Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur one win away from the trophy he promised in his second season in charge
Tottenham is having their worst ever Premier League season, but with coach Ange Postecoglou almost certain to be sacked, if he pulls off the improbable and scores a Europa League trophy, it’s an epic response to the naysayers.
If Ange Postecoglou pulls off the seemingly impossible and Tottenham beats Manchester United to the Europa League trophy he will be “giving the biggest middle finger in English football in history”.
Those were the words of Manchester United legend Gary Neville.
Postecoglou’s reign at Tottenham Hotspur has been marred by controversy – with the club 17th on the English Premier League ladder with 20 losses from 36 games this season.
Victory in the Europa League final on Thursday morning (AEST) would give Tottenham a spot in the most coveted club football tournament – the Champions League.
On top of that he would be the first manager to guide Tottenham to a trophy since its League Cup win back in 2008.
Postecoglou boldly declared in September 2024 that: “I always win things in my second year.”
He is just one win away from that assertion coming true again.
As Tottenham’s Premier League losses piled up those chances looked to be quickly dwindling – until he battled his way through to the Europa League final.
And as the embattled manager pointed out this week it is not an achievement to be scoffed at.
“If it is so easy to get to a final then why doesn’t everyone who finishes in the top three do it?” Postecoglou said.
“I mean it’s a separate thing. It’s got nothing to do with league form. We understand our league form hasn’t been great.”
Tottenham will be up against Manchester United - a team the Spurs have beaten three times this season and who have had an equally dismal EPL season and sit 16th on the ladder.
Neville, talking on the It’s Called Soccer podcast, said it is hard to fathom how Postecoglou has done it.
“It would be an unbelievable achievement for him if he got Champions League football and beat Manchester United in a final,” Neville said.
“It’s the biggest middle finger in English football history.”
Rumours are swirling that even if Postecoglou wins Tottenham’s first trophy in 17 years, his time at the club will be over.
Retired English footballer and die hard Tottenham fan Darren Ambrose was against Postecoglou getting the boot if he pulls off the win.
“If he does win there is no way you can parade the trophy in front of thousands of people and then sack him,” Ambrose said on talkSPORT.
“If he wins the Europa League then he deserves an opportunity, I will forget the league campaign and wherever we are going to finish.
“We haven’t won a trophy for years and now they are on the brink of winning. Forget the league, no player is going to sit there in the summer if we win and are in Champions League and say I’m not going to play for (Postecoglou) because we finished 17th.”
Football podcaster and Tottenham fan Ricky Sacks was on the same program with Ambrose. He said that regardless of the result Postecoglou should leave in the Summer.
“I can’t forget all the domestic campaign and the nature of our defeats,” Sacks said on TalkSport.
“We were decimated by injuries for the second season in a row but I’ve not seen any real point of consistency to give me the confidence that giving Postecoglou more money in the summer for better players would get better results.
“The best thing for him would be to win the trophy and then depart. Winning a cup at Tottenham is doing the impossible already, Ange could go out into the sunset and get a great job out of this.”
Others have not been as supportive of Postecoglou.
Former Chelsea player Jason Cundy, on talkSPORT, said a trophy wouldn’t erase the terrible season Spurs have had.
“It saves your season. It doesn’t make your season, it saves it,” he said to Sports Bar co-host Jamie O’Hara.
“You don’t need glory because you lot, by the way, are an absolute disgrace to Premier League football.
“Do you know what you are? You’re a van that goes round collecting other people’s rubbish. You know those vans that go round the houses and waste? That’s all you are.
“You just pick up everyone else’s rubbish, going round [asking]: ‘Anything else?’, people leave stuff like microwaves.
“That’s who you are as a Premier League team. Just picking up whatever you can. Because you ain’t picking up points.
“You’re the rag and bone, mate. You are the worst team this season, currently, in the Premier League, other than the three teams that went down.”
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