Football London

Tottenham Hotspur have endured a season in which injuries have rarely been far from their door and that is no different with the Europa League final on the horizon.

Ange Postecoglou and his players have faced the toughest of campaigns with most of the Tottenham squad lost to longer term injuries at points during much of the season, meaning a stretched squad of only 12 or 13 players for three months during the winter. Now they have suffered another flurry of injuries just as a date with Manchester United in Bilbao lies ahead on Wednesday night.

The Spurs boss is going to have to get creative with his team selection for the big game in Spain against a United team that has struggled in the Premier League as well but is not struggling with the same availability issues.

Here is the latest news on all of Tottenham's injured players and when they could potentially return to action.

Dejan Kulusevski

The Swede underwent surgery this week on the patella in his right knee and will be out for some time as he recovers and rehabilitates after the injury suffered against Crystal Palace.

"Disappointing news," said Postecoglou. "Initially we thought it wasn’t too serious. The medical team were worried structurally about how the knee was but it blew up the day after and we knew there was an issue there. He has had surgery and it will put him out for at least a few months."

When asked if Kulusevski will be fit for the start of next season, he said: "We will see. To be honest, I have only got basic information at the moment in terms of recovery but it will certainly put him out for a while."

Potential return date: Early next season.

James Maddison

Another knee injury but Maddison did not require surgery after he suffered the problem in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt.

"Unfortunately, Madders last week hurt his knee, and it looks like he's got an issue there. That'll keep him out for the rest of the season, which is disappointing," said Postecoglou.

Initial estimates for the recovery period were believed to be around 12 weeks from when it happened, which would have Maddison returning just in time for the new season.

Potential return date: Late in pre-season.

Lucas Bergvall

All eyes are on Lucas Bergvall even though Postecoglou has ruled him out twice, the second time as recently as Thursday, and says he won't be available for the final on Wednesday night. He told football.london that the teenager would have maybe had a chance if the match was two weeks later.

The Swede turned his ankle in training the day before the semi-final first leg and only got out of his protective boot earlier this week. It's going to be a day by day affair with Bergvall as Spurs monitor his progress in the nine days between getting out of the boot and the final in Bilbao.

Bergvall will be desperate to play on the big stage, but it's all about whether his ankle is stable and also whether there's any risk of further damage.

Potential return date: Fingers (or ankles) crossed for the final despite Postecoglou's insistence otherwise.

Pape Matar Sarr

The Senegal international felt some discomfort in his back during the defeat at Aston Villa and was taken off and replaced by Yves Bissouma.

"Pape felt something in his back so we took him off as a bit of a precaution," Postecoglou told football.london. "I don’t think it’s anything too significant speaking to him afterwards but he just felt something in his back."

Potential return date: Hopefully the 22-year-old is fine for the final.

Radu Dragusin

The Romanian has been out since the Europa League match against Elfsborg when he damaged his cruciate ligaments. The recovery period is going to be a long time but Dragusin has been stepping up his recovery with plenty of footage of his work on the grass as he returns to running.

Potential return date: During next season and Tottenham will be cautious with the centre-back.

Timo Werner

Postecoglou revealed to football.london on Thursday that Werner is currently out with a hamstring injury. The German has not been spotted for a while and the Australian provided the reason and it's likely we've seen the last of the former Chelsea man in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt.

Potential return date: Likely never for Spurs.

Dane Scarlett

Another player who has been absent recently and we had to wait for Postecoglou to tell us why the young striker had disappeared from matchday squads.

It turns out that Scarlett has been carrying a groin injury all season and he had surgery to fix that. He and Bergvall both took part in the UEFA media day on Tuesday with either means both are close enough to a potential return or they simply wanted to take part in it all.

Potential return date: Unknown

Yves Bissouma has opened up on his relationship with Ange Postecoglou after a season that has brought its fair share of difficulties for the Tottenham midfielder but could yet end with glory.

The 28-year-old began the campaign with a one-game club suspension after filming himself using nitrous oxide with that footage appearing on social media. Bissouma then struggled to impose himself with a regular starting spot this season, losing his place to teenager Lucas Bergvall and has only started 16 Premier League matches for Spurs this campaign.

However, Bergvall's ankle injury this month opened the door for the Mali international to return to the side and the midfielder impressed in both semi-final legs against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and will now likely start in Bilbao on Wednesday night in the final against Manchester United.

"It’s always a pleasure to be back and playing. Football is everything for me. To be playing is something special for me. I have to take every opportunity like I did in the last European game, so I’m happy," Bissouma told football.london.

The midfielder was speaking at Hotspur Way after a recovery session, wearing Crocs that bore the letters "YB8" on the right foot and "SOG" on the other.

"Son of God," he explained before adding: "I am a very religious person. I learned from my family."

Bissouma has previously referred to Postecoglou as feeling like family and he laughed when we asked him about his manager's claim that the two men had spoken last month and he'd told the midfielder of his strong feeling that he would end up having a crucial part to play in the season's final weeks - something that has come to pass.

"Yes, of course [I can remember it]. He said everything already, but yes as a player, it’s really important to stay involved with the team because you don’t know when the team will need you, so you have to work hard to be ready. That’s why we are here as professionals," he said.

Bissouma was only too happy to speak about his relationship with the Australian after a season in which it could easily have been strained by the lack of football and that pre-season spot of bother.

"It’s never changed. Never changed. We have a good relationship. Like I said, he’s like a dad or uncle for us. He’s always trying to make us understand what he really wants," he said. "For us, he’s Ange, he’s him. He’s got his idea. He’s trying to help us every time. It’s not easy (the style of play), especially at the start. We have to stick together like what we're doing and that’s what we’re doing."

He added: "He’s always protecting us. Every game, when we lose or win. Like I said, he’s got a top mentality. He understands football. He knows it’s up and down. He never blames players. To have a coach like him is something. At the same time, with him, we are working hard. We want to improve every game and every training session because it’s really important for us and the club. We’re all here for the club, for the same reason. It’s necessary to be together."

While Bissouma did not want to go into the details of that early suspension this season, he opened up on those who have helped him get through such tough moments this season.

"Everyone, and yourself as well, as a professional. You have to understand that football is up and down. In the hard moments, you have to be strong," he said. "You have to stay strong because it’s not easy. The most important thing for us is we're here to learn. That's why we train every day to be ready for the game."

So have the Tottenham fans seen the best of Bissouma yet since his arrival from Brighton in the summer of 2022?

"Of course there’s more to come. We are always here for learning, I’m still learning. This season has been hard for me because I didn’t play much," he said. "The most important thing is if the team does good. I’m here to work and when my time comes, I play. As a professional, you have to be ready.

"You have to understand it’s not just yourself – you are part of a group. You can’t control things sometimes. The only thing I know is, you have to work hard and never give up and be ready when your team needs you. That’s what I’m always trying to do."

All eyes are now on Wednesday night's final in Bilbao for Bissouma and the Tottenham players.

"We know what we have to do. We have to win this cup because for us, it’s really important. It’s an important game for us. As a player, it’s not coming every season," said the midfielder. "For the club, for the fans, it’s something special."

New Tottenham Hotspur chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham is looking for a new staff member to work with him when he joins the north London club this summer.

It was announced last month that the former Arsenal CEO would be make the journey to N17 in order to take on a similar role this summer with chairman Daniel Levy finally getting his man after knowing Venkatesham for years as they worked together in the Premier League and European Club Association.

While he is yet to officially join the club, Venkatesham is already looking to the summer and on Friday promoted a new role working alongside him at Tottenham on LinkedIn, saying: "Looking for an exceptional individual to fill an exciting role. This person will work closely with me and other colleagues to help deliver the club's key priorities. The role is ideally suited to a high performing strategy consultant (or similar) with three to four years experience and excellent interpersonal skills."

The job itself for a business operations lead to the CEO is set with a long description of all the qualities required and what the role will entail as the successful candidate works closely with both Venkatesham and his personal assistant at Spurs.

"This individual will support the delivery of the key priorities of the CEO, across both football and business operations with a focus on the latter," read the job advert, which closes on May 29. "They will support the CEO in various ways across those priorities including analysis, project management, strategic direction and by being a trusted, independent sounding board in his decision making.

"This role will suit an individual who thrives in fast-paced environments, loves orchestrating organisational excellence and has exceptional emotional intelligence as well as relationship building skills."

Among the many requirements of the role are to "undertake research, analysis, project management and related activities to support decision making around, and delivery of, strategic priorities of the CEO". The candidate will also be required to "step in and represent the CEO in meetings as required, being a positive representative of the CEO at all times".

The job is for someone of graduate level, with approximately three to four years of experience in strategy consulting or similar strategic and analytical roles, ideally with exposure to C-level stakeholders.

Venkatesham's arrival is expected to herald another big summer of change at Tottenham.

Injuries have been the scourge of Tottenham's season and Ange Postecoglou is going to have to get creative with his formation to face Manchester United in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

The latest injury to rock Spurs has been Dejan Kulusevski requiring surgery to the patella in his right knee, which means that not only will the Swede miss the big night in Bilbao, but he will also be out for a number of months ahead as he looks towards returning next season.

The 25-year-old's absence is compounded by the fact that James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall have already been ruled out for the remainder of the season by Postecoglou, meaning all of Spurs' creative central midfielders have been wiped out in one fell swoop ahead of the final.

That means the Australian's normal system will not work as well, so he may have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a formation that suits the players he has got and creates problems Ruben Amorim's side.

Here are four options that Postecoglou could take:

The Tottenham boss could go old school with his formation because he's got the players for a 4-4-2 and we saw it with different players in stages on Friday at Villa Park.

Dominic Solanke could play off Richarlison, and with both strikers good in the air and sweeping home finishes in the six-yard box, Postecoglou could utilise Son Heung-min and Brennan Johnson on the wings trying to get the ball to the two front men, as would Pedro Porro with his deeper crosses.

You would then have Rodrigo Bentancur and Bissouma patrolling the midfield behind them in a double pivot up against the United midfield.

United do have some big defenders but there would be plenty of options for Tottenham to aim for in this formation. The issue would be whether the midfield would be strong enough to compete with their Manchester counterparts.

Another option for Postecoglou is to go with the formation that brought Tottenham joy back in the days under Mauricio Pochettino and that is the 4-2-3-1.

We've seen it a couple of times in recent weeks and in this formation, Solanke could be the lone striker or he could also play the number 10 role behind Richarlison in a slightly withdrawn version of the formation above. Another alternative is Son playing behind Solanke with Richarlison or Mathys Tel on the left.

Wilson Odobert also looked slightly better in the number 10 role against Villa than he did against Palace.

"I thought Wilson was good. The issue with Wilson is he has just missed so much of the season," said Postecoglou. "You can see he lacks match sharpness but he is an intelligent player. Now I thought at times tonight, in tight areas he found his way forward and a couple of things didn’t fall his way.

"He was unlucky with his finish which I thought was an outstanding finish but it fell straight at Emi Martinez. I think with Wilson, at least we have got him some significant minutes again. With the way we are in that midfield area, he might be one we need to rely on come Wednesday so it’s good for him to play."

A back three

A third option for the Tottenham boss is to turn the full-backs into more offensive weapons by utilising a back three. Once again, Postecoglou has the players for it.

Kevin Danso could come into a back three, either splitting Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in central defence or slotting in on the right-hand side of the three himself.

That would allow Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, both with plenty of experience as wing-backs, to operate higher up the pitch and give United's defence more to think about. The formation could then be a 3-4-3 or a 3-5-2 depending on what Postecoglou wanted to do further up the pitch.

There is also the chance that Postecoglou just sticks with what the team has known for most of his time at the club and goes with the 4-3-3.

That would likely mean a start for Pape Matar Sarr, if he's available after that back issue, in the midfield three with either he or Bentancur pushing further up the pitch whenever they can and Bissouma anchoring it all.

Sarr has the ability to run on to passes from deep while Bentancur can thread balls through so while it would be an industrious trio on the surface with Bissouma, it would have certain elements that could get Tottenham up the pitch.

It would also contain midfielders who can cover if the inverted full-backs want to make a full return to give United far more to think about.

Tottenham have confirmed their plans to hold a trophy parade in north London if the club beat Manchester United to win the Europa League final.

Both sides were in action on Friday night in the Premier League but neither got their preparations for Wednesday's final off to an ideal start with Spurs losing 2-0 away to Aston Villa, while United were defeated 1-0 by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

The results leave the clubs in 16th and 17th place in the table ahead of the rest of the weekend's action, with both clubs set for their worst Premier League finishes ever.

After such a poor season and amid a troubling financial period for Manchester United, the club have decided that there will be no victory parade should Ruben Amorim's slide lift the trophy in Bilbao. Instead, the club will reportedly be hosting a barbeque at their training ground in a more low-key affair.

However, with Tottenham chasing their first European trophy since 1984, the club have gone the other direction and confirmed that a parade will take place should they get their hands on the cup at San Mames.

In a message to local residents, the club wrote: "Dear Neighbour, we hope this finds you well.

"As you may be aware, Tottenham Hotspur will face Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League final in Bilbao on Wednesday 21st May. We should like to make residents, schools and businesses aware that, if we are successful and bring the trophy home to Tottenham, our First Team squad will take part in an open-top bus victory parade through the local area on Friday 23rd May, as is customary.

"Should the historic celebratory event go ahead, residents, please take note of the following information:

"The parade will begin at Edmonton Green at 3pm and proceed south down Fore Street and the High Road past the stadium before turning left at Lansdowne Road, along Willoughby Lane and Northumberland Park, finishing at approximately 4.30pm.

"Our players will present the trophy to crowds gathered from a staging area outside the Stadium on the High Road at approximately 5pm."

"Something has changed within me, something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game."

Nope, it's not Elphaba from Wicked. If you want, feel free to imagine Ange Postecoglou with a green face belting those lines out - it's some image we know - but certainly something changed within the Tottenham Hotspur head coach this week.

He was expected to play a stronger Spurs starting XI at Aston Villa on Friday night as Manchester United did at Chelsea to ensure players would not go almost two weeks without playing ahead of the Europa League final.

However, Dejan Kulusevski's knee injury on Sunday afternoon just 15 minutes into the contest against Crystal Palace when he was only meant to play until half-time, finally convinced Postecoglou - as if he needed it - that the football gods are not done with torturing him yet.

It made him the one thing the Australian has rarely, if ever, been in his career - scared. He was going to protect his players and did not care a jot for anyone trying to lecture him on "the integrity of the game".

"Look, in a normal world you use this for sharpening up but we’re not living in a normal world," he said the day before the game. "That's the reality of our existence at the moment where we can't lose another player to an injury. It's just too finely balanced for us considering what's at stake. Villa are obviously going for Champions League football and you see how important it is to them and we’re doing the same."

That resulted in a Tottenham starting XI that was one step away from including canteen staff and must have brought a wide smile to Villa boss Unai Emery's face when he saw it.

Not a single one of the 11 players who started either semi-final leg with Bodo/Glimt began the game at Villa Park.

Instead Postecoglou dusted off Sergio Reguilon from his position on the shelf at Hotspur Way for his first Premier League start of the season - only his second in any competition - as the Spaniard's contract runs towards its final month.

Seventeen-year-old Mikey Moore made only his third Premier League start of the season and his past two starts in February had brought half-time withdrawals as he struggled with the physicality of the game. This has very much been a season of development for the talented teenager.

Postecoglou went with a midfield pairing with an average age of just over 20 in Archie Gray and Pape Matar Sarr to face a strong Villa team giving everything in front of a noisy Villa Park crowd as they chased a Champions League spot.

Villa had won seven of the previous eight Premier League matches and when the Spurs line-up emerged, everyone, including the Villains' top five rivals, would have expected a demolition job of embarrassing proportions.

Yet Tottenham's makeshift XI actually gave a surprisingly good account of themselves in the first half, with an organised display that belied their lack of any real sustained playing time together.

While Antonin Kinsky did have to make a brilliant reaction save at full stretch to keep out Ollie Watkins' slight touch on a cross into the box, that was really the only thing the Czech goalkeeper had to do of any note in those opening 45 minutes.

Spurs defended resolutely in front of him and Reguilon was solid enough for someone who had just 121 minutes of Premier League football this season to his name before this encounter.

With his lower fitness levels, the Spaniard's brief was to rarely stray into the Villa half but he executed a lot of what he had to well before coming off in the second half with a knock and probably plenty of fatigue.

Tottenham also created first half chances of their own on the break, with captain Son Heung-min, making his first start in a month, curling an effort over the crossbar not long after pulling a low cross behind his team-mates following a trademark sprint up the pitch.

Then Wilson Odobert sent a lovely back-flick from Mathys Tel's low cross straight at Emiliano Martinez when anywhere else would have brought a goal.

A goalless first half left Villa and their supporters frustrated as they feared slipping up against a Spurs B team just when they really needed not to.

The second half brought another chance for the visitors early on when a great long throw from Kinsky sent Odobert racing away up the pitch only for a dreadful first touch to take the lightweight Frenchman into the path of a covering defender rather than towards goal.

Moments later, the Tottenham goalkeeper made a second good save when he got down low to palm away what was a combination of a Watkins shot and Ben Davies' tackle.

It was the removal of Pape Matar Sarr and the introduction of Yves Bissouma that ended up providing Villa with the space to win the game.

The 22-year-old midfielder had begun limping and Postecoglou had no qualms in bringing the Senegal international off and Sarr went down the tunnel with a member of the medical staff.

Moore would later need treatment himself before coming off late in the game and football.london asked on the status of both afterwards.

"Pape felt something in his back so we took him off as a bit of a precaution," said Postecoglou. "I don’t think it’s anything too significant speaking to him afterwards but he just felt something in his back and I think Mikey was okay. It was fatigue as much as anything else. He hasn’t played that sort of amount of minutes before."

Nothing will terrify Tottenham fans more than the Australian uttering the words "I don’t think it’s anything too significant".

If Postecoglou was your doctor and he trotted out that sentence to you then you'd have every right to sprint out of the room screaming and getting a second opinion from anyone else you could find.

For the Spurs boss has said "I don’t think it’s anything too significant" about most of the injuries suffered to his players in matches this season, only to find out from scans or assessments a couple of days later that in fact it was certainly significant.

He said it in the aftermath of both James Maddison and Kulusevski's recent season-ending, long-term injuries.

To be fair to Postecoglou, he is only going off the immediate information available to him after speaking to the players and the medical staff while trying to remain positive.

However, at some point he should have just started saying "We're not sure, we'll know more in a few days" because his "I don’t think it’s anything too significant" has become the bringer of doom far too often. People run for cover the moment he wheels it out.

The removal of Sarr and the arrival of Bissouma, who looked like he was already on his flight to Bilbao, handed Villa what they needed to grab the three points.

First Bissouma switched off in Tottenham's area from a corner to hand Ezri Konsa the freedom of the six yard box to hook home Watkins' header from John McGinn's corner.

Then the Mali international moved away from Boubacar Kamara, expecting a pass that never came, as the Villa man dribbled across the edge of the Tottenham box before drilling home his first ever Premier League goal.

Spurs like handing out milestone moments to others, but they have also collected some unwanted ones of their own.

The north London club have now lost 25 matches in all competitions this season, the most in a single campaign in their history with 21 in the league. They have won just one of their past 11 Premier League games and have conceded in each of their past 12 league matches. It is Tottenham's longest run without a clean sheet since the 17 games between August and December 2010.

There were still some positives for Postecoglou to take from this latest defeat with five days before the Europa League final in Bilbao.

"I thought up until they scored, the boys had worked hard, they were really disciplined and organised," Postecoglou told football.london . "We didn't really let them create too many clear openings. We had our moments as well, going the other way, but once they scored we lost a little bit of belief.

"We got a little bit fatigued. A lot of those guys haven't played a lot and we looked like we were fatiguing and then the game just got away from us."

Kevin Danso and Ben Davies at least looked sharp on the whole and will ready to jump in should something happen to either Cristian Romero or Micky van de Ven. More for the long term, but behind them Antonin Kinsky does look a real prospect with not only his shot stopping but also his distribution.

At the other end of the pitch, Mathys Tel remains a bright and energetic presence and will likely get some minutes in the final. Wilson Odobert was better than he was against Palace in the number 10 role just behind his fellow 20-year-old Frenchman.

There was also, perhaps most importantly, a few signs that the old Son was returning during the game with a couple of trademark sprints up the pitch that left Villa players in the captain's wake, even if the sharpness wasn't there in the end product.

"I'm feeling good. A little bit tired of course after my first game back but physically I feel good. So yeah, ready to go [for Wednesday]," said Son after the game.

"It was very important to get the minutes against Crystal Palace as well. I came on and played 25, maybe 30 minutes, and today around 70 minutes. It was really good to get game time in my legs and I think the most important thing is that everybody gets fit for Wednesday and I'll be ready."

He added: "It's been very, very tough to watch and not be involved with the boys. Obviously it's one of the toughest moments when you're not involved and not actually there. The lads did a fantastic job [in Europe] and I was very, very happy because their hard work paid off.

"I was very happy to see the boys happy and smiling and celebrating, which they deserved. Still the job is not finished and on Wednesday we have a massive, massive job to do. I believe we can do this.

"Our objective is to get a result on Wednesday. Let's all be together from now on, everyone together with one goal and together it will happen."

Postecoglou must formulate a game plan for United that does not involve creative central midfielders and his formation on Friday night was a chance for him to look at some of his players, albeit different ones, working within one potential tactic.

Spurs were set up in what looked like a 4-4-2 at times that became a 4-2-3-1, depending on where Odobert positioned himself as he spent long periods alongside Tel rather than behind him.

You could easily imagine the system with Dominic Solanke playing a little deeper off Richarlison, Son and Brennan Johnson on the wings trying to get the ball to the front men, as would Pedro Porro with his deeper crosses, with Rodrigo Bentancur and Bissouma patrolling the midfield.

One Solanke turn and run late in the game showed what he will be able to do in that role if called upon to perform it.

Postecoglou was asked what he had made of Odobert in that central attacking role on the night.

"I thought Wilson was good. The issue with Wilson is he has just missed so much of the season. You can see he lacks match sharpness but he is an intelligent player," he said.

"Now I thought at times tonight, in tight areas he found his way forward and a couple of things didn’t fall his way. He was unlucky with his finish which I thought was an outstanding finish but it fell straight at Emi Martinez.

"I think with Wilson, at least we have got him some significant minutes again. With the way we are in that midfield area, he might be one we need to rely on come Wednesday so it’s good for him to play."

The big decision was to leave Romero, Van de Ven and Destiny Udogie back at Hotspur Way to train with an intense session rather than bringing them up to the West Midlands.

When asked if he was concerned about the trio, along with Vicario, not playing a single minute for two weeks ahead of the final, he answered before the question had even finished.

"Yeah but they are available," he said before pausing and going on. "They are available. For us there’s no point bringing them here, they weren’t going to play today. They stayed at home, they did a really strong session and come Wednesday, knock on wood, they are all available and that’s the most important thing.

"That’s the primary thing. When those guys play, that back four with Vic in goal, our chances of success significantly improve."

He added: "I don’t know how else to say it. They are available. If something happened to them today then they wouldn’t be available and I just don’t think that would be the smart course for us to take."

All eyes can completely turn to that final in Bilbao now. The players have had little tasters of the big day and everything to come around it throughout this week. There was a media day on Monday at Hotspur Way and then the following day UEFA had their day where they shot all of their promo images and motion capture moments.

Tottenham gave their injured players the choice of whether they wanted to take part or not, so that they could feel a part of the big day. Some were not around on the day as they continue their rehabilitation or in Kulusevski's case recover from surgery.

Both Lucas Bergvall and Dane Scarlett took up the invitation to take part in the photo shoots.

Bergvall's inclusion in particular will continue to give Tottenham fans some faint hope that the teenager might be feeling that he could play a part on Wednesday night, even if Postecoglou has ruled him out on multiple occasions.

The young Swede had his protective boot removed at the beginning of this week and has returned to the grass with medical staff. In Postecoglou's words on Thursday they were his "first tentative steps" before adding "but he won't be available".

Bergvall, who swept the board with the supporters' awards for this season in his debut campaign, will no doubt be doing everything to make himself available.

The key will be whether any involvement would risk serious longer-term damage for a player who has become key to this team already but will also hopefully have many more chances to play in big games across his career.

He will have sensed how big this game feels for everyone around the club as everyone craves a long-awaited trophy.

Even this football.london reporter, when turning up at Villa Park on Friday night, was offered their press lanyard with a Champions League or plain 'visitor' neck strap. That Champions League one could not have been grabbed quick enough, just in case it was some kind of sign.

On the way home, this same reporter passed the Tottenham squad's bus heading back down the M6 and if they can do something special then on Friday they will all be on a very different kind of bus - one without a roof.

For these things must be planned in advance with all the relevant authorities as much as it feels like tempting fate.

Local residents, schools and businesses have been made aware that should Spurs win on Wednesday evening in Bilbao then an open-top bus victory parade would work its way through Tottenham, beginning at Edmonton Green and heading down the High Road before ending up at the stadium.

That's all just ifs, buts and maybes right now though. First Spurs need to get the job done. Saturday is a rest day for them before a full, strong training session on Sunday at Hotspur Way.

Then Postecoglou and his coaches will put them through another session on Monday morning before they all fly to Bilbao that afternoon. Tuesday will bring press conferences with the head coach and two of his players before the players train on the pitch at the Estadio de San Mamés and the reality of it all will really start to hit.

It's going to be a huge night for everyone connected with Tottenham Hotspur and there are so many subplots, narratives and pathways either result can push the club down going forward.

For those interested, that verse of the Wicked song at the top continues with the words "Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap".

That's exactly what Tottenham Hotspur need to do. Everything in recent weeks has been tailored towards this moment and they must trust that. They need to take that leap, defy the gravity of their league position and soar in Bilbao on Wednesday evening.

Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly in talks with soon-to-be out-of-contract Lille forward Jonathan David about a potential move to North London this summer. The 25-year-old has confirmed that he will leave the Ligue 1 outfit, who he joined from Belgium side Gent in 2020, when his contract expires at the end of June.

As a result, the Canadian international has been free to negotiate a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of France since January 1. And according to French publication L'Equipe, there has been plenty of interest in David from clubs in England and Italy.

One of those clubs is Tottenham, who are said to have held talks with the forward over a move to the Premier League this summer.

However, Ange Postecoglou's side will reportedly face competition from Aston Villa, Napoli and Juventus for the forward, who also has admirers at Newcastle United.

Since signing with Lille five years ago, David has scored 109 goals in 231 appearances for the French outfit. He has also provided 30 assists.

In 2021, David was part of the Lille side that won the Ligue 1 title to end Paris Saint-Germain's stranglehold on the championship.

In January, David scored in Lille's 2-1 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield in the penultimate round of fixtures in the Champions League phase.

The 25-year-old will play his final game for Lille on Saturday night when Bruno Genesio's side travel to Stade de Reims.

A win for Lille could be enough to secure a route into next season's Champions League.

The Europa League final is almost upon us. Tottenham Hotspur are taking on Manchester United in the final of Europe's second tier competition in Bilbao on Wednesday night.

Six years on from their appearance in the Champions League final, Spurs are once again in the final of a European competition, hoping to go one better than they did on that fateful night in Madrid.

Once again they are in Spain and they will want to banish those memories of a 2-0 defeat in what was another all-English final against Liverpool.

As well as securing their first piece of silverware for 17 years and their first European title in 41 years, there is the carrot of Champions League football next season available to Spurs.

Spurs can now focus completely on the Europa League final having played their penultimate Premier League match of the campaign on Friday night against Aston Villa.

That match was originally scheduled for Sunday, but the Premier League agreed to reschedule to give Spurs the same amount of preparation time as Manchester United, whose game with Chelsea in the Premier League was scheduled for and took place on Friday night too.

Ange Postecoglou admitted after the semi-final with Bodo/Glimt that everything Spurs did between then and now was for the final, with the Premier League matches in between being used as aids to the final preparation.

So when are Spurs heading out to Bilbao?

There will be media duties on Tuesday, the day before the final, with a press conference and open training. The Tottenham squad will be heading out to Bilbao on Monday afternoon, having completed a day's training in London on Sunday.

Postecoglou explained: "Our programme at the moment, all things being equal, we do the Villa game, won't get back until late, Saturday will be a sort of rest day for the players, we'll train Sunday, a good session for us and then train here Monday morning and fly to Bilbao on Monday afternoon. Have a run on the pitch the night before and game Wednesday."

Ruben Amorim made a number of big Manchester United decisions for their Premier League defeat to Chelsea. Marc Cucurella scored the only goal of the game in a controversial clash that saw a penalty and goal cancelled by VAR, with focus now swiftly turning.

Next Wednesday, United take on Tottenham in the Europa League final with both teams having the opportunity to win a trophy despite enduring awful domestic campaigns.

Having recently lost Dejan Kulusevski to injury, Ange Postecoglou took barely any risks with Dominic Solanke, Rodrigo Bentancur, Guglielmo Vicario and Pedro Porro named on the bench for their Premier League clash against Aston Villa.

Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were not even named in the squad and yet still a potentially huge injury worry emerged as Pape Matar Sarr was forced off early into the second half.

Amorim, meanwhile, hinted at both rotating and naming a strong team in his pre-match press conference. “If there is a player that can get an injury [and is] not recovered for this game so [it] will put him in risk for the final, he will not play,” he admitted.

“But if it’s not that situation, we will have a lot of time to recover, and we cannot spend eight days, nine days without a game.

“That is a bad thing for the final so I think they will be prepared for the game. The best thing to prepare the final is to play the game. The players have to understand that if you play or don’t play against Chelsea, it means nothing to the final, that is important.

“I’m just preparing the game of Chelsea, that is my focus. We want to win and we want to perform.” As it turned out, he went very strong with Bruno Fernandes, Amad and Patrick Dorgu all starting, showing that he is keen to build some rhythm but that did not quite transpire.

United were however, handed a double injury boost as Ayden Heaven, who came on in the second half, and Toby Collyer both back on the bench. Leny Yoro and Matthijs de Ligt did not travel to Stamford Bridge though, and are thus huge doubts for the final in Bilbao.

Lisandro Martinez and Joshua Zirkzee are expected to miss the showpiece clash but Diogo Dalot is on track to potentially feature.

Thankfully for Amorim, no fresh major concerns emerged from the clash on Friday evening but it remains to be seen if 90 minutes for the likes of Amad, Dorgu and Maguire will cost United.

Ange Postecoglou held his press conference following Tottenham's 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa in the Premier League on Friday evening.

The first half brought an organised display from a makeshift Spurs line-up and they created a couple of good chances through Son Heung-min and Wilson Odobert, while Antonin Kinsky made a great save from Ollie Watkins before the break.

Villa could not find the breakthrough they needed until after the hour mark when Ezri Konsa hooked home after a corner was headed into the six-yard box. Villa scored a second with just over 15 minutes remaining as Boubacar Kamara ran into some space on the edge of the box and his powerful low shot flew past Kinsky.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou after the 21st Premier League defeat of the season for the north London outfit. Here's a full transcript from the press conference at Villa Park.

Pape Matar Sarr looked like he was limping down the tunnel and Moore needed treatment. How are they?

Pape felt something in his back so we took him off as a bit of a precaution. I don’t think it’s anything too significant speaking to him afterwards but he just felt something in his back and I think Mikey (Moore) was okay. It was fatigue as much as anything else. He hasn’t played that sort of amount of minutes before.

What did you make of the performance?

I thought up until they scored the boys had worked hard, they were really disciplined and organised. We didn't really let them create too many clear openings. We had our moments as well, going the other way, but once they scored we lost a little bit of belief. We got a little bit fatigued. A lot of those guys haven't played a lot and we looked like we were fatiguing and then the game just got away from us.

You said you hoped someone would give you a decision to make for the final, did anyone do that tonight?

I think from my perspective, at least different to the Palace game, I felt that the lads worked hard and competed and at least made it difficult for the opposition. So from that perspective I thought that was more important for me than the individual context. It was good to get some match minutes into players like Sonny and Wilson and a lot of these guys haven't played a lot this year, so just to get them through another game was important.

Will Son be ready to start in midweek?

Well he's ready and he's available. He started today. They're all ready to start so I think him playing 70-75 minutes today was important and you could see he opened up a couple of times and I think he's feeling... it's as much about Sonny himself, and feeling that he's getting back into a rhythm and I think there were moments tonight where he showed that.

What did you make of Wilson Odobert playing centrally?

I thought Wilson was good. The issue with Wilson is he has just missed so much of the season. You can see he lacks match sharpness but he is an intelligent player. Now I thought at times tonight, in tight areas he found his way forward and a couple of things didn’t fall his way. He was unlucky with his finish which I thought was an outstanding finish but it fell straight at Emi Martinez. I think with Wilson, at least we have got him some significant minutes again. With the way we are in that midfield area, he might be one we need to rely come Wednesday so it’s good for him to play.

Van de Ven, Romero and Udogie were left out of the squad. Are you concerned about it being two weeks between the last time they played and the final?

Yeah but they are available. They are available. For us there’s no point bringing them here, they weren’t going to play today. They stayed at home, they did a really strong (training) session and come Wednesday, knock on wood, they are all available and that’s the most important thing. That’s the primary thing. When those guys play, that back four with Vic in goal, our chances of success significantly improve.

Was it not worth risking them?

Yeah I don’t know how else to say it. They are available. If something happened to them today then they wouldn’t be available and I just don’t think that be would the smart course for us to take.

How much of a lift is it to have Son in the team?

It's important, especially when we've lost some key players in recent times. Madders is also one of the leaders, and Deki, and Lucas in the last three weeks. Now getting Sonny back at least gives us another experienced player. I think the last two or three fixtures our average age has been three or four years younger than the opposition. You can see that at times so just having another experienced player available is great for the team.