Tottenham Hotspur ended their 17-year trophy drought with a thrilling 1-0 victory over Manchester United in the Europa League final at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao on Wednesday, May 21.
When Ange Postecoglou defended his decision to not abandon his attacking principles after a 4-1 loss to Chelsea in November 2023 – despite Spurs going down to nine men – it drew a mixture of responses.
There were those who admired his stance, and those who felt it foolish not to be more flexible.
In the main, Postecoglou continued to stick by those principles, but for the biggest game of his Spurs reign – and the club’s recent history – he abandoned them.
In Wednesday’s Europa League final they ground out a 1-0 win against Manchester United, spending almost the entire second half defending as Spurs won their first trophy in 17 years.
“Ange Postecoglou said that he doesn’t change his tactics – what made him do it?” asked former Tottenham midfielder Michael Brown on BBC Radio 5 Live.
“I was sat there thinking ‘Is he really doing this [defending deep] so early?’ He’s changed his way and got success.”
Europa League success, and with it passage to next season’s Champions League, means Tottenham can rightly laud this season as a triumph, despite the club’s torrid domestic form.
They are currently in danger of finishing one place outside the Premier League relegation zone after losing 21 of their 37 league games with one fixture remaining.
That form means uncertainty remains over Postecoglou’s future, even after this Europa League win.
Therefore, there was possibly an element of the Tottenham boss having nothing to lose in terms of how he approached Wednesday’s final.
Spurs had already played Manchester United three times this season and won all three, scoring eight goals and conceding three – underlining Postecoglou’s high-pressing and swashbuckling style of play.
But there were hints he was preparing to take a more pragmatic approach for this fourth fixture against the Red Devils in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt.
At the home of the Norwegians, Spurs had just 31.6 per cent possession. Against Manchester United they had 27.7 per cent. Both are the lowest amount of possession Spurs have had in games they have won under Postecoglou.
