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The prize at stake.Credit: Getty Images
Is it OK to want your team to lose? A Manchester United fan hopes for a Spurs victory
By Thomas Mitchell
Right now, it feels like no one really understands me, except Natalie Imbruglia.
Tomorrow morning, Manchester United, a team I have followed since birth, will play Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final. Manchester United, a team that has given me so many historical highs (and a few more recent lows), have a shot at European glory. Manchester United, the team that binds together me, my father, my brother, and my son, are just one game away from delivering us collective ecstasy.
In football circles, it is the ultimate betrayal, but as Manchester United prepare to take on Tottenham in the Europa League final, I don’t mind if my team lose.Credit: Michael Howard
And yet, I’m torn. More than torn, I’m all out of faith. Admittedly, I am not lying naked on the floor, but honestly, I’m not far off because the naked truth is this: I love Manchester United, but I don’t want them to win.
Read the full take from Thomas Mitchell here.
Spurs fans have taken over Bilbao
Spurs fans create a bit of atmosphere.Credit: Getty Images
Oh when the Spurs…Credit: Getty Images
Standing room only at Surry Hills Hotel
By Penry Buckley
There’s a raucous atmosphere at the OzSpurs watch event at the Surry Hills Hotel in Sydney, for what might be the biggest night in the Australian Spurs fan club’s history – so far.
There are watch parties at pubs and casinos across the country, some which like the Sydney event sold out days ago.
Australian Spurs fans are also meeting in London, and there’s more than a smattering of them in Bilbao.
At the Surry Hills Hotel, where people have been arriving steadily since yesterday evening, there’s barely any standing room, although a few current and former Herald journalists have found their way in.
Many have been drinking all night to calm the nerves – for now, there’s no talk of “Ange In” or “Ange Out”, but there is plenty of chanting, including a controversial old favourite.
And of course, COYS!
The scenes at the Surry Hills Hotel.Credit: Penry Buckley
‘I’m not a clown, mate’: Why winning the Europa League would be Postecoglou’s biggest achievement
Tottenham Hotspur’s season has existed in what Ange Postecoglou has described as two “parallel worlds”.
Domestically, they’ve been atrocious, racking up the most defeats they’ve ever suffered in a Premier League campaign, their lofty ambitions curtailed by one of the worst injury crises seen at the top level, and a seemingly irreparable level of disharmony has been sewn between Postecoglou and the club’s fan base.
Yet, despite all of that, this could still somehow be their best season in decades.
By definition, there is always a lot riding on a cup final. But Thursday morning’s (5am AEST) Europa League final against Manchester United feels more consequential than any game Postecoglou has ever managed. Those parallel worlds will collide.
Win, and Spurs will have their first trophy in 17 years, their first piece of European silverware in 41 years, and seal qualification for the UEFA Champions League. Grizzly memories of their bottom-six finish will fade with time, and this season will instead be remembered as a historic drought-breaker, with Postecoglou the genius orchestrator. It might even get him an unlikely third season in the job, despite the widespread expectation that he will be sacked regardless.
Lose, and not only will his second-season trophy streak come to a crashing halt, but he will be lampooned for it. Tottenham’s reputation for mental fragility – of being “Spursy” – will be further ingrained. Players will ask to leave. And Postecoglou will probably be shown the door.
Read the rest of our match preview here.
Ange speaks: ‘It’s a special night for the club’
How Spurs and United reached the final
Ange’s career record against Manchester United
An encouraging stat, if you’re looking at this game through lilywhite-coloured glasses: Ange Postecoglou has never lost a match to Manchester United.
Well, not as Tottenham Hotspur manager anyway.
Twice before joining Spurs, he coached against them: with South Melbourne in the 2000 Club World Championship, when they fell 2-0 to Sir Alex Ferguson’s side, and then with the A-League All Stars in 2013, losing 5-1 in David Moyes’ second official match in charge.
Ange Postecoglou in his early days at South Melbourne.Credit: The Age
But since joining Spurs, his record is flawless. His first home game was a 2-0 win against United, and they drew 2-2 in the return fixture at Old Trafford. This season, they won 3-0 away – one of the last outings for Erik ten Hag, who was sacked not long afterwards – then prevailed 1-0 at home. In between, they met in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup, with Spurs coming out on top with a 4-3 victory, and that one was only that close because of two howling errors by their reserve goalkeeper Fraser Forster.
That’s four wins from five matches and zero defeats. Fingers crossed the first one doesn’t come in Bilbao. (Sorry if you’re a United fan. You will survive.)
Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim.Credit: Getty Images
Team news: Son Heung-min on the bench
The line-ups are in. No huge surprises… Pape Matar Sarr comes into the Spurs midfield but Son Heung-min is named on the bench, with Richarlison wide on the left. No doubt the Korean will have a huge part to play in the second half.
And here’s the Manchester United XI:
