Category: Football (Soccer)

Not many at Old Trafford are suited to the manager’s trusty 3-4-2-1 but replacing them will cost hundreds of millions

Everything always seems clearer in the morning, and in the cold grey light of Thursday, the prognosis for Manchester United is bleak. While Tottenham face an awkward calculation – weighing up whether the delirium of a first European trophy in 41 years offsets their worst league season in terms of proportion of games lost – for Manchester United the equation is far starker.

Ruben Amorim will only play in one way. He is committed absolutely, uncompromisingly, irrevocably to the 3-4-2-1. Liverpool considered him, looked at their squad, realised the two things did not go together, appointed Arne Slot and won the league. Manchester United looked at their squad, flinched at the horror, and seem to have reasoned it was such a mess that it was impossible to find a manager whose philosophy would fit. There was a dissenting voice, Dan Ashworth, but at the court of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, reasoned doubts are as unwelcome as a free lunch.

• Head coach ready to leave ‘next day’ if he loses trust
• Midfielder says Amorim ‘has done a lot of good things’

Bruno Fernandes has insisted Ruben Amorim should remain as Manchester United head coach despite Wednesday’s Europa League final defeat to Tottenham, while the captain admitted he would leave if the club wants to “cash in” on him.

United lost the final at San Mamés Stadium to Brennan Johnson’s 42nd-minute winner. Amorim stated afterwards he would leave the “next day” if the board and fans lose faith in him.

Romero and Van de Ven were rocks at the back for Spurs, while Højlund never looked like scoring for United

4-2-3-1

Brennan Johnson, Micky van de Ven and Guglielmo Vicario were the heroes as Tottenham won their first European trophy in 41 years with a dogged display in Bilbao

Our man David Hytner is watching all of the red-carpet arrivals in Cannes San Mamés. “Just got to the ground to see Ian Wright being serenaded on his way into the VIP entrance by a large group of Spurs fans. Which certainly made him smile. David Dein, too, who was with him, along with Theo Paphitis. Bumped into Thomas Tuchel moments before and it really is one of those occasions when the stars are out. The anticipation is building!”

Ruben Amorim talks to TNT. “I am relaxed now … I did my job … now it’s with my players and I am really confident … I really enjoyed the last two trainings … when you have these kind of trainings you feel relaxed, so I trust in the guys … so I have that feeling and I’m really confident … Mason Mount in this moment gives us a balance … really good attacking but one extra midfielder … also to have speed on the bench … legs to change the game … in the beginning it is really important to feel the game and we are getting better at that … the result is not going to change so much [regarding transfers] … it can help to add one more if we need … the most important thing is the feeling of winning … we need to deliver that feeling … I am not thinking about the money … we will arrange money because we are a big brand … we are a club that needs that feeling … without trophies it’s really hard to get a connection … we are getting better … this team can step up … I truly believe my players are going to do it.”

• John Textor-owned Lyon could also reach competition
• Uefa’s club financial control body set to look into case

Crystal Palace are confident they will be cleared to play in next season’s Europa League even if Lyon also qualify despite concerns that they could contravene Uefa’s rules about multi-club ownership.

No individual is permitted to control two clubs that are competing in the same Uefa-run competition, with Lyon owner John Textor also listed as Palace’s largest shareholder at 45%, through his company Eagle Football Holdings. Victory for Paris Saint-Germain against Reims in the French Cup final this weekend would confirm that Lyon qualify for the Europa League after finishing sixth in Ligue 1.

Plus: more strange player-of-the-match awards and shot-shy winners; and did Brian Clough deliberately go down to 10 men?

• Mail us with your questions and answers

“In terms of aggregate league position, will Tottenham v Manchester United be the worst European final ever?” asks Phil Taylor (and dozens of others).

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, who meet in Bilbao tonight, put all their eggs in the Europa League basket sometime before the clocks went back. They are 17th and 16th in the Premier League respectively, giving them an aggregate position of 33. It is, to take a couple of unashamedly gratuitous examples, equivalent to Oldham Athletic playing Southampton in the Uefa Cup final of 1992, or Sabadell meeting Racing Santander in the same competition in 1987.