Ange up for the fight | Is £100m enough for Man Utd in the summer? How will City cope without KDB?
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Welcome to Back Pages, bringing you everything you need to know about the biggest sports stories and making the headlines in the morning's newspapers. I'm Rob Jones. Joining me, the football journalist and broadcaster Henry Winter and the Mirror's chief football writer, John Cross. Welcome to you both.

So we will start then with what Jason Burt has described as one of the strangest finals of all in Bilbao on Wednesday between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur looking to win the Europa League title. And we will start with Ange Postacoglu, Henry. You put on social media today, press conferences, especially before finals, are all about managers sending out messages. What were the messages that Ange Postacoglu was looking to send and did they land?

Well, we'll find out tomorrow night whether they landed, but I think he was trying to show that he was up for the fight. I think he feels, and he has done for a while, that he feels a little bit disrespected given what he's been through in life, which, you know, we almost got his CV read out at that press conference. I was tuning in from afar and just sort of ticking off all the things that you knew he was going to say in terms of the journey he went leaving Greece at a young age, making it in Australia, then making it as a coach when everyone doubted him.

And it sounds like he's been talking to his players in their team talks about the journeys that they've been on, but not really talking about himself. And now this was the opportunity, obviously built around an evening standard headline, this teetering between hero and clown.

by Dan Kilpatrick, which is actually a very balanced piece and talks about what he has, what Poster Coglou has been through before getting the, you know, to the killer line, which is he, you know, he walks a sort of dangerous, whatever it is, a line between hero and clown in the Europa League final. I think that's certainly how social media would see it. And you can understand why Poster Coglou

who has a high opinion of his self-worth, would be annoyed by that. But in terms of the message, definitely they're up for the fight. Maybe even a message to future employers, because obviously tomorrow night is about 2.45 minutes and 1.45. As he said, John...

Rocky Bilbao, it is a game which is hugely pressurised for both clubs, not just for Ange Postacoglu and Tottenham, but for Manchester United as well. But let's stay with Spurs and part of Dan's piece, which says, Postacoglu has railed against what he perceives as a gathering of malign forces, supporters seeking to goad him into reaction, negativity from the media, a lack of public support for Spurs in the punditry class, and even a deafening silence from his bosses on the board. Um,

Whilst we all want to think our own opinion is really important, and obviously pundits are too, the first and the fourth would be significant there that supporters maybe, he's lost them. And if it's a silence from the board, if you don't have either of those two factions support, you often feel the end is nigh for a manager.

Yeah, I think he does feel that the end is nigh. I mean, it's not exactly completely fine, was it really? He was saying that even whether it spurs, I'll carry on managing. I'll be very happy in my world and be very happy in my life. And I'll go on winning trophies. It was hardly the most defined. I'm staying. I'm going to win and I'm going to lead Spurs back to glory. Look, I do think that Andrew Postacoglu probably fears and maybe accepts the worst of

I have to say, it's been an interesting ride with Postacoglu, particularly this season. But one, I mean, I wrote on Postacoglu and I've become a bit of a Postacoglu fan, particularly in the last few months, just because I find him so interesting and entertaining. I mean, you know, we'll remember his roller coaster ride of two years in charge, but

more than any games that we saw under Mourinho or Conte. He's just been a wild ride. The first six months of his kind of first year in tenure was fantastic. He led them to the top of the Premier League. And yes, you know, it was a little bit downhill from there, but we shouldn't forget they just missed out on the Champions League places this season. They could win their first trophy in 17 years and

I don't think you can stick with a manager, and I've made this pretty plain, basically, who has lost 21 games in a Premier League season. What would be the point? Even if you make the Champions League, because you're sticking with a manager who has not been good enough.

you know, with your bread and butter in the Premier League this season. It's a view that I've shared. Listen, he's even called me out on a press conference a couple of times. I really don't mind it. I think if Dan, as Henry said, you know, was balanced in his piece and I actually think, you know, generally he's been very, very much more fair-minded with the newspaper guys than some of the radio and TV guys

which I think is interesting. Sorry, Sky colleagues. But it's just, you know, it's interesting because maybe he feels that he gets a sort of fairer, longer, you know, sort of kind of hearing in the written press. I don't know quite what it is, but he does seem to, you know, we quite like him generally and he quite likes us, I think. So Dan was sort of maybe a bit of an exception to the rule. But Dan's, you know, a good journalist. I'm sure he'll ride again and he'll ride this sort of kind of ride the waves with it. I don't know.

I totally agree and see what Henry's saying. I must say on the eve of the final, I don't know whether it's a great look for the manager because he reads every single word of every single piece. You cannot write a piece and he not read it and maybe sort of challenge you on it or call you out on it.

Do I mind that as a journalist? Of course not. I'm ever so surprised he's got the time, though, to do it. And I don't know whether it's the strongest looking management to actually be doing that on the eve of arguably the biggest game of his career. And actually, to go back to that point, the piece in The Standard, Henry, about teetering between hero and clown.

Actually, that is not the way that Daniel Levy can look at it. And he has to take into consideration the body of work. And as John said, losing 21 of 37. Now, Ange-Poster Coghlu keeps making the point, look, if we weren't in the latter stage of the Europa League, we wouldn't have lost some of these games. But some of the themes of the way that Tottenham have played, the way that they've lost matches, has to be taken into consideration win or lose tomorrow.

And there's also been a naivety with some of his tactics. High lines, when you've got a centre-half who has a history, or not necessarily a history, but sensitivity around his hamstring, is always risky. I mean, I thought, I was only tuning in, but Postakoglu seemed to me, he didn't lose it, he wasn't angry. There was a little bit of edge, and he's replied to Dan. But yeah, coming back to your point on Dan, it was a very...

very balanced um piece just apart from one what i will call a sort of social media sentence just the sort of teetering between hero and clown which is the type of thing you do see on on x certainly from a lot of tottenham fans and i'm with crossy i would be surprised if he uh

if he survives this. And the way he was talking was almost like someone who knows what is coming, was fairly sort of controlled, perhaps had made his peace with it.

But, you know, we slightly went through this with Ten Hag before the cup final of when was it last year, when actually on the day of the game and in the 24 hours leading up to it, basically everyone said he's off. And then he got given, what, 200 million quid in the summer and wasted that. And then Manchester United eventually made the right decision and offloaded him. So, look, you can never tell. But I think your point is right. The silence from the board and the noise from the fans is just too much.

How much do we know the players are on side? They don't always look fully committed to the tactics. But look, the truth is out on the pitch and he may go out in style. That's one of the issues when you do write certain pieces. You always have to give yourself a get out just in case he does turn things on its head and wins tomorrow night.

Let's have a look at the front of the Times, which looks ahead to the game itself. And obviously this has maybe just taken a little bit of the focus away from the match. But from a Manchester United perspective, John, how much do they need this? And Ruben Amaran, because there's a piece in the Times from Paul Hurst that says, look, even if he doesn't win tomorrow, he'll still be back with 100 million quid or more over the course of the summer.

decent working relationship with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and that he will be given the chance to turn this mess around.

Yeah, Paul's piece is that he's really well informed on Man United. He's a really good Manchester man and he provides a real sort of kind of insight and loads of anecdotes about their relationship, you know, even telling each other to kind of, you know, sort of go forth and multiply on the sort of kind of what in WhatsApp groups really. It's quite amusing and basically it's sort of kind of it tells a story of perhaps a manager and manager

a sort of kind of part owner of a football club, basically getting on well enough to kind of have that sort of exchange and understanding of where they're going. Yeah, look, I think it's interesting, isn't it? Because who's the bigger winner out of this final? I think for Tottenham, it would be their first trophy in 17 years. That would be their massive takeaway from it. For Manchester United, I think it's much more about getting into the Champions League.

They couldn't really sort of parade that as the greatest European trophy they've ever won, let's be honest here. But I think as a boost for a football club to rebuild, and my word, do they need to rebuild, this is massive for Amarim and his future and the future of Manchester United.

So I think there's almost two different prizes at stake, really, sort of kind of the end game for the managers. But Paul Hurst, you know, really reporting, laying it on the line there, saying there's absolutely no chance, come what may, happens in that, that Amelman will be going. And he trusts his players. He's got the board's faith in him.

And he is really sort of kind of trying to build and grow from there. So I think it'll be really interesting to see, really. I like that back page, your back page. I must say, I think the clown stuff is so good as a sports editor. I'll be going down that route. But I can see that there's two sides to this wonderful Judgment Day. It's all English finals. So that also sums it up nicely, of course. Yeah, Henry,

John says Judgment Day there, the back of the Guardian go with all or nothing. And then just at the top of Jonathan Wilson's piece is the Premier League 16th and 17th best teams meeting what could be English football's most valuable game. One of these strugglers will reach the Champions League. Now, for the fans who are out in Bilbao, it's about lifting the trophy. But when we touch on that around £100 million that Ruben Amerin might have to spend,

In 2025, that doesn't get you very far. The riches that come with the Champions League might well allow Amarim to regenerate his squad as much as he feels he needs to. Yeah, we have to remember this is a manager who came in in mid-season. He hasn't been given a pre-season. He's only had sort of an element of a transfer window, a January transfer window, which doesn't always produce good gems, although Aston Villa did well with it this year. So absolutely, he needs that. I mean...

Paul Hurst's piece, as Crossy says, is a fascinating piece. And the bit that really fascinated me was that he's going to be given 100 million quid. I mean, if you look at that Manchester United squad, it needs more than 100 million quid. So say that's £65 million on a striker, then you've got £35 million to chase around, to find a goalkeeper, another centre-half, probably a right wing-back, maybe a central midfielder, and just get some more sort of bandages in for the medical department because a lot of them keep getting injured.

And then they've got to address other issues like so many of the players who actually need to be eased out. What is Casemiro's future? He suddenly started sort of playing well again. Obviously, Marcus Rashford is leaving, but where does he go? And will it be another loan period? Then he'll have to sort of pay some of his wages. So that £100 million, as you quite rightly point out, and it's a crazy thing to say, but these football economics doesn't go that far anymore.

particularly when you're Manchester United because people tend to overcharge. Maybe they need Dougie Friedman who's done such a fantastic job at Crystal Palace with some of his purchases. But they need to buy young, they need to buy hungry and they need to buy three or four players and 100 million quid. Good luck with that. Good.

That is actually part of the point, John, is that I suspect that Dougie Friedman is quite happy where he is. But for the likes of Jason Wilcox or Omar Barada, it is about them as much as it's about Amarim. As Henry said, you have to find takers for Marcus Rashford, for Anthony, for whether Chelsea want to pay the money or give Jadon Sancho back. That part of it is as important as finding the right players to bring in as well.

Yeah, absolutely. Listen, there's two sides to a technical director or a sporting director's job, and that is basically recruitment, but also being able to kind of manage and offload and get good deals in. And it just feels as if Manchester United are almost, you know, chasing their tail constantly. I mean, Rasmus Hoyland, I just think is a great case in point. You know, a lot of money, 60 million quid,

I think. And then basically there's been flashes. So I don't want to completely and utterly sort of write him off. And I'm sure that there's a player there, but Man United, you know, and developing a young striker talent isn't the place to do it. It's just not. You need a proven goal scorer to kind of...

knock the goals in for a club that, you know, wants to be and strives to be one of the best clubs in the world. And you can't just kind of thrust him in and hope it works out in a couple of months' time. So what do they do with that? You know, you can't then, you know, expect, I'm afraid, to sort of offload him this summer and get your money back. And it's, you know, what do they do with that? There's so many answers and so many difficult sort of dilemmas in front. And I just think...

Yeah, if they're given £100 million and that's kind of clear money, if you like, and then anything else that they bring in can be spent as well. Well, maybe they can sort of kind of stretch to another player, but there's not enough talent there, I don't think, to be able to offload and manage the squad and get in replacements and kind of reshuffle. Honestly, I did the Chelsea-Man United game on Friday night and they looked like an absolute rabble.

There's no direction. There's no actual direction for the team and where they're going with it. I hate Amarim for the way that he's sort of kind of wedded to this plan, this tactical formation three at the back. So if you haven't got the players to play that system, it's a real weakness in your management and coaching setup if you then can't change and adapt properly.

And I'm afraid week in, week out, that is a weakness that is being exposed by United. They haven't got the players to make the system work. So you have to get a new set of players and that's not going to happen this summer.

Etihad farewell. He signed out helping Manchester City to a 3-1 win over Bournemouth despite a huge miss of his own, an open goal from two or three yards out. But I'm sure, Henry, that it won't cloud his legacy as perhaps, I mean, you can have your own say of Manchester City's greatest of all time.

I mean, well, that is quite a call as someone who grew up watching Colin Bell from afar. Nijinsky, I would absolutely put him up there. But absolutely, Kevin De Bruyne is in the running, a magnificent player. I mean, you talk about his huge miss in front of goal. He'll be a huge miss for the club on and off the field. Do

just off the field, he's just such a professional, that dedication, that hunger, getting into training. For the young players in the academy who look at Kevin De Bruyne, who's won everything, just to see that, getting in early, leaving late, all the work he does. We don't know anything about Kevin De Bruyne off the field. He just goes home and spends time with his family. So he's a wonderful ambassador for the club. And on the field, the goals he scores, 108 goals, 177 assists,

you know, in 420, 21 games. I mean, it's just a remarkable return. And it's not simply the number of the goals, the quantity, it's the quality of them. You know, it's the half-volleys, it's the free kicks, the occasional penalties. There was even a header in there at one point. So, yeah, he's, I mean, he is irreplaceable.

But Manchester City will, I don't know, you can't replace him, but they'll juggle it. And you actually saw them in the second half, particularly when Rodri came on, Nico Gonzalez scored a good goal. So they will continue and they look a bit more back to their best last night, tonight. And maybe that was because they had Rodri back.

But a lovely farewell from the Etihad, as you say, to Kevin De Bruyne as he went. Because he's not only been a legend for Manchester City, he's been a fantastic ambassador, servant and player for the whole of Premier League. And Crossy and I would be very privileged to cover what he's done. That is part of the question as to what next, John, as to whether we might see him back at the Etihad, just in a different shirt.

Yeah, he's hinted recently, hasn't he? I mean, it's quite interesting recently because he's obviously become a little bit more open and candid and maybe he is kind of almost putting himself out there for his next contract in his next club. And he's made it very clear, actually, in the last couple of weeks, isn't he, that he would welcome and relish another. He certainly hasn't shut the door on another opportunity sort of popping up in the Premier League and he thinks that he can play at the highest level. And you see, you know, performances...

you know, barring that spectacular miss on the pitch. And you have to understand why. And also, it's the respect, isn't it?

Honestly, tonight I was watching this guy's coverage on it and it absolutely blew my mind. There are ways to say goodbye and City did it with such class and such absolutely magnificent timing. The tributes were magnificent.

the goodbyes that did, you know, the, the plaudits from his former teammates, you know, you've got the chairman there, you've got everyone sort of kind of, you know, sort of kind of chiming in from Vincent company to Sergio Aguero, you know, as a letter sort of kind of almost sparking the song in recognition of De Bruyne and the whole stadium were there. It was kind of the lights dropped and it was absolutely fantastic. What a show. I honestly thought that man city rocked,

really did themselves proud. I thought that was a brilliant, brilliant effort from the football club to honour one of their true greats, if not their greatest. And I just thought there's ways of saying goodbye. And I thought that they absolutely did it brilliantly. You could almost see the emotion in Pep Guardiola, couldn't you? You know, he was really struggling to take it all in. And I just thought that said it all. It must be. Look at that. Tears down his cheek. Look at...

Look at that. It brings him to emotion there to see the players that were sort of kind of paying tribute. He was looking up in absolute wonder. You see nights like this and you wonder whether they've made the right decision. Listen, it's their choice to move on. De Bruyne clearly wanted to stay a little bit longer, but what a way to say goodbye. I thought it was absolutely one of the best things I've ever seen to say goodbye to a true, great, fabulous City. Brilliant.

As you said, Henry, in certain ways, Kevin De Bruyne is irreplaceable. But the regeneration started in January. Gonzalez, Marmouch, Kusunov all came in. Listen, they're still not perfect. We saw that in the FA Cup final against Palace the weekend. How many more players do you think Pep Guardiola will want to get them back in and around Liverpool and Arsenal next season or Liverpool in particular?

It's a good question. You could argue they haven't really fully replaced Julian Alvarez. I mean, Mamouch has sort of come in and he's sort of settling and he's actually doing well. And it's quite interesting at the end of the game, Guardiola and Mamouch had quite a long conversation, which initially looked sort of tactical, you know, Pep's like after games, he's always sort of basically having another sort of training session with a player out there on the pitch.

So, yeah, I mean, they've got to sort Jack Grealish's future out. He came on for three or four minutes, which I thought was –

you know, a little bit harsh for someone who, you know, did help him to the treble, you know, a couple of years ago. So look, there are issues they've got to sort out wide, but Nico Gonzalez looks and, you know, looks fantastic, took his goal well, and they've got Rodri back, who is their most important player. And I think he shields that back four. So that gives them some strength, but also you don't necessarily have to spend the whole time. Give the Academy kids a chance. Well,

McAtee, whether he's elite level, we'll wait and see. But I think O'Reilly is, Rico Lewis is as well. So you can look for some of the answers for them. But I think De Bruyne will be back, but I think he's going to be a very good manager in the future. We have got 20 seconds to go, so only one way to finish. Who wins it tomorrow? Henry first. Oh, I think Spurs might. Crazy as it seems. And then Ange loses his job and Ruben loses and keeps his. John?

I've backed Tottenham in the paper tomorrow and I think Tottenham will win it and I think it'll be a great fairy tale and a great ending for Poster Coghlan. What a story that would be.