It’s time for the biggest game of the season, one that will not only define the season at Old Trafford but also define the fortunes of the club for the upcoming season as Manchester United take on Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur in all-English Europa League finals set to be hosted in Bilbao. The Manchester Reds have had a difficult season in direct reflection of the expectations of the supporters, but all the domestic woes will be forgotten if Ruben Amorim can deliver silverware today.
The thing is, Ange Postecoglou’s side will arrive for the game not as tactical giants but more as a hurricane given the recent injuries to James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall – both of their creative outlets of the campaign – and without the duo, they surely are expected to lose some precision in the final third. That being said, the finals are more about momentum, and it would definitely not be about the volume of attacks but more about which team of the two can sustain clarity of purpose when the wind picks up. And luckily for United, this is exactly the kind of game Amorim builds for.
If Man United are to kiss that Europa League trophy – in my opinion, it surely won’t be because of how the 11 wearing the refs dazzled along the ninety minutes; it will be more because of how the Portuguese tactician removed the chaos out of the game and rebuilt the structure of it on their own terms.
Tottenham vs Manchester United – Amorim’s framework going into the game
Tottenham vs Manchester United – Can Amorim’s structure prevail Ange’s all out attack?
So let’s talk about the tactical framework for a second. For Amorim, he will be playing in a 3-4-2-1 when in possession and balancing that out by shifting into a flat 5-4-1 without the ball. Bruno will be tasked with carrying the creative load entirely in the half-spaces (like he has done all season for the Manchester Reds), and especially given that Maddison is out for the Lilywhites, Amorim has even more reason to centralise Bruno’s freedom and trust the rest of the structure to hold firm.
So if you ask me, United do not have to try and match the North Londoners stride for stride – instead, the Manchester Reds have to try and compress the opening twenty or so minutes and pull the game into a midfield phase and try to suffocate Tottenham’s rhythm. So here the midfield box (Mainoo + Casemiro behind Bruno + Garnacho pressing inside) that Amorim deploys ends up acting more like a trap that is trying to get better of the second passes (not the first ones; they should be the bait passes before eventual pressure).
Tottenham will definitely try to push Pedro Porro forward and on the inside, and this ends up creating that space behind down that flank, and Amorim can try to target this space with early switches into Garnacho (especially in game states where Johnson steps up into the first line of press). So this is where Hojlund’s job changes from trying to score on every ball to trying to pin down Romero and trying to pull Van de Ven wide, so this will let someone like Bruno or Garnacho attack the second balls.
Given that the Lilywhites are without Maddison, they should be trying to swing the ball early when it gets wide, and here they will try to rely on blindsided runs. So the wide centre-backs (your RCB and LCB) need to consistently keep track of diagonal entries. And this is where, according to me, Amorim’s defensive structure must get United to safety, where one centre-back tracks, one sweeps, and the other anchors the line.
There are some possible risks in this system, though. I will start with the obvious, Casemiro. So if Casemiro ends up getting caught out on the ball or Bruno forces early passes, Tottenham will try to attack with 5.
Another is an interesting one and one of the key tactical battles to me; if Garnacho does end up getting pinned too deep when Porro is high, then United will lose their main transition trigger.
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Author Opinion
It’s one game thing, and United do not need to play beautiful football. In my opinion, just stick to Amorim-ball, where you are compact and taking advantage of space behind when you gain possession (especially given how the North Londoners have struggled to get the better of such a mid-low block hybrid this season). In a game where Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham are looking to run, United must try to walk. And when Tottenham stops to breathe, that’s when you start pulling the strings. Amorim’s side must control the zones and ignore the chaos (and deliver the trophy).