The fascinating things we spotted Tottenham players doing ahead of Europa League final

There was a clear difference between Tottenham Hotspur off the pitch in Bilbao and when they stepped on to it.

When Spurs arrived at the beautiful San Mames Stadium, Son Heung-min and Pedro Porro were immediately swept into its big press conference room, filled with media from across not only the continent but the world. For Son with his experience, this was just another day of answering questions about trying to win his first trophy after 10 years at Tottenham and what the future holds beyond the current end of his contract in 2026.

For Porro, the amiable Spaniard back in his homeland, he decided to shelve his rapidly improving and impressive English skills in order to speak in his native tongue. Perhaps it was a touch of nerves on such a big stage – he did need one question repeated to him because he was so entranced by Son’s initial answer – but it was also likely a worry about anything being misconstrued if he attempted to respond in his more constricted English.

There was no such constriction for Ange Postecoglou. The Tottenham boss treated his press conference within the Spanish stadium as he would a normal weekly one, mostly because they were similar questions to those he’s asked each week at Hotspur Way about his future and the fitness of Lucas Bergvall or Son Heung-min.

The emotion of the occasion did show in a couple of moments. The first was in responding to a question from one reporter whose article that day had suggested this one game and the gravity of it after such a disastrous Premier League campaign had left Postecoglou ‘teetering between hero and clown’.

It was that last word that had upset Postecoglou and he was clearly waiting to see if the journalist asked him anything at the press conference. It came and it was whether the Australian was conscious of the infamy vs legendary status on the table if he won or lost the final?

“That depends on your outlook, but I’ll tell you one thing: irrespective of what happens tomorrow, I’m not a clown and I never will be, mate,” he said. “I’m really disappointed that you would use such terminology about a person who for 26 years without any favours from anyone has worked his way to a position where he’s leading out a club in a European major competition [final]. For you to suggest that somehow us not being successful means that I’m a clown, not really sure how to answer that question.”

There was genuine emotion in Postecoglou’s voice and to be called, potentially, a clown on the eve of becoming the first Australian and Greek to manage a team in a European final was too much.

‘Hero or failure’ is clunky and not as catchy but would have been more apt as Postecoglou himself has admitted his disappointment at failing to unify the north London club as he hoped he would.

It was a shame that the press conference ahead of a European final ended up being defined by one moment, ensuring that the word ‘clown’ was then used in headlines across the media with some articles even mocking up Postecoglou in face paint as a clown.

While the 59-year-old’s disappointment with the term was understandable, bringing it up in the biggest press conference of the season on the grandest stage only had a snowball effect that detracted from whatever other messages he was looking to get out there.

In keeping with the emotion, the Spurs head coach also had a little catch in his voice when he later spoke about his pride in being the first Greek, as well as Australian, to manage in a final and mentioned his late father Jim on the eve of such a big occasion.

Postecoglou also spoke well about his future and made it clear that he certainly has no intention of walking away from this job and into the sunset, even if Tottenham win in Bilbao.

“No, because I don’t think my job is done here. I really feel like we are building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerate that,” he said. “I still think there is work to be done. It is quite obvious with the challenges we’ve had this year, which I think are well chronicled but there is some reasoning in the context of that, but also there has been some growth and I would like to see it through.

“Whether that happens or not is not that important right now, but I don’t think, far from it, that this job is finished. I certainly feel there is some growth there that we can take this club to where it needs to be.”

That will be decided in the coming days but one thing is clear and that’s that this group of Tottenham players are still playing for Postecoglou and he has their full attention.

He and his coaches led them in a final training session on the grass at the San Mames Stadium, mostly going through patterns of play – Richarlison looking especially sharp with his finishing into all the corners – and when that was done Postecoglou called the group together just outside one of the penalty areas.

Postecoglou spoke passionately for a couple of minutes, gesturing with his hands and whatever he was saying had every member of the squad and his coaching staff entranced, Son with his arm around Richarlison, Romero’s with his around Bissouma. Nobody looked away, not even for a moment and when the head coach stopped, they all applauded. He clearly said the right words and the Australian’s speech on Wednesday night will need to be even better.

It looked to be that at some point during the speech or after it, Postecoglou had told the players to go out and enjoy the rest of their session – just have a bit of fun on the grass. That was quite a clever move to demystify the turf and the stage ahead of what would take place there the next day.

The players certainly took him up on the suggestion. Cristian Romero appears to have struck up a bromance with Yves Bissouma and during Postecoglou’s speech, the Argentine could be seen massaging the Mali international’s neck with one of his hands. After the speech was done so the duo had a bit of a wrestle, pushing each other during a game of keepy uppys, which had Postecoglou laughing and pointing at them. They weren’t the only ones having a wrestle for Djed Spence and Richarlison grappled and Wilson Odobert sent Pape Matar Sarr to the ground.

Mathys Tel embarked on a pitch long sprint with the ball at his feet before firing the ball into the net at the empty end of the stadium and then dived full length, face first and Jurgen Klinsmann-style across the grass to celebrate the goal against no one to nobody in particular.

It was a really relaxed way to spend their time in the big stadium and it would have removed some of the nerves before such a season-defining game.

There were also those who could not take part. Lucas Bergvall watched a portion of the session from the side-line, sat sadly on a ball while juggling another one in his hands. He was seated between the standing Spurs’ chief football officer Scott Munn and technical director Johan Lange until James Maddison came over and chatted with the teenager.

Postecoglou spoke to all four men at various points, giving Maddison a hug and patting him on the chest while Bergvall was signing things for some fans. The Australian will know how disappointed all the injured players currently are and it was a nice touch that all of them have been brought to Bilbao to be part of something they helped get Spurs to.

One injured player has returned to the fold at just the right time though and that is Dane Scarlett, who was taking a full part in training after his groin surgery. It would be a wonderful narrative if the Tottenham academy product, who scored against Elfsborg, were to return in time to come on late in the final and have a crucial part to play.

Elsewhere on the sidelines, Son and Ben Davies were clearly delighted to be reunited with former Tottenham striker Fernando Llorente, who was part of the club’s run to the 2019 Champions League final. They hugged and chatted for a while in the early evening sun.

When most of the others had gone inside, Porro, Romero and Rodrigo Bentancur stayed out for a long time doing keepy uppys with Kevin Danso joining them for a while before clearly letting the side down with one poor touch and being shoved affectionately away and down the tunnel by Romero.

In another part of the pitch was one other Spurs player. Yves Bissouma was sat on a ball getting what looked like a pep talk from coach Mile Jedinak – one midfielder to another. Bissouma is going to be key to this match against United. If the 28-year-old plays well then likely so will Tottenham.

The approaches of Spurs and United have been very different before this final. Postecoglou rested most of his players ahead of the game and the club flew out on Monday to start their preparations.

In contrast, Ruben Amorim used many of his starting players in the defeat at Chelsea and they trained in Manchester on Tuesday morning before flying to Bilbao later that day. They of course have experience of playing in this stadium from the semi-finals.

This Europa League final is going to bring a clash of two clubs struggling in the league but with different mindsets for the big stage. For United, this is just another final. For Tottenham it’s an opportunity to change the narrative.

For Postecoglou, Son and the Spurs players it’s a chance to silence the jibes and the doubts and end that long wait to parade a trophy around N17. It’s time to step up and make history.

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