It was a tale that has become increasingly normal this season as both Spurs and Man Utd lost their respective Premier League fixtures but with an interesting wrinkle this time.
Manchester United lost to Chelsea after Marc Cucurella’s goal while Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs were put to the sword by Aston Villa.
Just five days before the Europa League final, it was hardly ideal preparation for both sides but not many would have expected them to win their games anyway.
Still, an interesting wrinkle appeared in the post-match press conferences of both managers, with Ange Postecoglou clearly disagreeing with Ruben Amorim’s approach to the final.
Photo by Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images
Photo by Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images
Ange Postecoglou on Europa League final prep
Spurs had their game brought forward to give them as much time as United to prepare for the final, with both clubs now getting five days to recover and prepare.
Still, when the XIs of the two teams dropped, the contrast couldn’t have been clearer, with Postecoglou going for a fully rotated XI, while Amorim named his strongest XI.
Speaking to the press after the game, Postecoglou made his thoughts clear on where his priorities lay and how he would approach the final.
He said: “They’re all available and that’s the most important thing. If something happened to them today, they wouldn’t be available and I don’t think that would be the smartest course for us to take. We’ve lost some key players in recent times.”
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Having been burned by the injury to Dejan Kulusevski and already missing the likes of James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall, Postecoglou was in no mood to take any risks.
It paid off for him as Spurs came through the game without picking up any additional injuries. However, his approach is something Amorim ‘doesn’t like’.
Ruben Amorim disagrees with Ange Postecoglou
While Postecoglou rested basically every player from his strongest XI, Amorim might well field the same XI that started against Chelsea.
This stark contrast was explained by the Man Utd manager after the game, stressing that he doesn’t like the precise kind of thinking Postecoglou displayed by having his players rest.
He said: “We have five days to prepare the game. It was like 10 days without a game [if he rested everyone] and I don’t like that. The best way to prepare for the final, when you have time to fully recover and prepare for the next game, is just to compete.”
Amorim was lucky that no player picked up any injury during the game, which is why it leaves United in a better position than Spurs.
The North London outfit will have players who last played a high-intensity game 10 days ago, giving United an edge in match sharpness.
It remains to be seen if that helps United but one of the two approaches is bound to look foolish, and the other a genius, by the time the full-time whistle blows on May 21.