Sport

Europa League final pair up isn’t a sign of the EPL’s strength

The two worst surviving Premier League teams will contest this season’s Europa League final. Indeed, neither Manchester United nor Tottenham Hotspur have had a lot to celebrate domestically of late. Wednesday’s meeting in Bilbao, however, is an opportunity to forget all that for one night only.

That two teams positioned 16th and 17th in the Premier League table are contesting a major European final has prompted many to argue this proves the quality of England’s top flight. To to the contrary, though, it only highlights the mismanagement among some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.

Manchester United are estimated to have the second-largest wage budget in the Premier League, handing over £170m to their players over the course of the 2024/25 campaign. For that money, the Old Trafford club have received very little, suffering their worst domestic season of the Premier League era.

Tottenham Hotspur currently have the seventh-largest wage budget in the division. While this puts them behind many of their rivals who are willing and able to spend more money on players, the North London outfit should be nowhere near the bottom of the table. They have grossly underperformed over a prolonged period of time.

In a sense, Spurs and United’s position in the table does highlight the growing level in the Premier League’s middle class. In the past, the so-called Big Six could maintain their place at the top of English football purely by spending more. They were allowed to be complacent because they were richer than the rest.

Now, though, the gap has been closed due to other clubs being smarter in their recruitment and coaching. Bournemouth, Brentford and Brighton are all good examples of this. While they have nowhere near the resources of Manchester United or Spurs, they are better teams because of the off-field decisions they have made.

United have gone through seven managers in the 12 years since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Tottenham have had five managers in the last six seasons and look set to appoint a sixth this summer with Ange Postecoglou widely expected to be dismissed no matter happens in Bilbao on Wednesday night.

Between the two clubs, close to £2 billion has been spent on transfers over the last decade. For that money, both Manchester United and Spurs have ended up a poorly constructed, unbalanced squad that is somehow lacking in all areas of the pitch. Neither club has a coherent vision of what they want to be and that has resulted in a dismal season.

Of course, Europa League glory would be something to savour. Tottenham Hotspur haven’t won a trophy in 17 years. Manchester United are a long way from the top of English football, where they were for so long, and can’t count on many more trophies coming their way in the near future such is their downward trajectory. Fans would understandably celebrate their team lifting a major trophy.

Champions League qualification would boost the finances of either club. It would give them an advantage in the summer transfer window as they look to rebuild for the start of next season. And yet winning the Europa League would only paper over the cracks that could still engulf Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

As a whole, the quality in the Premier League has never been greater than it is now, but Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur’s run to the Europa League final isn’t the thing that proves this. A triumphant night in Bilbao for either club will show just how badly they have underperformed and how better performances were within them all along.