No Filter: Would Europa League win salvage Man Utd's season?
Video credit: TNT Sports
The Europa League final is nearly here and both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will be anxious to lift the trophy given their struggles this season in the Premier League.
The game itself, that will be live on TNT Sports and [discovery+](https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/watch-tnt-sports-on-discoveryplus?utm_campaign=UK-TNT-D1-TNT-C7-TNT-BAU-DR-W-Football-WorldCup-250101-NA&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tntsports.co.uk&utm_content=story-content-text-subscribe&vid=t195x4xkzysgb752&cid=0ee1b05714eadfd3193bf34fbc4e5980&c=%7B%22875074%22%3A%220%22%2C%221086912%22%3A%220%22%2C%221310352%22%3A%221630781%22%7D) on Wednesday night, promises to be an interesting match-up in terms of two managers – in Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim – who have both have a preferred tactical style and stick to it.
There is also, of course, the issue of injuries. Both teams have been absolutely ravaged with injuries, which does present some interesting options in terms of possible new tactical wrinkles.
How will that play out? And what are the other tactical questions and battles of the final? Let’s dig into them.
Can Bruno find the space?
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As inconsistent as Manchester United have been this season, Bruno Fernandes has been the one constant.
The captain has eight goals and nine assists in the Premier League this season, with a further seven goals and four assists in the Europa League. Those figures are both highs within the squad.
Fernandes has been at his best playing on the left of Amorim’s 3-4-3 and yes, the system has not been as successful in season one as the manager would have liked but it has clearly brought the best out of Fernandes.
One way it does this is by creating pockets for him to work out of. When Fernandes plays as a classic 10 or even as a deeper 8 or 6 it becomes easier for opponents to mark him out of the game.
But acting as a hybrid winger/attacking midfielder puts Fernandes in an awkward position for opposing teams as it is unclear who should put him up.
The obvious solution for Spurs is to put one of their rejigged midfield (most likely Yves Bissouma or Rodrigo Bentancur) directly on Fernandes.
That then brings us to the question, how will Fernandes find the space? He is arguably the most intelligent and influential player on the pitch and if Spurs pay him the respect he warrants watching how a player like that figures out the next move will be fascinating.
Highlights: Fernandes and Man Utd silence San Mames with three-goal first half blitz
Video credit: TNT Sports
How do Spurs create chances?
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For Tottenham the conversation is a bit more complicated. They have been much more efficient going forward than United BUT both James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski, their primary creators, are out of this game.
Their absences, combined with Lucas Bergvall’s injury, is a big blow, the trio are three of Spurs’ five highest assisters in the Europa League this season.
So what do Spurs do? It might end up being a case of Occam’s Razor and in this case that means playing Heung-min Son as the No. 10.
By his own standards Son is having a down year but he remains a hugely important player for Spurs and truly _gets_ just how much this would mean to the club.
By playing him inside Spurs reduce some of the physical demands on Son and by then being able to play Richarlison, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson (or maybe even Wilson Odobert) you put runners around him that will give him room to work in.
What are the other options? There isn’t really another clear option at 10 unless Postecoglou gets really spicy and moves someone like Odobert or Richarlison inside. The most likely option there is moving to more of a 4-3-3 rather than a 4-2-3-1 and bringing in someone like Pape Matar Sarr or Archie Gray.
The problem there of course is that the midfield does end up being more defensive than creative BUT it does possibly open up the idea of giving full-backs Destiny Udogie or Pedro Porro – not exactly players who are hesitant to push forward – even more license to attack as the wide players come inside.
It also, going back to our first point, would give more resources to stopping Fernandes.
Highlights: Solanke and Porro send Spurs to Bilbao
Video credit: TNT Sports
What kind of game do these teams want it to be?
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And that brings us nicely to a more over-arching point. What kind of game do these teams want this to be? And actually really this comes down more to Postecoglou than Amorim. After all the Portuguese told TNT Sports that when facing Spurs "you can understand what they are going to do," and that "they will not change".
‘They will not change’ – Amorim ‘understands’ Tottenham’s ‘strong identity’
Video credit: TNT Sports
Inherently going with a more defensive midfielder rather than bring Son inside will not change how a Postecoglou side plays - the Australian has been crystal clear in this. But as we said above it does offer him a chance to slow things down somewhat and try and retain a bit more control.
Shutting down Fernandes takes a lot out of how United attack and as Athletic Club found in the semi-finals, if you open yourself up too early against Amorim's team, they are still talented enough to punish you.
For Amorim it feels as if the big question he has is, how much pace does he want? This is generally quite a slow team, especially up the spine but there are a couple of outlets where pace could be key. Notably on the opposite side to Fernandes in the attacking midfield unit where Amorim has to decide between Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo.
Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven have been solid this season, as has Udogie, so this feels like an area where Amorim’s decision could end up having a big say on the outcome of the match.
Who can cope with their injuries best?
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It’s never a nice thing to have to talk about but sadly it feels all the more common as we get to the end of modern football seasons. Both these sides come into the final with a number of injuries and how they cope with their absences will probably go a long way to determining the winner of the final.
As we’ve touched upon with Spurs, no Maddison and Kulusevski is a huge blow and it puts a lot on Son and the other midfielders. Can they create enough?
For United their concerns are in the centre of the defence. Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro are the primary concerns and at the moment it’s still unclear whether neither, one or both of them will be able to play.
There’s also the question if Diogo Dalot will be fit to play and he presents an interesting option as an attacking wing-back or as another cover option as a centre-back.
If Amorim is wedded to his system with three central defenders, and we all assume he is, then there are a lot of question marks about who will play in those spots alongside Harry Maguire and probably Victor Lindelof. Do we get to the point where one of the midfielders have to drop in? We can't wait to watch how it all unfolds.
Watch the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League live on TNT Sports and [discovery+](https://get.discoveryplus.com/gb/watch-tnt-sports-on-discoveryplus?utm_campaign=UK-TNT-D1-TNT-C7-TNT-BAU-DR-W-Football-WorldCup-250101-NA&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tntsports.co.uk&utm_content=story-content-text-subscribe&vid=t195x4xkzysgb752&cid=0ee1b05714eadfd3193bf34fbc4e5980&c=%7B%22875074%22%3A%220%22%2C%221086912%22%3A%220%22%2C%221310352%22%3A%221630781%22%7D)