “panacea”, as Ange Postecoglou would say; possibly because the ills at Tottenham are so numerous. Winning a cup would be fabulous, hugely welcome but, according to the manager, it would not – in isolation, at least – offer the prospect of sustained success. Which was the target when he came to the club in the summer of 2023.

Remember Postecoglou’s attitude after he exited the Carabao Cup with a weakened team at Fulham in the early weeks of his tenure? “I’m here because I want to create a club that has the opportunity to win things on a yearly basis,” he said. “There’s a difference. Us winning a Carabao Cup and finishing 10th is not what I think this club is about.”

To Postecoglou, it was about putting down firm foundations and building something meaningful, consistency in the Premier League the priority, the truest barometer of progress. Do that and the rest will take care of itself. Postecoglou was still preaching from this page of his gospel before the November international break this season.

“I could be going: ‘Let’s just win a trophy this season and everything will be fine,’” he said. “But if we win a trophy, finish 10th and five games into next year I get sacked – not that it’s about me – but then the club has to change direction again. So have you really done anything? I don’t think so. It’s not going to be one simple thing that opens the floodgates.”

We hear a lot from Postecoglou – too much, he will tell you with that dry humour of his, the self‑deprecating edge which fans do not always see when he faces the TV cameras. It can be obscured by his rock solid self-belief, how he almost never takes a backward step. Postecoglou does not love being the lone public voice of the senior management at Spurs. There have been times when he has looked isolated; unsupported, even. File it alongside the crosses he has to bear.

But if Postecoglou is generous with his time, he has shown himself to be an expert manipulator of the narrative; deft and compelling. And as he approaches one of the biggest games of his life – the Europa League final against Manchester United in Bilbao on Wednesday – it has been a shift in his mission statement that has shone a light on where Spurs are as a club; fighting to escape oppressive shackles, a climate of angst and negativity. Where he finds himself, as well.

Postecoglou surely still believes his line about how a first trophy for the club since 2008 would not sling-shot them into the elite. But things have changed, his personal situation, too. As Spurs endure one of the worst league seasons in their history, 21 defeats (and counting) starting to spell the end for Postecoglou, he has come to regard victory against United as having silver-bullet potential – certainly in terms of the biggest single thing holding the club back.

Postecoglou has had his fill of the mockery that has accompanied Tottenham’s silverware drought; the idea, pushed remorselessly by their detractors, that it will always go wrong for them. He has spoken of a “hysteria” around the club that is “premeditated for a certain outcome”.

Plainly, it is damaging for the players; it can get inside their heads, real self-fulfilling prophecy stuff. Postecoglou’s conclusion? Only a trophy can provide release, a step towards the grander times that he originally envisaged. “With all of these things, there’s only one remedy: win,” he has said.

Postecoglou has concentrated on instilling conviction in his players, having essentially conceded defeat in his efforts to control what goes on in the wider environment, taking in the fans’ anxieties, how their insecurities are fed by the entrenched narratives. “A losing battle,” has been Postecoglou’s take.

There was a reason why the club shared the video of Postecoglou’s speech in the dressing room after the semi-final second-leg win at Bodø/Glimt. It was touching, a look at how he can draw people in and inspire them. “You can change things,” Postecoglou told the players. “I keep saying to you: ‘This is the group that is going to do it.’”

Postecoglou’s idea in recent months has been to reframe the challenge, to have the players see a “greater purpose” than merely winning a trophy and “shutting people’s mouths up”. In other words, to make it a turning point in terms of the club’s trajectory and the way it is perceived. And, indeed, how it perceives itself.

It feels as if there is an element of legacy protection about Postecoglou’s positioning and it goes beyond the ‘I always win a trophy in my second season’ shtick. When he said this after the derby defeat against Arsenal in September, he did not mean it to sound like a boast. It was just a statement of fact, defiant and typically punchy, designed to inspire confidence.

What Postecoglou has wanted to do is remind people of the situation that he inherited at Spurs. Morale was low after Antonio Conte’s scorching of the earth. The team had finished eighth. There was no European football for the first time since 2009-10. Harry Kane was about to be sold.

Postecoglou was charged with changing the style of play, moving away from the counter-punching of José Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo and Conte. The demand was for greater entertainment. And he was charged with overseeing a squad overhaul which had a focus on younger players with potential. Spurs have got rid of a lot of experienced players and if none of those moved on have been greatly mourned – apart from Kane – the collective loss of nous has been felt this season.

“We’ve signed a lot of young players with the right kind of thinking for the future,” Postecoglou has said. “That’s costing us now because we don’t have a squad that can cope with what it’s going through now.”

The taking of a new direction was never going to be straightforward and that is before all of the additional elements are factored in, mainly the climate outside the first-team bubble. Postecoglou has spoken of how there is never anyone who defends the interests of the club in public apart from him. How there are only people, usually pundits, who pile in to press a finger on the sores, to diminish and demean. Postecoglou has felt this ever more keenly and, frankly, he has been unable to manage it. There has also been the distraction of the anti-Daniel Levy movement among the fanbase and even the in-house mole who has leaked sensitive injury information.

The silence from the top of the club has been difficult to ignore, never more so than when Levy issued his annual chairman’s statement at the end of March and failed to mention Postecoglou. You did not need to be a longtime Levy watcher to deduce that this was bad news. Since then, Postecoglou has made a number of wisecracks about whether he will last beyond the end of the season. It is as if he has been told something.

Could Postecoglou sell a season in which he won the Europa League but finished 17th as a success? Bear in mind that Spurs have never lost more in a 38-game league campaign. Their record league low is the 22 defeats from 1934‑35 when they were relegated – and that was across 42 matches.

Postecoglou has tap-danced at every turn, citing the injury crisis that hurt him so badly and, more recently, how he has put everything on the Europa League. It is worth noting that the supporters have never made calls inside stadiums for him to be sacked, albeit there have been times when they have angrily expressed frustration with him. As he approaches his 100th game for the club, Postecoglou continues to dance.

“My view was that’s what I’ll get judged on,” Postecoglou said last Monday of Spurs’ hunt for a trophy. “I could have been sitting here fifth last year, fifth this year … and maybe people wouldn’t be waiting for the white smoke to see if it’s my last season. But they’d still be saying: ‘That’s great, Ange. But it’s been done before. Until the club wins something, you haven’t made an impact.’ I kind of knew throughout my tenure last year that that’s what I was going to be judged on.”

It might not have been what Postecoglou wanted. But we are where we are.