{"id":117547,"date":"2025-05-20T16:53:15","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T16:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/117547\/"},"modified":"2025-05-20T16:53:15","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T16:53:15","slug":"brennan-johnson-makes-man-united-claim-before-europa-league-final-i-think-we-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/117547\/","title":{"rendered":"Brennan Johnson makes Man United claim before Europa League final &#8211; &#8216;I think we know&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tottenham have beaten Manchester United three times this season, but Johnson knows the Europa League final is a different proposition<a class=\"AuthorLink_author-link__rg5qj\" data-tmdatatrack=\"author\" data-testid=\"byline-author\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/authors\/shane-ireland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Shane Ireland<\/strong><\/a> Sport Central Content Editor and <strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35 __className_4d02ca\">George Sessions PA<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>15:24, 20 May 2025<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_Tottenham-Hotspur-v-FK-BodoGlimt-UEFA-Europa-League-202425-Semi-Final-First-Leg.jpg\" alt=\"Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson has been speaking ahead of the Europa League final against Manchester United\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Tottenham forward Brennan Johnson has been speaking ahead of the Europa League final against Manchester United(Image: Vince Mignott\/DeFodi Images\/DeFodi via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Brennan Johnson is not resting on his laurels despite Tottenham&#8217;s recent victories over <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/manchester-united-fc\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Manchester United<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Although Tottenham have bested United three times this term \u2013 with Ruben Amorim overseeing two defeats since replacing Erik ten Hag \u2013 Johnson maintains that past results won&#8217;t play a role in the <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/europa-league\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Europa League<\/a> final.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Spurs won 3-0 at at <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/old-trafford\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Old Trafford<\/a> in September nudging Ten Hag towards the door, followed that up with a 4-3 win for Tottenham in December&#8217;s Carabao Cup quarter-final and then claimed a narrow 1-0 victory last February.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/sport\/football\/football-news\/man-utd-tottenham-europa-league-31681072\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">But Johnson insists the previous matches have no bearing on Wednesday&#8217;s clash:<\/a> &#8220;I think we know, going into the final, we can&#8217;t rely on the fact that we&#8217;ve beaten them a few times this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;I think it&#8217;s about now coming up with a plan because each time we&#8217;ve beaten them has been down to different reasons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;I feel like we&#8217;ve done good work preparing for Man United so now it&#8217;s about coming up with how we want to win, things we want to do, things we want to stop them from doing so it&#8217;s a new opportunity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;We want to prepare and be as confident as we can.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Scoring at Old Trafford was a personal high for Johnson. His father David is a former Nottingham Forest striker who never quite broke through at United.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;I think he obviously liked them because he grew up round that area and played for them but definitely not now! He&#8217;s on Spurs&#8217; side,&#8221; Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;We speak a lot before games, after games. I&#8217;m sure it won&#8217;t be anything too much just for the final. Just wishing me good luck and that&#8217;s it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Johnson Sr&#8217;s ability to be in the right place at the right time has been inherited by his son, who is currently enjoying his best scoring season with Spurs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Many of Johnson&#8217;s 17 goals have been first-time finishes at the back post, a characteristic feature of teams managed by Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Johnson added: &#8220;Yeah, it&#8217;s a demand that he puts on us to be in the back post.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;I think last season there were a few instances where I wasn&#8217;t in the right position and he gets frustrated because people think it&#8217;s a tap-in but if you&#8217;re not there, then it goes out for a throw-in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;It&#8217;s just knowing who I am playing with, knowing the type of crosses I am going to get. Almost studying other players in the team, seeing what they like to do, what type of crosses and trying to be in the right position.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A trademark Johnson finish helped Spurs secure a 5-1 semi-final aggregate victory over Bodo\/Glimt and while their <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk\/all-about\/premier-league\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Premier League<\/a> performance has been shaky, European success has always been a significant goal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;Yeah, it&#8217;s been a real positive drive for us,&#8221; Johnson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;When times have been tough and we&#8217;ve had to go to some tough places in Europe and got some really good results, it brings the squad together a massive amount.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;The quarter-final, the semi-final, these games have been massive for us. Unbelievable victories, real togetherness and yeah, it just make us stronger and more together.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tottenham have beaten Manchester United three times this season, but Johnson knows the Europa League final is a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":117548,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[1811,94,423,42953,79,10652,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-117547","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-europa-league","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-manchester-united-fc","11":"tag-manchester-united-fc-in-the-europa-league-final","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tottenham-hotspur-fc","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114541206250426534","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117547"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117547\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117548"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}