Tottenham set for season-defining Europa League Final as Ange Postecoglou finds solution with key compromise | OneFootball

The stakes are high for Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou after sealing a place in this season’s all-English Europa League Final

Leading 3-1 from the first leg, Dominic Solanke bundled home to break the deadlock just after the hour.

Spurs are on their way to Bilbao.

Postecoglou’s side are now in the curious position of one game effectively determining whether this will be remembered as one of the best campaigns in the club’s modern history – or a miserable slog of a season, which ended in grim disappointment.

For Postecoglou, the meeting with United also seems likely to define his legacy; he might still be remembered as the manager who ended Spurs’ 41-year wait for a European trophy or the coach who oversaw their worst campaign in Premier League history.

Richarlison and Yves Bissouma lead the Tottenham celebrations

Getty Images

Lose, and they will surely have to start again and continue rebuilding under a new coach next season.

Win, and they will be back in the Champions League and with a chance to put a miserable year behind them and kick on.

Whatever happens in Bilbao, though, Spurs deserve credit for their run to the final, as they impressively navigated what was billed as another tricky away game here in Norway.

In the end, Glimt’s artificial pitch and chilly conditions in the Arctic Circle did not throw Postecoglou’s players off their stride. They dug in, made the game into a scrap, and took their chances in the second half – albeit thanks to a degree of fortune when Porro’s apparent cross flew into the top corner.

They can now face United with confidence that they can raise their game again in Europe, particularly having beaten the Red Devils three times already this season.

Postecoglou’s compromise pays off again

It took until the 66th minute for Guglielmo Vicario to finally be shown a yellow card.

From the off, the Spurs goalkeeper had dithered over every goal kick, prompting howls and whistles from the home crowd, and it was no surprise when the referee finally decided to act.

Vicario’s willingness to waste time and send every goal kick long epitomised Spurs’ approach to protecting their 3-1 lead from last week’s first leg in London.

The visitors’ approach was strikingly defensive and pragmatic, Postecoglou’s side ceding possession to Glimt and defending in a compact 4-4-2 diamond, with Brennan Johnson surprisingly deep.

It was not pretty – by half-time Glimt had enjoyed more than 65 per cent of possession – but it was effective, and Spurs took their chances when they came in the second half.

Just as they were at Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-final decider, Spurs were gritty, committed and no-nonsense, which are not qualities usually associated with the club or Postecoglou teams.

After so much talk last season and early in this one about the head coach's uncompromising style, his unwillingness to adapt, this was another demonstration that Postecoglou is happy to shelve his non-negotiables in pursuit of Europa League glory.

It is almost as if he is conscious of his uncertain future and determined to win a trophy by any means necessary, even if it means compromising on his team’s style of play for the first time in his career.

Spurs are no longer playing Ange-ball but they are getting meaningful results, leaving Postecoglou and the club within touching distance of glory.

Kulusevski showing a potential concern

It is all very well playing that way with a 3-1 lead to protect but to win the competition Spurs will need to be far more creative against United.

So if there was a concern for Postecoglou on this memorable night, it might have been in a laboured performance from Dejan Kulusevski at No.10.

Postecoglou had acknowledged before the game that Kulusevski would need to step up after both James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall were ruled out for the rest of the season with ligament damage.

Dejan Kulusevski is still trying to recapture his early season form

NTB/AFP via Getty Images

But the Swede did not look anywhere near his best in Norway, despite putting in his usual shift without the ball.

His touch was clunky and he lost a series of challenges he might normally have won, suggesting the playmaker is still struggling for rhythm and full fitness since returning from a foot injury.

Kulusevski is by far the best bet to add creativity to a depleted Spurs midfield but, as it stands, he is some way short of the levels he hit in the first half of the campaign.