Europa League Final Preview
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Did you know that foreign investors are quietly funding lawsuits in American courts through a practice called third-party litigation funding? Shadowy overseas funders are paying to sue American companies in our courts, and they don't pay a dime in U.S. taxes if there is an award or settlement. They profit tax-free from our legal system, while U.S. companies are tied up in court and American families pay the price to the tune of $5,000 a year.

Thank you.

It's a common sense move that discourages frivolous and abusive lawsuits and redirects resources back into American jobs, innovation, and growth. Only President Trump and congressional Republicans can deliver this win for America and hold these foreign investors accountable. Contact your lawmakers today and demand they take a stand to end foreign-funded litigation abuse.

Hi, I'm Raj Punjabi from HuffPost. And I'm Noah Michelson, also from HuffPost. And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong, a new podcast that explores the all-too-human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through how to get it right.

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This is Talk The Devils, the athletics podcast dedicated to Manchester United. And don't worry about what happened in London on Friday night against Chelsea, which we might mention briefly in passing on this podcast, because Manchester United are off to Bilbao. Next stop, Bilbao. Full steam ahead, Bilbao. Bilbao or bust. However you want to build up to it, we will be building up to the Europa League final on Wednesday on this podcast.

But yeah, we might mention Chelsea as well. Anyway, it's a full house for the occasion of a European final for the Reds. So good morning, Andy Mitten, Laurie Whitwell, Karl Anka. Morning. Hello. Good morning. We are recording just after 8am on Saturday morning. If there's any grogginess, that's because it's just gone 8am on Saturday morning. But yeah, we are here and we're excited about Wednesday, Wednesday.

We weren't overjoyed about Friday, but we'll talk about that in a moment. First of all, a thank you to everyone for a lovely reaction to the Glazer pods that we put out this week. If you've not listened to them already, go back and have a look. It's a two-part extra series detailing how the takeover happened 20 years on and also looking at what next for the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. But just to share some of the feedback we've had,

This is from Keelan. I really enjoyed the pods on the Glazer takeover. As a young United fan at the time, I never understood the gravitas of the deal. It was also very interesting to hear the knock-on effect it had on the communities of United fans. As Carl would say, good meals.

Oli on X, fantastic two-part pod on the United ownership on Talk of the Devil. It's important that people keep holding the Glazer family's feet to the fire on the disastrous way they've treated the club. Toby on there as well. Once again, these extra pods are so freaking good. Thank you, Toby. These two are depressing as can be, but still very well done and quite informative. Also depressing, did I mention that?

So yeah, nice to get that feedback, Andy, because we felt they were important conversations, those. Yeah, they were. And I think it's interesting that people are saying that they're learning properly about it for the first time. I remember a comment a couple of months ago where someone said, why wasn't this a big story at the time? And I said, it was a huge story. It was massive.

And then that person stopped making the comments. So I think it is important to say what happened, to get retrospectives of people who were there to see if they've changed their mind on what happened and what fans feared then came to pass, sadly. Yeah, the thing is, Carl, 2005's very early stage social media, things like YouTube weren't used anything like what they are now. So even going back and finding out bits from the time

is tricky. Look, anytime you are writing about Manchester United from that sort of era, you're relying on the Wayback Machine and Internet Archive and hopefully you can get some clippings from local newspapers. And it's always interesting to me when events that happen where some of us are adults and are talking to... I mean, a 20-year-old Manchester United fan is in university and I'm always going, oh yeah, right, you might not remember this. So...

I think what you've done on those podcasts on the Glazers was excellent work. Yeah, credit to Andy and Laurie because you two really delivered on those. Like I said to Andy, Laurie, it just felt like we needed to...

have those conversations. And obviously the newspaper heritage of anniversaries providing a hook to get into this kind of topic is what we bounced off. But really it should be spoken about often. I mean, I did see some comments sort of being like, I'd love to listen, but I just can't bring myself to do so. Hopefully in time, people can kind of get round to it and find the energy to delve into it because yes, it is, I think, quite a...

disheartening episode for people who love football and the essence of football as a community asset and the link that you have emotionally with your football club to then it be

seen as a capitalist vehicle and a business opportunity for people is sad. But hopefully there's some important messages in there, some really fascinating insight. The three guys that we had on were there at the time. Jim O'Neill, vastly experienced and insightful, with Andy Walsh, whose emotion was so clear when he was speaking to us still, and Richard Caborn as well, who, credit to him, accepted the

where maybe he'd been misled or misunderstood or people changed their minds afterwards and he said greed took over. So yeah, I think all three guys gave...

and compelling testimony about what happened and hopefully people can find the energy if they've not found it yet to go and have a listen because it then informs how the club is now so it's very relevant even though it happened 20 years ago we're still feeling the repercussions and we will do so for many years to come Yeah and part two is very much about what happens next as well like I said before so yeah go back and have a listen to those if you've not done already Well speaking of interesting and compelling Manchester United Look at that

Premier League campaign is nearly over. Maybe that is the way to talk about the 18th defeat of this league season, which took place on Friday night at Stamford Bridge. Laurie, you lucky boy. You were there at Stamford Bridge. What was it like? I mean, the away fans were absolutely excellent. We can talk about them maybe a little bit.

Well, they're getting excited for Bilbao like we are, right? That set the tone in the second half for the chanting. I mean, this is it. I called it a holding pattern before touchdown in Bilbao in my written piece. And even Ruben Ameren to that end was making his decisions based on that. But going strong, right? He still wanted to win the match. You can tell that he's desperate to just...

try and arrest this absolutely atrocious form I mean you mentioned there 18 Premier League defeats it's 8 winless games in a row in the Premier League 6 defeats with 2 draws first time in Premier League history they've done that another unwanted record I mean I do think back to your post live show run through

prove the fixtures to come that we did back in, was it March time, the international break, and you called it, you sort of said this is going to be a tough end to the season. I mean, if they obviously lose to Villa on Sunday, sorry, I know I'm probably plummeting into even more depressing territory, but it'd be two points from 27. They wouldn't make 40 points. The kind of customary, traditional barrier for saving...

Hang on, hang on. Paul Jewell's come into the conversation. Paul Jewell is getting a mention. That is what I thought was the most depressing thing I've seen, actually.

I did have to sort of re-appreciate that stat though because I saw it and it's like wait United have got a worse or Ameren's got a worse points per game ratio than Paul Jewell who went down with Derby when they didn't win for 24 games how's that possible and then I realised that it meant for the duration of his Premier League career at Bradford and Wigan he did pretty well at Wigan right so but still yeah that is an awkward uncomfortable comparison Paul Jewell 0.94 points per game Ruben Ameren 0.92 points per game

Ouch. Yeah, ouch. And he tried to win that game. That was basically, and we'll probably get onto it, his strongest 11. Okay, there's a couple of places where you're debating it, right? Garnaccio, Mount...

obviously if a couple of defenders maybe can get back in time for the final you never know obviously there's a you know a kind of big hope I suppose as much as anything around Lenny Yoro potentially but that is you know I think the probably most alarming thing is the centre forward situation Rasmus Hoyland another one of those performances 16th game in the Premier League without registering a shot and you could tell again those

there's tension between players in terms of what to do, you know, and it's a collaborative thing, right? It's not all just on him, but it felt like, again, sort of wrestling too much with players and going down and the referee wasn't giving him anything on that score. So you have to adjust your approach, I think, in that situation. I asked Samarin about him after the game and he was very positive about him saying that he's making the runs, okay, he's losing duels, but he's winning some, he's improving. I think he's now got to a point where he just has to be positive about

these players because he's five days out from a Europa League final and there's no point in, you know, hammering them. You know, he's trying to get some positive rhythm into them and positive mentality. Yeah, Kyle, the line-up was strong. It's interesting that Laurie there says perhaps it was the strongest available line-up. There's obviously a question mark maybe over Viktor Lindelof's spot heading towards the final, but that attacking shape...

Is that the strongest line-up that he's got or does Garnaccio have to be a part of that? I think there's some possible tweaks there. After the semi-final, I mentioned Mount Wright 10 and Ahmad Wright wing-back as a possible one-two punch. I also mentioned whether or not Ameren might start looking to experiment with a false nine like Ten Hag did for the FA Cup final because I'm not sure about this Hoyland situation. Things should be a lot clearer than how they currently are.

I felt this after the West Ham game of this is normally a time when players are trying to play their way into the starting XI and establish themselves and showing Amarin, look, I've got some form. Look, I'm really busting gut to get these loose balls. Look, I'm being brave, which is the thing Amarin talks about a lot. Whereas the last 30 minutes of this game at Stamford Bridge, you're beginning to flick down faces like it's guess who? Like, no, no, no, no, no. It's really concerning.

But, well, it's really because I'm in privately. I don't quite know how to do this podcast because I don't want to be too annoyed at Chelsea because we're supposed to be G-ing everyone up for Wednesday. Oh, we'll get there. The Guess Who question, can he score? No. Can he score? No. Oh, it's... Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. It's tough. It's tough. Anath has written a fantastic piece on The Athletic where he re-watched the three previous meetings between Manchester United and Spurs.

And sort of went, okay, Solanke's given United some trouble in the past and whatnot. And I've watched extended highlights of the three games too to see if there's anything else I can learn there. And this is probably me looking at something for too long and losing all form and reason for stuff. But I'm sure when our wonderful editor David goes pick a starting XI for the Europa League final, I think I'll probably have the weirdest one because I've just gone, we have to do something now.

brave and unique and something that I terrify Tottenham Hotspur 4-4 King 2 that's what you're going to do in it Carl so wild it's what Paul Jewell played

Oh my God. Sorry, I couldn't resist that. That was too good. Andy, when you look at last night, we've sort of talked endlessly about how these Premier League games don't really matter because it's all about the Europa League. I don't suppose we actually really thought that United were going to finish the season with maybe eight or nine games without winning. What damage do you think it is doing? Or is it not doing any because if they can go and win the Europa League on Wednesday...

It doesn't actually matter, but it does if I'm convincing anyone of that. It's the worst run I've ever seen in all the time I've supported Manchester United. It doesn't help, so in that case it must be negative because if you're losing all the time, your confidence isn't going up, it's going down. But this season has been about Bilbao for a good two or three months now.

On one level, I'm not surprised. Chelsea are better than Manchester United. The league table is an accurate reflector of that. Why are we surprised that we lose 1-0 at Chelsea? But we're Manchester United fans. We think, we're Man United, we're going to Chelsea. The record there has been pretty terrible. True. I spoke to my little brother who was in the away end. What was it like? Oh, brilliant, brilliant. What? What?

So that's an 18-year-old perspective because he said the away end was brilliant. I think it was his first ever trip to Stamford Bridge. Tickets were about, you know, this is another side effect of Manchester United being terrible. Tickets start to appear. I know a lot of the focus of this podcast will be Bill Baum.

I've been really encouraged the last few days, United fans helping each other out with tickets and travel for Bilbao, for face value. There's been loads of that going on. And it's all about Bilbao. Everyone's talking about Bilbao. And there has been seasons...

Like this, before Cup Finals, including in 91, where Manchester United switched off three or four weeks before the end of the season, before that Cup Winners' Cup Final. But before that, they were winning all the time. My worry is, once Bill Bower's out the way, how is Ruben Amarin going to get a team which loses most weeks? I mean, by so many statistical barometers, this is the worst. How do you suddenly switch teams?

that team into one that wins because people are expecting it to start winning when he has a full pre-season, when he gets some of his players in. But it's a tall ask. It's a really tall ask to get these same players who are losing all the time. Is it becoming ingrained into the mindset that they're losing all the time? Bilbao victory there will lift the mood massively. Financially, it will be good. There'll be optimism there.

But we saw that last season when United won the FA Cup under Eric Ten Hag and then reality just slapped Manchester United in the face. It's pretty worrying. And yet the fans still go week after week. They turn up, never going again. And then they turn up hoping for the best. They go, why have I paid to watch Man United West Ham? That was just...

Just so bad. So we've had a season where the highs, almost all the highs have been in Europe and we need the ultimate high to be in Europe on Wednesday. Yeah, we do, definitely. Let's hope that the women's side can provide a high on Sunday in the FA Cup final as well. Let's hope they can do better than the men against Chelsea. There's an interview with Leah Goldson by Charlotte Harper on The Athletic if you want to whet the appetite for Wembley. And there is a story actually doing the rounds on social media that 85,000 tickets have been sold for...

for the game. We mentioned on the last podcast that the last FA Cup final a couple of years ago between United and Chelsea set a world record for a domestic attendance for a women's game.

And if 85,000 show up, that will be a brand new record. So let's hope that happens and let's hope it's a brilliant occasion for Manchester United. But yeah, undoubtedly for the men, not the type of form you want to be taking into a European final. But the opposition are even worse. And after this short break, we'll preview that final against Spurs. From prying eyes to improving defences to peace of mind. Take your company's cyber security to the next level.

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Did you know that foreign investors are quietly funding lawsuits in American courts through a practice called third-party litigation funding? Shadowy overseas funders are paying to sue American companies in our courts, and they don't pay a dime in U.S. taxes if there is an award or settlement. They profit tax-free from our legal system, while U.S. companies are tied up in court and American families pay the price to the tune of $5,000 a year.

Thank you.

It's a common sense move that discourages frivolous and abusive lawsuits and redirects resources back into American jobs, innovation, and growth. Only President Trump and congressional Republicans can deliver this win for America and hold these foreign investors accountable. Contact your lawmakers today and demand they take a stand to end foreign-funded litigation abuse.

Hi, I'm Raj Punjabi from HuffPost. And I'm Noah Michelson, also from HuffPost. And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong, a new podcast that explores the all-too-human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through how to get it right.

And we're talking like legit, credible experts. Doctors, PhDs, all around superheroes. From HuffPost and Acast Studios, check out Am I Doing It Wrong? wherever you get your podcasts.

Lads, it's Tottenham. Although we're not actually allowed to call them that anymore. So lads, it's Spurs or Tottenham Hotspur, please. They are worse than Manchester United, unquestionably, by the metric of the Premier League table. But let's get a little bit of a preview to the sort of shape they're in with our colleague. Hi, my name's Jack Pitbrook. I cover Tottenham for The Athletic. I'll be going to Bilbao via ferry, actually, leaving Portsmouth on Sunday evening.

I'm certainly looking forward to the game. Everybody knows it's between two teams who have been so poor in the Premier League this season. Obviously, you guys all know Spurs have been even worse than Manchester United in the league. But despite that, they've managed to find a way through in Europe. They've clearly been putting all their eggs in the Europa League basket.

In the last few months, they've rested and rotated the team. So they've kept all their best players like Van de Ven and Romero fresh for the European Games while really just playing a B team in the Premier League in recent months, which I think has obviously contributed to their bad league form. In terms of how they're set up for this game, I mean, they have obviously beaten Man United three times this season. And I think in two of those games, they were really good. That is the 3-0 win at Old Trafford and the 4-3 win

in the League Cup in December, I thought that United should really have won the league game at Tottenham. But their two best players in those games were always Maddison and Kulosevski, who have been their two best players this season. Maddison and Kulosevski are both out of the final with knee injuries. Lukas Bergvall has also been really good in midfield, he's out with an ankle injury. So it's going to have to be a Spurs team with a very different midfield, and a midfield, frankly, without a lot of quality in it, I think.

So we'll probably see a different Spurs, maybe a more pragmatic Spurs, like the Spurs team who beat Budda Glimt in the semi-finals by basically playing long balls to Richarlison and Dominic Solanke. I don't think any Spurs fans I've spoken to are very confident about this game. That's maybe just because they're Spurs fans rather than for rational reasons, but I certainly wouldn't expect a repeat of those three games from earlier in the season. Thank you, Jack. Good luck with the ferry. MUSIC

Sounds fun that, Laurie, doesn't it? 32 hours. I mean, he told me he'd booked this thing and I was like, what are you doing? But, you know, fair play to him. He's doing it the circuitous route, the scenic route, shall we say. It's alright going because you're full of beans ahead of the final but it's a long journey back that if you don't win. I hope I'm not

you know revealing anything else but I don't think he's getting the ferry back yeah lads lads going on a ferry where you can sleep for two nights is not a hardship going on a coach is hardship oh yeah I've done that Portsmouth Bilbao ferry two of your 32 hour two nights of sleeping you're fine you can walk around you can you know ferries are not bad places imagine going by coach

There's loads of coaches going from Manchester. I went by coach to Barcelona in 99. I mean, I was only 12. It's even further, mate. And maybe when you're 12, you can handle it better. That idea of going by coach and... I did sit on a crate of Stella all the way there. Leaving straight after the game to go back to Manchester. Oh, I couldn't do it. I'm sorry. Yeah. Andy, ferries are difficult places. I've done the ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam. There wasn't any sleeping on that. But that's... I don't know what ferries you're travelling on. That's because it's you...

I have travelled by ferry. Maybe. Port of Smith to Bilbao is a pleasant ferry and it's a lovely way to arrive in a really nice part of Bilbao by the mouth of the Nervion River. You arrive in Gecko, which is one of the founder members of the Spanish Football League. Sorry, lads. Stop me here. Carry on. This is the next part, Andy. Carry on. Andy Mitten's tour guide tendencies are taking over. That's in the next part because we'll give you a bit of a lowdown on what to do if you're travelling over to Spain. I mean, Carl...

Tottenham are worse than United. I said it a moment ago. Jack Pitbrook said it in his voice note. The Premier League table says it. The matches against them don't say it. But they've only won three times since the start of February in the Premier League. Southampton, Ipswich and someone else. I can't remember who the other game is. But yeah, lost 2-0 against Aston Villa on Friday night. 2-0 with a massively rotated team. Essentially their B team. It was interesting to see the two different approaches from the Europa League finalists.

Spurs went with a weaker team United went strong they both ended up losing oops the more I think about this the more worried I get so I try not to think about it but I'll have those moments where I'm brushing my teeth or I'm about to take something out of the fridge and I just get a huge pang of anxiety about everything

I'm hoping United's experience in these bigger games serves as a sporting advantage. I'm hoping the fact that Casemiro's played in Champions League finals plays into this stuff. I'm hoping that Bruno Fernandes' experience in finals plays into this. I'm hoping that Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw having played in

a European Championship final works into this where Tottenham Hotspur team that yes does have some talented players and yes has been successful of United in the past perhaps might get a little bit overawed with this occasion I am not expecting Wednesday to be a good game I'm expecting it to be

A 20 minute slugfest and then a very, very boring arm wrestle for supremacy and just a lot of pinball football in set pieces. I'm also expecting to have Andy behind me just effing and blinding and screaming constantly at various players, some of them his own.

It's going to be incredibly nerve-wracking. And I'm going to stop talking now because I'm beginning to think about it. My nerves are going. You're making me bloody nervous here. I was fine before. I've got a lot of Spurs fans in my life. And just like Jack says, none of them are confident because being a Spurs fan is to be a sort of

nervous, downbeat philosopher that nothing good can happen. If something good does happen, something immediately goes back. Pape Sarr was taken off against Aston Villa. It seems like a precaution. Back pain. And said, yeah, something felt a twinge in his back. So I'm sort of raising an eyebrow and looking at the glasses there going, hang on, how injury depleted can they be? But look, winning trophies is never easy. Even the finals that United did seem to win easily. Sarr.

Just going to be prepared for a proper, nasty bit of trench football. I agree with the points that you're saying. And Jack, I've watched a lot of Tottenham this season, especially in Europe. They're quite a different team to the team that play in the Premier League, where they press probably more than any other team in the Premier League. They go forward with seven. It's probably a reason why they've got so many injuries. They've been more pragmatic when they needed to be. I expected them to struggle in Bodo Glimt. They were really smart how they played defensively.

As Jack said, they went long very effectively. Romero was the best player. Solanke was excellent as well. Bettencourt was good doing a man marking job on Patrick Berg, who was Glimm's best player. They did little tweaks like using the throw-ins really effectively.

But I would expect them to be slightly more pragmatic against Manchester United. I think their three key absences are really important. It's a real parcel of luck for Manchester United. And I know United fans don't always like to hear this. There have been several in this Europa League run so far. There are athletic fans still absolutely fuming about that sending off

in the first leg of the semi-final. No one has got any sympathy for them whatsoever. It was the correct decision. They can make their case when United fans travel to Bilbao, can't they? I look forward to discussing the final with them on Wednesday. Apparently they were very welcoming, by the way, I should say that, and there's people that are going to go meet up with them before the game.

in the final. Yeah, fantastic. They're brilliant. I mean, they travelled brilliantly to Manchester as well, didn't they? Even though they were so far down in the tie. It's a great city and we'll talk more about it. So Tottenham are usually very extreme in how offensively aggressive they are. I find them quite entertaining when I've seen them and yet I think Manchester United shouldn't have lost those three matches.

I think your point about Casemiro and the other big name players is really important. I'd put Ahmad in that bracket as well as a potential match winner. Harry, Bruno, obviously Bruno. These are the lads who need to step up against Spurs. It is such a big game. It's a massive, massive game.

And Spurs have been Spurs-y and they've got, you know, they've got a massive downer on Ange. I'm more confident going into this game, bizarrely, than I have been in any of the previous games against Tottenham. And their absences are... Them players are all really, really important. But Tottenham, they've ground out good results. That win away in Frankfurt was really important. They come at AZ, you know,

But these are Europa League level opponents. It's the first time they come up against an English team. So one of them's got a fault. They've both been really successful in reaching the final. Are we preparing for extra time?

I think you've got to prefer otherwise you know fail to prefer prepare to fail that's right Laurie the thing for me I don't know what you think about this Laurie the thing for me there is huge uncertainty over and Poster Coglu's future as Spurs manager there is even suggestions that if Spurs

Spurs do win their first trophy since, is it 2008? I think the last time they won something. He'd still be sacked, which seems remarkable. And the opposite is true of Ruben Amarin, despite the situation with the league form being so similar. His name will be ringing around Bilbao in the build-up to the match on Wednesday. His name will be ringing around the San Mames Stadium during the match as well.

that's got to count for something, hasn't it? When it really, really matters. Possibly, yeah. In those moments where if the teams are evenly matched and there's tension in the air, maybe United fans start singing Amarant's name and it's for one guy, but obviously the kind of senses that we're behind you and we're supporting you, maybe that has some value, certainly. And I would, you know, you're going to,

turn this onto my little one person fan club here but you forgot Mason Mount I did forget Mason Mount he's won a Champions League final and he's played in the Euros no he didn't he got an assist in the Champions League final he got the assist in the Champions League final but he did play in the Euros final as well he's got loads of big game experience too my mistake Mason Mount

Not a mistake. I just wanted to add to your very coherent and strong argument that you were making that United have got players that have been in these kind of occasions before and I think that counts for something as well. We've got the historical element, we've got the two managers going up against each other, we've got the fact that it's lads, it's

what we call them, Hotspur London. What's the term for them? London Lilywhites. There's multiple layers to this. Lads, it's the Europa League final losers is hopefully what we'll be referring to them on Thursday. We might have to retire that phrase forever if the bad thing happens. So I very much want the good things to happen so I can keep saying that. That's what makes it

so tense. It is weird though, Kyle, you mentioned it before. It's weird how different Poster Coglu's approach to the team selection on Friday night was compared to Amarine. I asked Amarine about this, um,

in the pre-Chelsea press conference exactly how he'd used Chelsea in terms of the selection to prepare for the final. And he was saying that he felt he needed to play a strong team. He needed to get the key players with more minutes under the belt just to find some rhythm and stay in the moment ahead of Bilbao, whereas...

Ange-Poster Coggle who's gone the opposite. I mean, there could be 11 changes for Spurs from the side that played on Friday night compared to the side that plays on Wednesday. I mean, some players weren't even in the squad who are going to start like Mickey van der Veen, Christian Romero and Destinia Doggie. Ameren thought that eight days without a game was an issue.

Whereas Pastor Cugley obviously thinks the opposite. Yeah, look, the way Tottenham play at their best relies a lot on Romero and Mickey van der Veen to be fit and to cover larger areas of space when defending. We know Mickey van der Veen has a history of hamstring injuries, but

And you consider the fact that Spurs might be without three of their best midfielders. I can see why Postakoglu went, nope, nope, nope, not going to risk two or three of these very special players and keep them there. We also know the way Postakoglu ideally wants to play football and has had an extra season of working with those players. He might have gone, well, those rhythms, those sort of automatisms, I've taught those to a greater level of success than Ameren, so I can afford eight days without it. And I know how I want to take things in training. I think Ameren,

It's slightly on the back foot in regards to Manchester United football players knowing and being comfortable with what they're supposed to be doing. There were still two or three bits I saw against Chelsea and you can't, right, it's still not quite to the tempo I remember. There's still two or three bits

that you would ideally want a better player or a more confident player to work their way out of. So I suppose that's why Amarim went as close to full strength as possible. I think familiarity has bred contempt with Ange. Remember at the start of last season when Tottenham were impressive and it was all Ange Borlase, hey mate, and everyone was loving him. And I think there's a cursory warning here for Ruben Amarim. At the moment, as you said Ian at the start of this question, he is getting...

backing from Manchester United fans. Outsiders might even find that bizarre that there's so much backing for him given how bad his team is because every football manager knows if you're not getting results, you're going to lose your job.

and yet there's this almost unconditional backing of him because the circumstances are different. I'd like to see if in a year's time Manchester United were 16th in the league going into a final. I think the mood would have changed significantly by then. I'm not saying there'd be some of the outright hostility that Spurs fans have for their manager, but I definitely think it's a factor. Amarant is still in this extended honeymoon period because...

For all the failings, I think there is an appreciation that it was tricky anyway. It's not his squad and he's made some difficult decisions and he deserves a bit of time. I know we could have said that at any point in the last 10 years, but I think it rings true. Laurie, dare we even mention what happens if United don't win? Well, I think we have to consider it, don't we? Do we? Do we?

Felt to prepare. Yes. I mean, it would leave things feeling very hollow, wouldn't it? And I think people would be wondering where on earth this is headed because you've got... The Premier League is the barometer, really, by which you measure. This is a kind of bonus ticket, isn't it, to get into...

the Champions League via two back doors isn't it really after the FA Cup win but it has been entertaining I think that's why if they do win it I think this will be remembered quite fondly I was just sort of looking back on the 2016-17 run Rostov squeaking past Celta Vigo squeaking past Anderlecht squeaking past it was pretty tedious football so it's not kind of remembered particularly in my mind anyway fondly it's not cherished whereas I think

Yeah.

this run with the Lyon game with the Bilbao game sorry with the game in Bilbao with even then stretching it further back to the Liverpool FA Cup tie which was dramatic and that feeds into this sort of whole run this is why they're here so yeah I'm kind of hoping that it then has this final flourish but I think to your point if it doesn't then yeah that'll be there'll be serious questions won't there I mean it sounds like Amarim

I think genuinely is sort of like, would it be that bad a thing if we don't make it? Because then it gives me time to work with the players in training in the week and we don't have European football, we don't have the trips. There's going to be so much more pressure though if United don't win this final.

to get that right. And then it's on him. And he obviously wanted to stay at Sporting, didn't he, this season? He said that and I guess this is the kind of thing that he was predicting and United didn't want to wait and they didn't want to put an interim manager in charge in Ruud van Nistelrooy. So here we are with this

Yeah, it sort of felt like a limbo at times, hasn't it? Because you can't necessarily really judge him because he's only had Patrick Doug, who is a genuine new player, into his team. It was good to see Aidan Heaven back actually last night. I mean, that's an interesting development ahead of the final given that back three...

you know if you've been playing all this time you probably start if it's him or Lindelof you're starting him aren't you if he's actually fully fit maybe I'm wrong on that because again Lindelof's got that experience that Carl was touching on earlier so but yeah I think it certainly it will be a very somber mood won't it if United don't win this game right that's enough for that that's enough for that

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Yeah, I'd committed to saying something more than that. But yeah, listen to that when it's available later on in the week ahead of Manchester United taking on Spurs in Bilbao. A glorious city, Andy, of which you are the new tour guide. Oh, I...

I never told you lads but my proudest moment of the semi-final wasn't the 3-0. It was going for a drink afterwards. As I'd been working and I just wanted a couple of beers near to my hotel and there's loads of United fans in a bar and some athletic fans as well. I got chatting to a couple of local lads about Bilbao and I started talking about the geography of Bilbao and this local goes, oh you live here as well?

And I went, no, no, how do you know so much about the population statistics of my city? And privately, I was absolutely buzzing my head off. You're so proud of that. That's the second time you've told us about it. Right, well, there you go. Yeah, I don't realise it's weird. On record. I think you've told me about it off record as well, so I'll make that three times. He's privately buzzing, guys. He's privately buzzing on a public podcast.

It's a good city. Ask me anything about it that you want. What should we do? We're there for the day. We're going to watch Manchester United beat Spurs in the evening by day. Where should we go? So if you're not one of the Man United fans who wants to go to a museum, and there might be one or two of them, Old Town, the Casco Antiguo is on the other side of the river. Loads of bars selling pinchos, which are like smaller than tapas. Cheap, fresh, often fish, meat, meat.

For drinks, I said about Cali Mocho, that's the red wine with the cola and the ice. There is another local variation of that with Cass, which is an orange juice. And then there is a Basque, sort of Navarrese drink called Pacheran, which is like a vermouth. It's like aniseed, which is really nice, especially...

in the summer but it's all about the food the centre is small you can walk around it it's a really attractive centre it's got a metro link designed by Mancunian Sir Norman Foster the Guggenheim is a museum you don't have to go inside it just go to the site it is a spectacular building one of the most spectacular buildings in the world and I don't say that lightly

by the Riverside, designed by Frank Gehry. Everyone said the Basques were mad building it, but they built it and it's been a huge success. Parallels with Manchester, you know, an industrial city that really suffered in the 70s and 80s and came out of it to be a really self-confident, football-loving, proud place with a real strong identity. The stadium's in walking distance. You process normally down Caio Pozzo or the parallel streets to it.

loads of bars on the way to this cathedral. They call it the Cathedral of San Mames, which is a top stadium. And I know there's a couple of fan zones either side of that, some pretty decent events. But just absorb yourself into the city. The Basques are so welcoming. Just find your little corner there.

and just enjoy it. It's a European final. It's a really big deal. There's not been many of these in Manchester United's history, and it's good value as well. This isn't like going to New York where you're going to have to mortgage your house to buy a coffee. Spain's really good value. Just enjoy it, and I wouldn't expect trouble with Tottenham fans. I think people would just be relieved enough to get there because it's pretty complicated to get to.

But it's a European final. Bring it on. Yeah, Vish and a lot of other people actually were asking for tips aside from the UEFA fan zones in Bilbao. He's actually flying over from New York for the game. So you mentioned the mortgage that he won't need to take out. He'll be happy about that. It'll seem especially cheap to him. But yeah, lots of people got in touch about that. So brilliant, Andy. Thank you very much. Jack said as well, I studied in a small town recently.

in Gipkor, I think that would be the vague way of pronouncing that, about 12 years ago and can confirm that Calimoccio is an essential drink on a night out. The initial disgust at combining Coke and red wine is understandable, but it's better than you might expect. Popular amongst the younger crowd. For the more discerning listener...

Chakoli is a very dry white wine that's popular as an aperitif amongst the locals. Other options include the local cider, which is very different to the type we're used to in the UK. Ask the bar person to explain how to pour. And without wishing to tempt fate, if there are reasons to celebrate, the local short drink for such an occasion is that thing you mentioned a moment ago that's like vermouth and it's served over ice. Batcharan. One tiny little bit. Loads of reds are not going to Bilbao.

The Basque capital is really worth a visit. The new museum for the victims of terrorism is good. Santander, Seaside Town, Zaragoza, Castro de Ales, San Sebastian we've spoken about, Bordeaux. It's surrounded by really, really good cities. Can I just sort of add a little bit into the Kalamochos debate? So I had a couple of people get in touch after listening to your advocation of it. Is that the right word?

on a previous podcast Andy Roman says don't drink Calimochos when you're in Bilbao I'm sure that athletic player was taking the out of Andy it's absolutely disgusting but then a guy Michael who I actually met in San Diego on pre-season tour said Laurie mate Calimochos you'll love him or hate him

was introduced to them by a group of bass surfers and my dangerously delightful drink, Top Regional Cocktail. So I am really intrigued about what this is going to taste like, but I'm also excited. One thing I've worked out, we're going to be absolutely smashed. There's quite a lot to try here, isn't there? You keep saying all this. When are you going to have time to drink all this beer? We've got a final to cover, lads. I'm only there for about 24 hours, so it's going to get messy. This is it. It'll make the podcast better. Come on. I won't be allowed in at this rate.

Laurie's going to be drinking Cala Mocho waiting for the managers to do the press conferences. Yeah, he's a moose, all right, actually. You mentioned Norman Foster there, Andy. He's more than just like a man, isn't he? He's the one that's designed United Stadium. Yeah. The new stadium. So, I mean, I loved that when a listener got in touch and mentioned that, and you already knew it, obviously. But, like, design the Metro in, like, 1980s.

So this guy's been putting some pretty major structures in place for decades. Oh, there's some world-class architecture there. And Spanish cities tend to be attractive as well. It is so different from when I first went there. There were parallels with Northern Ireland and North of Ireland here. Etta de Basse separatist group were active. You'd walk past the police stations when I first went there and they were fortified. There was tension in the air.

Now it is, I've seen some people go, it shouldn't be in Bilbao, it should be at Wembley. And I'm like, Oh, definitely not. 2011 Champions League final at Wembley was, that's people who don't go to football matches saying stuff like that. That's really disappointing. You know what I mean? This is a reward, but Bilbao was staging this game.

regardless of who got there. Who on earth are one of the finalists to turn around and go, we don't want to play there? Or I've heard the stadium's too small. 53,000? It's a big stadium. Okay, I get the gripes about more tickets should be for fans, but I'll put a counterpoint to that. Ticket prices are really fair on this one, and we will be the first to kick off on that.

In the Man United area, they are really good prices. Let's bring it back around to the game to finish if we can. We've mentioned Rasmus Heuland a lot, obviously, on the podcast, but we mentioned earlier about Ruben Amarin's comments after the game, Carl, about Heuland's performance, his all-round game being praised as opposed to the bit about putting the ball in the back of the net. Yeah.

Is there a chance United go into this game without him? I mean, considering how much Amarim backed him, it doesn't feel to me like it's something he's going to do. But what do you think? I think it might be false nine time. Manchester United did their Matt Busby Player of the Year award. It was handed to Bruno Fernandes this week. That's his fourth as part of the award season.

There was also a clip of the goal of the season. And one of the goals is Rasmus Hoyland against Bodo Glimt. And if you're listening to this podcast now, I recommend you watch that goal back. And you'll probably have a similar thought to me, which is, where's that player gone? Because what's currently going on with Rasmus, I don't want to...

dig him out right now because this is this is definitely a an above shoulders problem there is a football talent in there and we saw it earlier this season in the Europa League there is a football talent in there and we saw it last season in the Champions League as well but at the moment he's he's blocking his blessings you can't you can't go a game of Premier League football without taking a shot it was 13 he lost possession 13 times and had six contested duels and lost all of them right I don't I don't

I'd love for him to go on, score, and then Ian, you can hand me a menu and I can order the humble pie with a side order of... All those drinks we've just mentioned. Chips. All those pin shots. Or chips. But at this point in time, I don't feel confident scoring goals with Rasmus Hoyer up front. And it might be time for Mainu, false nine? I'm pulling the face. I'm not sure. It would be a hell of a gearshift, wouldn't it, if that was the 11 that Amarim went with. He did say, Laurie, after the Chelsea performance that...

it did give him a clearer idea, the match at Stamford Bridge, of who he would select for the final. There's a bit of a debate maybe between Mason Mount and Alejandro Garnaccio, which you wrote about in your match debrief on The Athletic. Yeah, and what did he say in his debate? Who does he want? I actually didn't make a call on that, Andy. I just sort of presented the facts. Lawrence versus Laurie. And obviously...

It certainly wasn't a perfect performance from Mason Mount because he had a chance in the first half that he skewed wide with his right, a chance in the second half that he skewed wide with his left, both from cutbacks though. And that's, I think, what maybe Amarin is hinting at, that he's got a clearer idea. He took Mason Mount off, basically,

to protect him. Okay, I know he's kind of bringing him back in to sort of full fitness. So you've got him in your starting line-up then? He's got him in his world 11, mate. I can't change my tack now, can I? I've got to go full frontal, haven't I? Full frontal? Oh my goodness. Full frontal, full throttle.

Oh, no. Yeah, we'll keep this in the podcast. Might have to bleep it. Just imagine if Mount scores against Tottenham. I'm going to film Laurie. The arc is complete then, isn't it? Oh, it would be wonderful. There it is. I just thought that maybe that was what Amram was sort of hinting at, but that would be, I don't know, sad.

Listen, just because you're number one fan of Alejandro Garnaccio's... Hey, don't try and turn it back on me. Don't you put your face in your hand just because I am listening to what a manager says and trying to react accordingly. No, it was you saying full frontal. Okay, we're going back to that, are we? Yeah, I don't know why I said that. Last time you spoke about him, you said it was a pleasurable experience to meet him. Unashamedly.

If you get on a ferry from Portsmouth, where do you go to? Bilbao. There's a cemetery. And make some mounts from Portsmouth. Yeah, it is. Where does Ahmad fit into all of this, Andy?

You said he could be a match winner before. Yeah, I think he can. Off the bench? Possibly. I think he's got it. He can beat a player. He obviously missed a lot of the season, but I'm really glad he's back. He's a threat when he comes on. He gets people off the seat. You don't want to be a Tottenham defender when he's running at you. I think Karl's point about Tottenham central defenders being effective in the channels is a really good one. Romero is excellent at that. Van de Ven, who you like as well, Ian. I've noticed that you keep mentioning him. Van de Ven? Van de Ven, even. I don't like Van de Ven. I've never heard of him. Yeah.

The Dutch kid who plays at the centre half. Yeah. No, Ahmad. I mean, I'd have no problem if he started or if he came on. He's got to start Ahmad, hasn't he? Yeah, he's got to start. Who for? Mount. So is it a choice between Ahmad Mount or Garnaccio then? It's those three for those number 10s, isn't it? And I would, I don't know. Bruno? In the 10s? Yeah. If he plays Ugarte and Casemiro deeper. Does he play Ugarte? I just think Ugarte was giving the ball away too much and

in the West Ham game? He has, you're right. You're right, Laurie. Is there enough physicality with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes against the midfield three against Spurs, which will be very workmanlike and very... Physical. Good point. Yeah, physical, a bit more dynamic maybe than... To be honest, I do think the injuries have been overplayed for Spurs. I was reading the match report yesterday

from their Aston Villa game it's like injury hit Spurs they've only got three players missing but they're all in this they're all in the same position Ian and the three you know and the three of their best players you know I've got four of the first choice back five missing if you look at Dallon Martinez potentially it's not injury hit United is it but Tottenham's is a relatively recent thing as well yeah maybe Martinez has been out for a while hasn't he I just think that when Tottenham have had injuries this season it seems to have been written about a

hell of a lot United have had their own problems this season and obviously had a lot last season and I get it that you know James Madison scored the winner in the game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Kulosevsky was brilliant and scored at Old Trafford in the win there but you know we've all got our problems um I'm glad that they're they're sort of deepening their concern with the injuries because that's another factor that I think could play into Manchester United's hands you know if Sarr is okay it's going to be probably Sarr, Benton, Kerr and Bissouma I mean it

They're not kids, are they? They're not youth players. That's legs. It is legs, isn't it? That's why I was saying about Agata. Well, Sarr and Bissouma have destroyed United, haven't they, in midfield? I remember Benson Kerr coming for Juventus, was he at? Yeah. And double-checking him because I thought, whoa, he can play. And that was at Old Trafford as well. I think Agata is a really good point because he's been pretty poor in the last month, but he does nick the ball. Even the first 10, 12 minutes against Athletic in the first leg...

He gave the ball away way too much. Yeah. And then everything sort of swung in his way. Yeah, he did. No, I like him. I like him. I think he's definitely got his virtues, but you cannot be giving the ball away as much as he has done.

It would be brave, I think, Carl, wouldn't it, to go without Ugarte and play Casemiro and Bruno deeper and then a combination of Ahmad, Garnaccio or Mount in the 10 positions. Yeah, and to go back to what we said before about how this is a final, you can do this in stages. You can have your 20 minutes when it's Ugarte and Casemiro and then stodging that central midfield and then when Tottenham Hotspur tie a little bit towards...

the end of the first half or the end of or past the hour mark then you can do the thing Amarin's very often done which is take off with Garte bring Bruno Fennet there's deeper to help when you chase a goal and you can put on someone like Garnaccio when Garnaccio can run against tiring legs the starting line-up and the final and the line-up at the end of 90 minutes are unlikely to be the same because you're going to have to you're going to have to do this

in stages and I'm sure Ange Postakoglu is going to be looking at things of how do I nullify one element of Manchester United before I make another gear change and whatnot it's going to be really tough I need to stop talking because I'm about to get really stressed out don't do it again we'll move past it got our European final mate these are moments it's absolutely enjoy it and learn a couple of words of Basque as well thank you is Eskeri Kasko it'd be really appreciated Eskeri Kasko Kajsa is hello hello

Kaisho. Yeah. And Manchester United is the team that beat Athletic Club. Just keep saying that to him in the semis. You could be here. Look what you could have won. Unlucky. It's Gary Casco. Gora Gora Man United. Gora Gora. Gora Gora is Glory Glory Man United. Gora Gora. Gora Gora indeed. Well, I hope that's got everyone up for the final on Wednesday. Manchester United against Spurs in the Europa League.

In Bilbao, all four of us will be there inside the stadium. We'll be recording a podcast, whatever happens in that game, straight afterwards, which will be available for you to listen to on Thursday. Let's hope it is one of those glorious ones.

that we have all got a smile on our face together in the San Mames. Fingers crossed Manchester United show up. Fingers crossed we're bringing home the Europa League trophy with the team at the end of the week. Thank you for listening. Carl, Laurie, Andy, see you in Bilbao. Thanks for being with us. Take care, everyone. Gora Gora Man United one last time. Bye-bye. Because United are going to Bilbao. The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

Did you know that foreign investors are quietly funding lawsuits in American courts through a practice called third-party litigation funding? Shadowy overseas funders are paying to sue American companies in our courts, and they don't pay a dime in U.S. taxes if there is an award or settlement. They profit tax-free from our legal system, while U.S. companies are tied up in court and American families pay the price to the tune of $5,000 a year.

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innovation, and growth. Only President Trump and congressional Republicans can deliver this win for America and hold these foreign investors accountable. Contact your lawmakers today and demand they take a stand to end foreign-funded litigation abuse.

Hi, I'm Raj Punjabi from HuffPost. And I'm Noah Michelson, also from HuffPost. And we're the hosts of Am I Doing It Wrong? A new podcast that explores the all too human anxieties we have about trying to get our lives right. Each week on the podcast, Raj and I pick a new topic that we want to understand better and bring a guest expert on to talk us through how to get it right.

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