Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim have become kindred spirits with non-negotiable philosophies - but their unique selling points are now a huge weakness as Man Utd and Tottenham meet in 'El Crisisco'

Mourinho was not entirely right when he said poets don't win titles. Postecoglou won multiple league crowns in Australia and lifted the J-League with Yokohama F Marinos before cleaning up in Scottish football, winning five out of a potential six competitions in a brilliant two-year stint with Celtic, collecting 93 points in his first title win and 99 in his second. Amorim was also well-versed in trophy lifting in Portugal. He led Sporting to a first league crown in 19 years in 2021 and reclaimed the throne in 2024, as well as winning the Taca da Liga twice with Sporting and once with Braga.

But both managers have struggled to translate the methods that worked so well outside Europe's top five leagues to the Premier League. Postecoglou did enjoy an initial honeymoon period with Tottenham, winning eight of his first 10 Premier League games despite losing Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. He broke Guus Hiddink's record for the most points earned by a manager in their first nine Premier League games and also won the Manager of the Month award for August, September and October, the first manager to ever do so.

Postecoglou even managed to earn respect and praise after losing his first game against Chelsea 4-1, continuing to play with a high defensive line when his side had had two men sent off, declaring "It's just who we are mate" afterwards. But that defeat began a run of four losses in five games in which the team picked up just one point. Tottenham's hopes of pipping Aston Villa to fourth spot and Champions League football ended with four consecutive defeats towards the end of the campaign and they finished his first campaign in fifth.

Tottenham made another good start to this season, thrashing United 3-0 at Old Trafford in what Postecoglou described as an "outstanding" display. It was 'Ange-ball' at its very best, overwhelming the opponents with relentless pressing and creating chances by the hatful. Spurs enjoyed more big wins against West Ham, Aston Villa and Manchester City, although the high of each result was punctured by losses to the likes of Brighton, Crystal Palace and Ipswich.

Tottenham's season truly began to unravel soon after their stunning 4-0 win at the Etihad Stadium as they earned just five points from 11 games between December and January while losing eight times. There was a simple explanation for the downfall, a crippling injury crisis. Tottenham have indeed been ravaged like no other team this season.

They have suffered 213 absentees this season, more than any of the seven English clubs competing in Europe, with 44 more absentees than Arsenal, who are second on the list of clubs hit by injuries. Some of Spurs' best players have been hit the hardest. They have been without first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario since late November, missing their two best centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven since the start of December (and for a month each before then).

Their top three scorers, James Maddison, Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke, are all currently sidelined. Of the 11 players that started at Old Trafford and outclassed United, only four have been available for selection lately, although Maddison and Johnson are set to return on Sunday while Vicario is back in training.

Postecoglou has repeatedly pointed to the injury crisis, prompting a derisory comment from Leyton Orient's coach. But there are two sides to the story. The coach's high-intensity pressing style puts huge demands on players and his previous teams have also had a high number of injury problems.

In his first season at Celtic, when his team had six players out with hamstring problems, Postecoglou said: "It's obviously something we want to get on top of but it’s not new to me either. We play differently and train differently and it takes players time to adjust to that, and along the way we obviously pay a price. But the one thing I’ve never done, and I won’t do in my whole career, is compromise the football team we want to be because we are not quite ready to be there. I’d rather keep going at the pace we are going and it means we are going to have some casualties along the way."

The Australian touched on a similar theme last season with Spurs when he said: "It’s part of the game we have; for the guys, it’s a big physical output but we haven’t been able to, because of the circumstances, rotate the squad too much. It’s just a consequence of the way we play and the way we train. At the same time, when we get a more robust and deeper squad, we'll be able to overcome it."

Postecoglou was practically admitting on those occasions that injuries were an inevitable result of the team's style of play. One year on, he has not been able to get a deeper or more robust squad and yet he is persisting with the same high-risk strategy.

Spurs' front-foot approach might work when the best players are available, but inexperienced players such as teenagers Mikey Moore and Archie Gray, who have been thrust into the team due to the many injuries, have struggled. The same can be said of the coach's use of his goalkeepers. Vicario is adept at playing out from the back but when he got injured and Fraser Forster was forced to deputise, the strategy proved to be a disaster, with the 36-year-old gifting United two goals in the Carabao Cup tie.

Postecoglou has remained wedded to his style of play, proudly declaring after the 6-3 thumping by Liverpool: "I do not know what a Plan B or C is. If people want me to change my approach, it’s not going to change."

Postecoglou's words must have struck a chord with Amorim. The Portuguese had said in his first press conference as United boss that "there is no other way" and has doubled down on his arguments even amid the team's worst run of results at home in more than 130 years. "I cannot change my idea in one day because we will lose much more now,” the Portuguese said after the feeble defeat by Newcastle in December. "I was here because of my idea and I will continue to do my idea until the end. I have to sell my idea. I don’t have another one."

But what if the idea does not work on the players you have? Amorim's football requires lots of training sessions and a young, athletic squad able to cope with the physical demands. It also puts a huge emphasis on wing-backs, a position United have rarely made use of in their history, while stifling wingers, the position which the club has been renowned for producing. There were early signs that United's players were not dovetailing with the new manager, such as Rasmus Hojlund admitting in December "it's a lot to take in".

The results tell their own story: the Red Devils have won just four of their 13 Premier League games under the Portuguese coach while losing seven times. They have a goal difference of minus six while they have lost five of their last six league games at Old Trafford. Or just listen to what Amorim has to say about his team. He called them perhaps the worst side in Manchester United's history just last month.

There are also signs of a lack of feeling between the coach and his players. It has been reported inThe Daily Mail that some United players have discussed whether a change of plan is needed to get the best out of them, while the Manchester Evening News recently claimed that Amorim keeps his distance from his players and is less close to the squad than Erik ten Hag was. That is not exactly surprising given some of the disparaging statements he has made about his team to the media and some of the insulting selection decisions he has made such as playing Kobbie Mainoo up front while benching Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee.

It is certainly harder to foster a positive feeling between coach and players when results are so bad. As Gary Neville warned after the last defeat by Crystal Palace: "The more you lose, the more difficult it is for the manager to convince the players of his idea. If they keep losing and they keep getting criticised and the spotlight comes on them more and the fans are leaving unhappy, you know it creates a feeling and you can't keep losing. You just can't. It will depress the thoughts of the players to a point whereby they'll start to lose faith in the idea and it'll damage you."

Something similar appears to be happening at Tottenham. Postecoglou openly admitted after losing to Arsenal that his side simply did not perform, calling their first-half display "unacceptable". It prompted Alan Shearer to ask if something else was going on. The Premier League's record scorer said on Match of the Day: "I know they’ve got injuries to centre-backs and the goalkeeper but you cannot go up against your rivals and have your manager come out at the end of the game and say 'we weren’t really up [to it], we were nowhere near our levels', that is not acceptable. You can’t go into a game of that magnitude, of that size and not turn up in the first half."

Naturally, Amorim and Postecoglou defended each other in their press conferences ahead of Sunday's game. They have become kindred spirits in the battle for ideas. "Ruben is just doing what he wants to do," Postecoglou said of his opposite number. "Manchester United have scouted him and identified him by looking at the way he does business. You bring him in with a purpose. If United stick with Ruben for two years then they will see progress. If someone shows me someone who has done it in a shorter period without investment, then show me."

The Portuguese, meanwhile, declared "I am a huge fan of Ange Postecoglou" although he also implied he was a little more flexible than his counterpart. He added: "I am from a different culture, Portuguese and all the Portuguese coaches they can adapt. I adapt. I use one system because I believe if you do that system, you can use other systems at the same time. That is my idea. But, we are not winning games and I understand the connection with me and Ange, we have the same problems. In my opinion, with all due respect, I am at a bigger club, with bigger pressure. It is important for a coach to follow his principles."

Sunday's match is an intriguing meeting of two fallen giants with two coaches with clear philosophies which were once their unique selling points but are now being viewed as their biggest weaknesses. Whatever happens after 90 minutes it will not change the fact that this has been a dire campaign for both clubs. The real question is how much longer the two clubs’ owners will continue to indulge these two poets when they cannot get a tune out of their teams.