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An analysis of three key failures of Manchester United in their Europa League final defeat to Tottenham.
There will be no saving of this abysmal season for Manchester United, as Tottenham emerged victorious in the all-English Europa League final between two sides that have struggled in the Premier League this campaign.
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They were beaten 1-0 by Ange Postecoglou’s team; the only goal was a deflected Brennan Johnson strike that came off Luke Shaw’s hand. While the Red Devils have been poor this season, Tottenham have not been better, and Amorim’s side could have come out victorious but for the following factors:
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23:07 - 21.05.2025
I'm not leaving — Amorim expresses determination to lead Man United despite Tottenham defeat
Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim expressed his desire to lead the club to glory despite Europa League final defeat to Tottenham.
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21:46 - 21.05.2025
‘Onana is the worst' — Man United fans slam Cameroonian goalkeeper over Europa League gaffe
Tottenham's opening goal in the final of the Europa League against Manchester United has caused fans to call for Andre Onana's head
The Bruno experiment is not working
Erik ten Hag, the man who held the job before Amorim, won two trophies: an EFL Cup and an FA Cup. Facts he never let the fans or media forget. He lost the job because, like Amorim, they were terrible in the league.
However, unlike the Portuguese, he delivered silverware, and a major reason is Bruno Fernandes. The former Sporting Lisbon star had the ability to grab games by the scruff of their necks.
Under Amorim, Fernandes has been made to play deeper, and while this has increased his number of touches, it has kept him away from the business end of the pitch, where he is more devastating.
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His absence in the final third was evident today, as the Red Devils struggled to deliver quality balls into the box and had chances at the edge of the box fall to the wrong players.
Onana leaves a lot to be desired, again
While Spurs barely tested the Red Devils, registering only one shot on target, they managed to beat Andre Onana, who has proven unreliable in saving Manchester United in moments like the goal they conceded.
While he was not directly to blame, as the ball deflected off Shaw, which forced him to change directions, he came close to making the save, which suggests the goal was saveable. His reaction time was slow, and his arms were not strong enough; a better goalkeeper would have most probably prevented that goal. With the rest of Spurs’ offering on the night in consideration, Manchester United would have also won the game.
Amorim cannot beat Ange
“16% of Spurs' wins this season came against Man Utd,” was the tweet from the Athletic's Duncan Alexander after the match. Tottenham have beaten Manchester United on four separate occasions this season—twice in the league and once each in the EFL Cup and Europa League—and Amorim has been the recipient of three of them.
Facing a manager he had lost to twice this season before the final, for a game that, in his own words, could change their summer, Amorim failed to devise any strategy to exploit Spurs’s very glaring weaknesses.
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