Inside United’s Europa Final Week: Travel Chaos, Team News & Tactical Debate | Manchester is RED
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Hello and welcome to the latest edition of the Manchester is Red podcast. Manchester is Red on tour. We are, I was going to say we're in Bilbao, but that's not technically true. We are in, we are in the Basque country, shall we say. We're in San Sebastian. I'm Tyrone Marshall, joined from my hotel room by Samuel Luckett. Samuel, how are we? Hi.

I hope people aren't watching this on YouTube. I'd very much recommend people listen to this one because the lighting is not exactly cinematic in here and I look like a midget really and you're towering above me because our chairs aren't on the same level. But yes, I'm very well. Obviously, we've got here via two flights and you're very smooth driving in our mini automatic from

from Bilbao, San Sebastian. I was worried earlier when you said we're not sharing a room, are we? I approached the hotel reception with bated breath, but we're not sharing a room. I think this is the first time we've done one of these in San Diego. Yeah, yeah, it's been a

It's been a while, hasn't it? But no, the setup is interesting. I mean, looking at the camera that I can see on screen now, it does look like I've brought someone on work experience with this EuroLeague final. Yeah, yeah, this is an enlarge. I can assure you it is just the chair set up in this room. And yes, thankfully, we do have separate rooms, given we're going to be here for a while. It was an early start for us this morning, flying via Mallorca from Liverpool. Thankfully, it went

pretty smoothly. There was a few United fans on the flight from Mallorca to Bilbao, but like I say, the journey was smooth and it feels like the invasion is going to start tomorrow really, doesn't it? Yeah, we said that it's probably good for us at least that we've come out here on Monday rather than tomorrow, which will be hectic. Bilbao Airport is tiny. I've spoken to friends who've

we've done previous trips to San Sebastian or Bilbao and it's tiny even when you've just got a couple of thousand United supporters there so to have tens of thousands coming over I think United and Tottenham's followings are among the best away followings, travelling followings in the UK as well so with that on top of it hopefully the whole event, the occasion, it passes without incident. There's not really a lot of needle between United and Spurs fans. I think there's

there's a reasonable amount of respect between them, if anything. You can never be too sure, unfortunately, when you come on these trips. When I was staying in Bilbao a few weeks ago, on the day of the game, there was a gating outside our hotel and riot police at the end of the road checking where you're going and things like that. And you think, is this really necessary? And obviously you're

you're very polite and professional in those circumstances. But a friend who was staying even nearer the stadium when I was only about a five-minute walk away, he said that he had to wait for a route to be plotted for the English fans, the money had paid the United fans to get to the stadium. So there is still that element of... It's a weird form of discrimination, really, against English football fans. I think it was our colleague Paul Hurst said...

When it was San Sebastian in March, the local newspaper said about how more riot police had been brought in ahead of Manchester United's arrival. And then the final paragraph, which he said, on their previous two trips to San Sebastian, there were no arrests. So it's, you know, it's not really, it was a story, but it was a non-story there. And of course, it's going to be very different over the coming days with this influx of Londoners and Manchurians. But I think we're all pretty reasonably confident that

It will pass without incident and hopefully the Spanish, or sorry, the Bilbao right-leys also accept that there are going to be certain behavioural traits of English football fans, but as long as they're not crossing the line, there's no action that requires to be taken. Yeah, absolutely, and hopefully common sense will prevail with that. I mean, it's going to be a fascinating week off the pitch, isn't it? It's

It's a great city. San Sebastian's a great city. It's a beautiful part of the world. The drive that we just had from Bilbao to San Sebastian was very scenic. The city is, for the final it's ended up with, it's probably too small, isn't it? And we know of colleagues who are staying in San Sebastian, in Santander, some in Pretoria. I'm sure there's United fans who are staying all over the Basque country and looking to get in and out of Bilbao.

hotel rooms in Buba even after the first leg of that semi-final were £1,000 a night plus it's going to be

It's going to be a chaotic week, I think, isn't it, for a lot of United fans and a lot of Tottenham fans trying to get around, not just Bilbao, but around the whole Basque Country in and out of Bilbao. Yeah. Someone I know is staying in a farmhouse, I think, that's about £800 a night. And that was a reasonable deal. They thought they were Tottenham fans, so they don't want to miss this occasion. I mean,

It's strange when you speak about Spurs in that context because you think, crikey, when was the last time Tottenham had a European final? But of course, they had the Champions League final only six years ago, which was obviously a bigger event because it's the Champions League event.

But this one does feel extremely consequential because it's two really big English clubs, big English, big followings. They've had their worst seasons domestically since they were both relegated in the 70s, United in 74, Spurs in 77. Spurs are success starved. It would be pretty monumental for them to win a first trophy since 2008. United...

one of their worst teams in 34 years last season won a trophy. So you wouldn't be surprised if they still got over the line. But I agree. I mean, in terms of logistics coming here, I think someone from United States also reminded us that Bilbao has only got this final because it was due to host European Championship games when they were spread across the continent in 2021, which of course was delayed by COVID-19.

and there was a particular outbreak in Bilbao which meant that the Spanish ground was re-designated in Seville, I think it was. Not Sevilla Stadium, I think it was the other stadium there, maybe the one that hosted the UEFA Cup final when Celtic got there in 2003.

In essence it sounds great because the stadium is brilliant, the Athletic Bilbao fans call it a cathedral which may be pushing it given that it's a relatively new build but it is on the same site I believe, I didn't go to the old one. The facilities are great, it's a beautiful city, it's very rare that you go to a Spanish city

for the football and you think this isn't all that cop I've not had that you went to Villarreal which sounds a different experience I think to go into Seville or Madrid or Barcelona but with Bilbao it sounds great in essence but of course then you consider the logistics there was even some issue I was told where United had a meeting with UEFA about landing slots and

for Tuesday for United and for Tottenham because the airport is just not geared up for a huge invasion or influx of supporters and unfortunately for the people of Bilbao it's not a Bodo Klimt Athletic Bilbao final it's pretty much the worst from their perspective the worst case scenario I suppose if there were two clubs from Germany that might be a bit different but

as I said earlier where English football fans are still stereotyped and this whole there's still that hangover from the the hooliganism era of the 70s and the 80s particularly of course some of the incidents that happened in the 80s as well that people can't erase from from their memory and they still struggle to look at them through a completely different prism that's why probably from their perspective it is a worst case scenario

And of course, the difficulty of getting here, I didn't realise how difficult it was to get to Bilbao. I mean, it's felt like with a lot of these trips this season, we've gone around the houses to Lyon. I mean, Manchester Airport is, we all know how bad it is anyway. It is getting a little bit better, the new terminal, Terminal 2, the plans for Top Grade Terminal 3 as well.

But for such a big city airport, it feels like there is such a lack of direct flights when you need them. Now, it's not the case with Bilbao because the demand is there and the dynamic pricing is also there. But people are going to go around the houses because it's cheaper. In Liverpool Airport, there was a United fan who was

walking around with a green gold shirt on, which was, even at that time of the morning, still quite brave, given that the first shop you get to in John Lennon Airport just seemed to be all Champions 2025 merchandise there.

But of course you see him and you think well there's only one place he's going and he's not going to New York on holiday he's going to be connecting there to get to Bilbao and that's why there are a lot of these indirect flights and connecting flights that are going on. Mallorca airport earlier it was a strange experience because we were almost at the exit leaving the building then you obviously you pointed in the direction of a lift that's just surreptitiously tucked away and

and there are the other gates to get to other destinations, but it's not an obvious connecting the fly. And these trips are extremely expensive, especially for football supporters. We're in a privileged position of doing this

So it's different for us. But a friend of mine, he's very optimistic. He's already booked a refundable hotel for Budapest next year for the Champions League final United fans. And he'd already done that at the start of this season for this final. Some colleagues had as well. And there's absolute merit in that because the prices have just gone. They are ridiculously high. And

you're thinking, how do they sleep at night? But this has been going on for decades and decades. So everyone has to put up with it. And rather naively, I got tickets for the cricket Trent Bridge on Friday thinking, if United do somehow get to the Open League final, it's in Spain, no problem, get back in plenty of time. Of course, it's really not that easy to get to Bilbao, even though it's...

It's not far from the French border whatsoever. No, it's probably quicker to drive, actually. Yeah, it probably is. I imagine there's a lot of fans who will be driving and doing minibuses as well. I guess, like you said, the athletic Bordeaux Glimpse was probably the dream final for the locals, apart from the hoteliers and the bar owners who will be making a lot of money over the next couple of days. The thing you always get with an English final, of course, is those fans that will come without tickets just to be part of the occasion, which you may be not getting quite as much

With other clubs, obviously, each club have got 14,700 tickets. There'll be thousands more without just to soak up the atmosphere. You mentioned United flying in tomorrow. Then what's their plans that we know of leading up to the final? Because obviously both clubs will be at San Mames tomorrow, both clubs. United certainly arriving tomorrow. I presume Tottenham are arriving tomorrow as well. So what do we know of their plans? United have got their final open training session at half ten at Carrington in the morning.

having done that lengthier open session at the Council last week on that UEFA Media Day, which if you've experienced it, and I don't mean this spitefully whatsoever, but once you've experienced it, you can kind of hope that you're covering, never get to a European final ever again, or at least until UEFA have addressed those Media Day protocols, because it was a much longer day than I think all of us anticipated.

But United will be flying after that. Tottenham have their first go in terms of the press conferences tomorrow at about half four, I think. 4pm, I think, somewhere around 4.30. And they have to do a walk around the stadium as well, which I remember from the Europa League final in Stockholm in 2017 because it was the only pre-match activity we had in the United-Canada press conference because of the attack on the Manchester Arena on the Monday night. This, of course, was...

the Tuesday evening so their press conference was cancelled they did conduct an open training session at Carrington that morning but of course it was an extremely sombre atmosphere and I think they held a minute silence there from memory we were just I think we got to Stockholm via in Frankfurt or Nuremberg but it was one it was it was a sobering day but also it was quite surreal that there were no

we didn't really do any work and no demands from our desk really to find new coverage because of course what had um the barbaric things that had unfolded at the arena that evening so um for come the day of the game a little bit of normality was restored there and i think everybody was quite keen to not move on as such but welcomed the occasion the event to actually

give a little bit of happiness to some people who are in unimaginably horrific circumstances. Fortunately, we're not in those circumstances on this occasion. And so United, I think, are due to have their press conference at seven o'clock tomorrow night. I can't remember if the walk around is before or after. I mean, for us, it's obviously...

It's about an hour's drive, or just over an hour from our hotel in San Sebastian to San Mames Stadium. So we'll be there for Andrew Postacoglu's press conference. And I believe he has to be flanked by, is it one or two players? Two players, I think. Two players, which I remember when it was the Champions League final in 2008, I think it was Rui Fernand and Wes Brown who flanked Sir Alex Ferguson. So that's been going on for a long, long time. I don't quite understand the merit of...

having two of them there. I know it's a final and it's UEFA wanting a cake and eating it, but I think one would have sufficed. I mean, it's never ideal with United anyway because the player is usually sat with the manager and sometimes if the press officer, when he's going around the room, quite understandably, he will try and gauge whether you're going to ask a question for the player because the player could just be sat there on his top not actually saying anything. But

We always try to do this guesswork as to who will speak. I think Fernandes seems like a logical shout-out, given that he's the captain. I'm surprised how little media activity Casemiro has done, because United were certainly planning to put him up before one or two Bilbao games. He's been a good story this season. It would have been ideal for that. I think, say, he'd done pretty much Bilbao out here or in Manchester.

I've certainly been keen to do a feature on it because I think there are some interesting questions to put his way. And also, even through a translator, he is actually a good talker from experience. He did a press conference in San Sebastian a couple of seasons ago alongside Eric Ten Haag and even in Mixon as well. And this is going back more than two years. His English was decent enough then that he could understand our questions without having to have it translated. But the problem with that press conference last week was that

You're asking Ruben Amram questions there about a European final and then tomorrow we can ask him more questions about a European final. I actually sympathise with him. He shouldn't have to do two pre-match press conferences just because Manchester United got to a final. That feels more like a punishment than a reward for getting 90 minutes away from winning a trophy.

But all eyes, of course, tomorrow will be at Carrington. They'll be peeled on. Well, they might not even be fixated on them. Is Lenny Oro there? Is he a tie-slit there? And to be honest, I think Lenny Oro is the only one with the injured...

a contingent who has got a chance of playing in the final, if indeed he is fit. But looking at his body language when he came off against West Ham, it did seem rather ominous. Yeah, he felt it looked like he feared the worst on that occasion. I mean, let's rewind a few days. Then we were both in London on Friday night at Chelsea. Another defeat for United. I mean, did anything that happened there, did any of that team selection change?

make you think differently about what team selection Namrim's going to make on Wednesday? Because it felt like that entire night was kind of discussed around the contest was this final, wasn't it? That was the only interest for United, really. Did anything that happened there or the team he selected change your mind about what he might do this week? The team he selected could feasibly be the team he selects against Tottenham. And it will be interesting to see if he does go with an unchanged team because...

although United were competitive for an hour, they still lost. And they had one shot on target, was it, from Ahmad in the second half? They are such a two-for-the-side in the Premier League. We spoke to Nusrat Masraoui last week, and that interview's been on the site since Sunday. And he was, even though he's a Morocco international, he was born in the Netherlands, and he does have that Dutch bluntness.

And we asked him, why is the form so different between Premier League and Europa League? And it's a question we've asked of Amrim and of Ugarte, and we've got various answers. Or in the case of Amrim, he said he just couldn't explain it. And Masraoui said that in the Europa League, if we get two chances, we get two goals. In the Premier League, if we have 20 attempts at goal, we don't score. And in another...

on another occasion or another week, that might have been the top line, but it didn't feel quite appropriate going into a European final as a feature. But it was quite damning on the forwards. I mean, that's not Masraoui digging out defenders or midfielders there. He's pointing the finger of blame at a couple of players, and I think there are a couple who obviously spring to mind.

Looking at that team at Chelsea, it's such a... Again, I go back to what a weird, fascinating, dicey dynamic this final is in that the injuries almost bounce themselves out on both sides. Tottenham are without two of their best attacking players. United could be without...

two of their first choice back three excluded Martinez because he's been out since February but ideally going back to when the season restarted in April after the internationals if United were to get to a final Anrim would have hoped to have had Maguire, Lloro and De Ligt available and I think it's you know it feels like it's only going to be Maguire available

As you said, the prospect of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof starting in the Manchester United final in 2025, that just encapsulates the decline that they've been mired in for several years. And that's not a slight on Maguire. He's done so well over the past 18 months. The fact of the matter is those two players last signed contracts with Manchester United in August and September of 2019. And there they are. And there they could be.

starting in the final. And the other guy next to them is someone, Luke Shaw, who signed in June 2014. There could be three survivors from the 2021 Europa League final. Fernandes, Shaw and Lindelof. And again, it doesn't reflect well on United whatsoever. But looking ahead from that, the midfield switch-up I thought was interesting that

There's a lot of chances that Tottenham will go with quite a conservative or compact midfield of Bissouma, Sarr and Bentancur. And maybe, as you said, that's convinced Amrim to take Ugarte out of the team. Because Casemiro's definitely starting this final. We didn't need confirmation before Chelsea, but we got it when he was the first to come off.

And Fernandes, I thought, was looking really good in that role until the season resumed against Forest and he was back as the number 10. And wherever you play him, he'll have an impact. But maybe where Tottenham are shorn of two quite influential players, Amram's decided, well, I've got to balance it out a little bit here. And of course, I think if he's got a midfield forward, Dorgu, Casemiro, Ugarte and Masraoui, that is perfect.

that's beyond conservative. Yeah, I think there's an argument to say it's negative, in fact. And then if you've got Fernandes there, you can play the percentages a little bit more with the front three in that Mason Mount is not necessarily as swashbuckling a footballer as Alejandro Garnaccio, but he may be... He's possibly what's right for United on that occasion in this game. And unfortunately for Garnaccio,

Amad's come back from injury at the right time for United, wrong time for Karnaccio possibly. Malmsteen's found a little bit of form and is certainly a prominent figure under Amarim. And we all know what Amarim has said about him in the past. So you can understand it. The one situation you can't understand... We understand it and we also can't understand it. But he's playing by default as the striker. Because...

I was thinking, because Brentford played yesterday, if you took Rasmus Hoyle and you saw him at Atalanta, and I didn't, I haven't seen him now, he's the kind of player, with his profile, he should probably be the backup striker at Brentford because they signed Danish players. And he might even be third in the pecking order. He was atrocious on Friday.

And I've thought for a while that Amrim should have potentially experimented with a strikerless side, even though the system's just not geared up for that. It's all about servicing the striker. The problem is United have got a striker who, more often than not, he cannot score for Toffey. And so it would be extremely drastic for him to come to the final day and just decide...

I'm going to take Hoyland out of the team, I'm going to play Bruno Fernandes up there. It of course worked towards the end of last season for Everton hard. They beat Newcastle, they beat Brighton and they kept Hoyland out of the starting XI against City in the FA Cup final. And they had, probably post-Vergsons, probably United's best performance. The season was riding on it. They were up against champions Manchester City.

manager's job was on the line and to perform like that it was watching Palace beat City at the weekend the sorts of Palace were they were not as good as United were last season and Guardiola said afterwards that City quite rightly he said City were better against Palace than they were against United last season which I'd agree with but everyone knows that Hoyle is going to get replaced in the summer and

he's not really risen to the challenge of trying to prove Amram wrong or even create a market for himself where more clubs would look at him and think actually he's got more about him and maybe he could do a job for us and it's just the United bubble that

it's suffocating for players but he's just so out of his depth and that is a big problem for him because I just do not really see him getting the better of Christian Romero and Mickey Van De Ven so then you're just reliant on Bruno Fernandes or Ahmad doing something because it's been a season of the one man bands who in that Ahmad was United's best player until he got injured and then Fernandes has just picked up the baton and regained the form that he's shown in previous seasons yeah

Excuse me. Yeah, I mean, like I say, Hoyland is in the team in hope rather than expectations. And given that, they need game changers, they need goal scorers. And that probably means Ahmad. I mean, he could play Ahmad and Garnaccio. It feels like that's unlikely. And I think Ahmad is more of a threat than Garnaccio at the moment. And you saw it on Friday night, really. He was, again, the one player that made it possible

He was going to look like he was back in the game. And it feels like, I think a couple of weeks ago, we were both pushing him to start a right wing back. That's almost certainly not going to happen now. But it feels like he needs to be in the team on Wednesday night, doesn't he? As that kind of X factor. Yeah, that's not even up for debate. I think his impact when he came on against Brentford, more so when he came on against Athletic Bilbao,

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you know, whatever United's best team is this season, next season, he has to be in it. And Amrim has spoken before about getting him close to the goal. So I think although Amrim has used him as a winger quite a few times, maybe five or six times, he's

his preference is for him to be one of those two playmakers and certainly looking ahead to next season if they get Kunyu in which feels like it was a long time ago now but it was only maybe three or four weeks ago I think it's got to the point already where people would be surprised if that doesn't happen you probably look at those two as the two number tens behind Kunyu

a new striker with Fernandes as back in midfield where of course he has played a lot this season. But Ahmad is incisive, he's direct, he makes things happen and Guy Macho is a little bit more erratic. I think he's had a better season than some people have suggested in that

It's easy to forget, and I think a lot of people do forget that he's not even 21 yet. He doesn't turn 21 until July. He's played an awful lot of football. He's not got injured in more than two years, which is remarkable for a winger and how vulnerable they are to injury. But he keeps on going. He never goes into hiding.

He has had some big moments this season. Clearly, he's not been at the level that he was last season, but it's a hell of a lot to expect that from the player. I think there was always going to be a bit of a lull, but maybe at the start of the season, he was among the goals and he actually had a pretty productive start. You were looking at it thinking he should be aiming for at least 15 goals or maybe a little bit more than that, but he did hit that trough.

But then, as we saw in the second leg against Athletic Bilbao, that was his 14th successive start. So it would feel a little bit harsh on him to come out of the team. But the way it's going, it just feels inevitable. Mason Mount was one of the interviewees for the broadcasters last week.

And I was surprised by that. One, because he usually just doesn't talk at all, apart from to MU TV or Premier League productions. That was progressive because he should be speaking more. He's mature enough. While we were waiting for Ahmad, we were listening in, but obviously courteously. And he was absolutely fine. There was no issue whatsoever there. So I don't know why it's taken him this long to do it, but

he's got to carry that seniority and I don't think he always has during his time at United but the fact that United had him as one of the interviewees and I know that the press officers don't know who's going to be starting obviously it's not like Amram's going to say yeah I'm going to start him so you can put him up for interview but they have a reasonable idea and with Mount

But he is quite a positive story at the moment where he's come back into the team. He's had a couple of particularly good, certainly the second leg against Bilbao, very good impact. Got his first goal in more than a year at Brentford as well. He's been on an upward curve in the last few weeks. And as I said earlier, we spoke to our mate, we spoke to Mas Rowery. Those two are going to start. Harry Maguire was another interviewee.

for the broadcasters, he's also going to start. So I think Casemiro did a bit of media work as well. Hoyland, there's a picture of him with them in Hargreaves. And well, you were never going to get a scenario where, I don't know, say Christian Eriksen was going to do a chat last week or Toby Collier. So it's still a difficult one because in terms of the team, in the...

I'd have liked it to have been, and would like, to try and accommodate Garnaccio and Ahmad, but it feels like Garnaccio's had the momentum drained from him. And also, regarding the game at Chelsea, he got done by Rhys James for the goal, which is not a disgrace. I thought Rhys James was possibly a good match. He was very, very good. And after Kukureya scores, Fernandes rounds on Garnaccio, Harry Maguire does as well.

can't actually have been on the pitch less than two minutes and maybe, I mean, Amrim disputed it but I suggested to him that maybe the substitutions where he's looking ahead, maybe that's Chelsea which is very clinical at that point and capitalised it, but the die had been cast and that Rhys James against Patrick Dorgue was just a one-sided battle, it wasn't even a battle and I feel a bit sorry for Dorgue in that

Two different United regimes have signed 20-year-old Denmark internationals and thought that they were ready to be starters for Manchester United. And although Dorgud had a decent spell, he's had a really, really bad month, it feels like. I think he suffered from not having Dalo in the team, which may seem illogical in that one plays on one side, one plays on the other. But as a combination, they were actually starting to develop a decent...

that they were creating chances, those two, for United. And it's gone out the window and Dorgue was ping-ponged from left wing to right wing. But again, we know that he's going to start in the team. When we were walking out the Stamford Bridge, Richard Jolley said, two of the weakest players on that United side are the two most certain starters, Dorgue and Hoy. Yeah, that is the reality of it. And it felt...

I thought it felt tammering at half-time that the consensus at half-time was they played all right there. They played some decent football. They've knocked it about all right. And you look at the stats and they had one shot in the first half, which was when Mason Mount stretched to meet, might have been Dorgue's pullback, about 15 yards out, 16 yards out. Ended up near the corner flag. Ended up near the corner flag. And that's for a half of what we're saying is decent football. That's the only chance they've created.

And it feels like that's going to play a big part on Wednesday night, doesn't it? Somehow they've been free scoring in Europe. This is a European game in Premier League clothing, I guess. And they need to prove that they can find the goals to go and win the game because Mike Masraoui says that in the Premier League, they rarely ever look like scoring can...

whatever the reason is, in Europe they've been free-scoring and it entirely depends which United turn up, doesn't it really? Yeah, and they've not scored against Tottenham in either of the league games this season. They've of course got three against them in that Madcap match in the League Cup back in December. It does feel like they are banking a lot on Tottenham

folding or the occasion getting to Tottenham I remember when Spurs got to the Chunky Z final in 2019 and the manner in which they got there was extraordinary where they were I think they were 1-0 down the night and 2-0 down the night would it have been?

um yeah it was against ix yeah they were turning down like we're getting needed and they lost sorry they were they three down and i could do it yeah that's right yeah so three little down and i could get and then of course more scores with final you know ix were left elixir left foot away from from reaching the final and just one of the most extraordinary ways to reach a european cup final

and of course Spurs are going to lap it up because it's the first time they've ever done that. I remember thinking at the time when Spurs players congregate on the pitch and really savoured it and Danny Rose was clutching a bottle of beer and the night before Liverpool had had their own remarkable comeback against Barcelona having lost the first leg 3-0 they won the second 4-0 and for Liverpool as seismic as that victory would have been

They'd also... They'd done that before in Europe. They did it in Istanbul in 2005. They did it against Borussia Dortmund in the Europa League. I can't quite remember what the scoreline was, but that was a comeback of sorts in 2016. The famous San Etienne game in 77 or 78 with David Farracoff as well. That is Liverpool... That was Liverpool that night, what they did. What Tottenham did wasn't. So for Liverpool, it's like, this is just...

It's not quite any other day, but it almost feels like any other day because they are accustomed to that and the club is steeped in that. But for Tottenham, it wasn't. I knew as soon as I saw Danny Rose with a beer bottle, I thought they had got no chance in the final whatsoever. And Liverpool had their number in the final. It was a complete non-event. I know it was 1-0 for a long, long time.

And of course, Harry Kane wasn't fully fit either. But Spurs just were not in that final whatsoever. And that's the difference in mentalities of teams who are accustomed to going to a final and winning it, which United have done in recent years.

And also, there'll be some players, and Fernandes is the one who springs to mind. Having lost a European final in 2021, he will be absolutely desperate to avoid that again against Tottenham. And as I said last week, apart from relegation, it probably doesn't get more humiliating than finishing 17th, which United could still achieve.

they could still end up there and losing the final to Tottenham because teams do not lose to Tottenham in finals the last last side to do so it was Chelsea okay but they were managed by Avram Grah so it's almost like there's an asterisk against it yeah and we went well

What are you thinking going into this game? We spoke about it a bit last week at Carrington and I think I was saying I just find it too hard to call. You've got that balance of, like you said, that whole lads it's Tottenham thing and the fact they don't win finals against United even last year. They do with a poor team for a poor season. They won it. Tottenham have won every game between the teams this year. I'm finding it really hard to call. You mentioned before how it's

it's on a knife edge. I mean, both of these teams have been playing this Thursday night roulette for two or three months now, haven't they? Every Thursday night their season could end and it doesn't. But for one of them, the season is going to end. I mean, for both of them, the season's going to end on Wednesday night, isn't it? Because Sunday is a total irrelevant and it's easy to forget there is actually another Premier League game to come. But who do you think holds the balance of power going into what is such a high stakes game for Europa League final? It's like trying to solve Cypher in

looking at the injuries on both sides, you look at the form between the teams and how Spurs haven't lost to United in six games. But then you look at the barren trophy cabinet at Spurs and the recent silverware that United have had, despite last season being their worst team in decades until, of course, the team this season. And I'd be interested to see what... I think the Tottenham team, it feels like...

10 of the 11 starters are pretty much nailed on. But I'm just wondering who that third attacker is going to be for Spurs. Because obviously Solanke will play, Son will play because he's come through his fitness tests effectively, the latest one being against Villa at the weekend. I'd imagine the smart move would be Brendan Johnson, who of course gave United a bit of a run around at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

But Spurs aren't particularly sharp at the top end. And this is a strange thing. United, of course, are not sharp at the top end whatsoever with Hoyland there. But in Amad and Fernandes, I think they've got more match winners in their team than Spurs. I don't look at Tottenham's team and think there's a player who can bail them out. Son used to be that player, but he's...

He's a borderline buster flush now. He's been a brilliant player for them and Spurs have done extremely well to have kept him for 10 years. I think it is nearly. Looking at his career, he probably should have moved at some point. Looking at some of his teammates who moved on, Karl Walker obviously, Christian Eriksen did when they had that opportunity. But he's been extremely wedded to Spurs and

And look, from Tottenham's perspective, it would be an extraordinary story if someone was to summon up one final great impact or performance to win them a trophy. Because, of course, he's not won a trophy there in 10 years. So we could debate it all day and look at the strengths and weaknesses until probably kick-off on Wednesday evening.

I think it's maybe just 50, like the Brexit referendum outcome, it's maybe 51-49 United's favour, just because I think that Ahmad and Fenerbahce, where there's no Kulosevsky and Madsen as well, I think that's why United have the edge on them. I don't necessarily think United will field

demonstrably better team than Tottenham because as I said you look at Van der Veen and Romero you look at Tottenham's full backs their keeper I think they've got the edge on United in all of those areas midfield okay Fernandes is playing there it's different attacking wise United I think we've got the edge because

there's no clue as to if it matters and that United have got the weaker strike and again you think one team's got an advantage but then there's a caveat to it and it's going to be very easy for both managers to frame it really positively for their dressing rooms I think and to try and put them in the mindset of why this is their time why they should feel confident and

of winning the game. So I think it is really 51-49 in terms of just how tight it is and that's reflected in the table as well, at the Premier League table. They're 1/16th, 1/17th. They probably finish in non-identical positions in the Europa League table as well because of course they both finished in the top eight to qualify automatically for the round of 16.

I think it was Riyadh in the Daily Mail, he described it as the donkey derby. And I think that's a very apt description for it. Yes, definitely. It's going to be a, it's a fascinating game, isn't it? Just with what's riding on it and that prospect of,

some kind of salvation to a season and balm to a season and like we say for whoever loses it is going to be agony at the end of the week but that is all for now I suppose it would be remiss of us to mention I must watch the FA Cup final at the weekend they're on

I think FA Cup finals, so many of them in recent years, I've watched them and certainly there was one I actually fell asleep to, but I was actually envious not to be at that one on Saturday. What was it like? It was fantastic. I mean, the atmosphere was absolutely brilliant. We were, you know, there's kind of two sections of the press box at Wembley and you're kind of either in one end or the other and we were up towards the Palace fans, so...

I mean, the noise they were making was astonishing. At kick-off, our colleague Simon Bukowski turned to me and said something, and I genuinely couldn't hear what he said. I had to ask him a couple of times to repeat what he'd said and leave my ear in. He was responding to Istanbul or something. Yeah, it was so loud. And yeah, I mean, it's...

I think, you know, you mentioned it before, so much goodwill to Cockwooders. And yeah, obviously a huge disappointing day for City. No one listening to this podcast is really going to care about that. But I think everyone felt, everyone apart from City fans, felt that it was a great team to win the FA Cup. I think they've got really likeable players. They've got a likeable manager. Yeah.

The only bad thing about Crystal Palace is where their stadium's located. Yeah, they really need to move away from Croydon. Yeah, if they can move away from there and make it easier to get to, they'd have a lot of things going for them. So, no, I thought they deserved to win. It was, like I say, a fantastic atmosphere. And, yeah, come that... We were booked on the last train back, which was... We made it with five minutes to spare. So, I think, come that added time, I was keeping my fingers crossed that there wasn't going to be an equaliser in the next time because I think that would have been disastrous and...

Had I stayed another night in London and then got that 4am alarm this morning, I don't think my wife would have been too happy. So thankfully we made it back. But no, nice to do the first cup final of a busy week and one more to come. Like we said, probably even more riding on this one, isn't it? It is just such a fascinating, fascinating game given the seasons.

Both have had. But that's all for now. We're off to have a look around San Sebastian. There's grey clouds outside the hotel room window. It was chucking it down with rain on the drive from Bilbao to San Sebastian. It was Mancunian weather, wasn't it? It was. That's the first rain I've seen in four weeks. Yeah. Fortunately, it's brighter tomorrow than the day of the final.

That's right. So, yeah, hopefully there'll be good weather for all those fans coming over. But we'll have more content for you during the week from Bilbao and from San Sebastian. We'll be at the press conferences, Tottenham and United, tomorrow. We'll be in Bilbao bringing you the scenes around the city as well. So stay tuned to the MEN, stay tuned to our podcast feed, stay tuned to our YouTube channel. Go and visit the website. We'll have everything you need from Bilbao over the next few days. For now, thanks for listening and we'll speak to you again soon.

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