Man Utd or Spurs will have had a better season than Arsenal because winning is everything

Both Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou admit their teams have had a poor season in the Premier League. But , qualify for the Champions League - and have a better season than Arsenal.

When all is said and done in football, winning takes care of everything if it puts trophies in the cabinet. , or if , it will paper over a lot of cracks.

United have lost 16 out of 35 Premier League games this season and Spurs have lost 19. That’s absolutely shocking for clubs of their stature. But the all-English Europa League final in Bilbao later this month will offer one of them a get-out-of-jail pass, a golden ticket back to the big time.

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, so they may be slight favourites. United, on the other hand, are the only club to go unbeaten through the whole Europa League campaign and Bruno Fernandes has provided a record number of assists in the competition.

Do they have an advantage after playing in Bilbao only last week? I’m not so sure that’s relevant in a one-off cup final, although when United pitch up again at the San Mames they will know where the dressing rooms are and get their bearings quicker.

United were twitchy for a while in their semi-final second leg at Old Trafford on Thursday night. When Mikel Jauregizar made a dent in United’s three-goal advantage from the first leg, you could sense the nervous shuffling of feet and anxiety around the place.

But one thing I have learned in my first year as a manager is the importance of substitutions - Macclesfield subs scored 27 goals for us this season, and Amorim played his hand perfectly.

It is always better to be pro-active than reactive with your subs, and United were losing control in midfield until Mason Mount came off the bench to enjoy the best half-hour of his career.

His two goals were magnificent, and his all-round contribution - with Bruno dropping deeper to the No.6 role - was unbelievable. Mount’s United career has been tormented by a series of injury setbacks which have limited him to just 10 Premier League starts in two seasons.

But he chose the perfect night to step up when Bilbao were threatening to become the first team in 134 ties to overturn a three-goal deficit from the first leg away from home. And for United to score seven goals across two legs against a side with the best defensive record in La Liga speaks volumes.

Tottenham showed good character and sound game management to negotiate cold weather in the Arctic circle and Bodo/Glimt’s artificial pitch, and it should be a cracking final.

Are United and Spurs the two worst teams, in terms of their domestic league positions, to contest a major European final? That’s debatable, although Aston Villa won the European Cup 43 years ago in a season where they finished 11th in the old First Division, so it’s not unprecedented for an English club to strike glory in Europe while going nowhere in the league at home.

Yes, a trophy and Champions League football will paper over the cracks and camouflage a multitude of problems for Amorim or Big Ange.

But like Newcastle, who are also likely to land a Champions League spot next season, one of them is going to win more trophies than Arsenal this season. And for Gunners fans, that’s got to hurt.

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