Tottenham Hotspur will face fellow English aspect Manchester United within the UEFA Europa League Ultimate tonight at San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao. The Premier League’s sixteenth and Seventeenth-placed groups will contest an unlikely shootout for a Champions League spot.
Each golf equipment are searching for a solitary vivid spot in what have been equally disastrous, humiliating campaigns.
Spurs haven’t lifted a trophy since 2008, and their lengthy wait has been punctuated by false dawns and managerial churn.
In September, following a North London Derby defeat to Arsenal, supervisor Ange Postecoglou made a daring declare that he “at all times wins issues in [his] second 12 months.”
The quote, broadly mocked on the time, has solely appeared extra absurd as Spurs’ home kind has spiralled into farce. But, remarkably, with simply 90 minutes separating them from silverware, that prophecy might nonetheless come true.
The cocky Australian and his aspect have been woeful within the league, however so too have Manchester United, and tonight’s ultimate might supply considered one of these fallen giants a European lifeline, and even perhaps a shred of vindication for each under-fire managers.
It begs the query: produce other managers made such audacious claims and really backed them up?
Jose Mourinho – “I’m a Particular One” (2004)
José Mourinho swaggered into Chelsea in 2004 with the footballing equal of Liam Gallagher’s Britpop bravado. He wasn’t only a supervisor; he was a press release.
Brash, cocky, conceited, and, above all, effortlessly cool, Mourinho epitomised a brand new period of contemporary, media-savvy, confident administration.
Arriving in England contemporary off back-to-back European triumphs with Porto, the 2003 UEFA Cup and the 2004 Champions League, he introduced with him an aura of inevitability.
Regardless of Chelsea’s newfound riches underneath Roman Abramovich, the membership hadn’t received a league title since 1955. That didn’t hassle Mourinho. He was filled with confidence, and shortly, so have been Chelsea.
He wasted no time proving his pedigree. In his debut season, he outmanoeuvred Premier League giants like Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsène Wenger, guiding Chelsea to the title with a then-record 95 factors, together with a League Cup victory.
Mourinho didn’t simply succeed; he dominated. He went on to win league titles in Italy and Spain, add extra silverware throughout a second stint at Chelsea, and declare additional European honours with Inter Milan, Roma, and Manchester United.
Whereas his powers could also be waning within the trendy sport, one factor is past dispute: he was proper. He was a Particular One.
Brian Clough – “We’ll win one thing” (1975)
Brian Clough arrived at Nottingham Forest in 1975 with the identical sharp tongue and unshakeable perception that had made him a legend at Derby County, whom he had taken from the Second Division to champions of England earlier than poor spells at Brighton and Leeds.
Taking up one other middling Second Division aspect in Forest, Clough didn’t hassle with modesty. He made it clear he was going to win one thing quickly.
On the time, it appeared like typical Clough bravado. Forest have been floundering, their potential modest at greatest. However Clough wasn’t thinking about potential, he was thinking about historical past and one other likelihood to stay it as much as the English sport that he felt had tried so exhausting to maintain him down.
What adopted is arguably probably the most astonishing ascent in English soccer, maybe matched solely by Leicester’s unbelievable title win in 2016. Clough took Forest into the First Division, received the title on the first time of asking in 1978, after which pulled off the unthinkable: back-to-back European Cups in 1979 and 1980.
A membership with no earlier European pedigree had all of the sudden turn into kings of the continent, underneath the administration of a person who didn’t simply discuss the discuss, he walked the stroll and lifted the honours.
In an age earlier than oil cash and television rights, Clough constructed his empire with perception, man-management, and a refusal to just accept limits. His declare to “win one thing” wasn’t simply bravado, it was a prediction come true.
Harry Redknapp – “He’ll go proper to the very prime… proper to the very prime” (1996)
Again in 1996, a younger and comparatively unproven midfielder named Frank Lampard was starting to interrupt into the West Ham United first workforce.
Followers raised questions at a fan discussion board attended by then-manager Harry Redknapp about whether or not Lampard genuinely deserved his place or if his inclusion was merely all the way down to household ties.
In any case, Redknapp was his uncle, and his father, Frank Lampard Sr., was the assistant supervisor.
Accusations of nepotism hung within the air, however Redknapp didn’t chew. As an alternative, he launched into what would turn into some of the iconic and prophetic defences of a participant in English soccer historical past: “I’m telling you now, he’ll go proper to the very prime.
“Proper to the very prime. He’s acquired every part that’s wanted to turn into a top-class participant.”
It appeared like blind household loyalty on the time. In hindsight, it was the clearest of visions.
Lampard would go on to turn into a contemporary nice. At Chelsea, he received each main honour, together with the Champions League, and have become their all-time main goalscorer, from midfield.
He grew to become a central determine in England’s so-called ‘Golden Technology’ and earned widespread respect for his intelligence, professionalism, and goal-scoring prowess.
Redknapp didn’t simply defend his nephew; he backed his participant as a coach who recognised greatness and potential. In doing so, he delivered one of many biggest mic-drop moments within the historical past of English soccer.
Jürgen Klopp – “We’ll win a title in 4 years” (2015)
When Jürgen Klopp arrived at Liverpool in 2015, he inherited a sleeping big, a membership of monumental historical past, mismanaged into one which hadn’t received a league title in 25 years and had turn into outlined by guarantees of glory and bottle crashes.
The German didn’t promise prompt miracles, however he made one quiet, assured prediction: “If we sit right here in 4 years and we haven’t received something, we’ll need to win one thing.”
It wasn’t the brashness of Mourinho or the hearth of Clough, but it surely was mentioned with the type of confident metal that made individuals take discover.
What adopted was a gradual, relentless transformation. Klopp rebuilt the squad, reinvigorated the membership’s id, and steadily turned Liverpool from English footballs greatest joke to an all-action juggernaut.
They reached the Champions League ultimate in 2018, received it in 2019, after which, true to his phrase, ended a 30-year look ahead to a league title in 2020, virtually 4 years to the day after his feedback.
Klopp didn’t simply ship silverware; he reawakened perception on Merseyside. His prediction wasn’t a boast, it was a roadmap, one which has continued into Arne Slot’s time as Anfield boss, with Liverpool topped champions once more this 12 months, one thing that might not have been doable with out his German predecessor.
We’ll discover out tonight in sunny Spain whether or not Ange is true or Manchester United has ended his credibility in England.
