Tottenham to be given guard of honour by Premier League rivals after Europa League triumph
Anton Stanley
4 – 5 minutes
Tottenham Hotspur will have a guard of honour from Brighton & Hove Albion as they return to action after their Europa League triumph.
Spurs beat Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao on Wednesday to end a 17-year trophy drought, thanks to a Brennan Johnson strike just before half-time.
Heung-Min Son lifted the UEFA Europa League final for Tottenham on Wednesday
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Heung-Min Son lifted the UEFA Europa League final for Tottenham on WednesdayCredit: Getty
Celebrations have been in full swing for the north Londoners ever since with boozy scenes at their parade on Friday.
And Brighton boss Hurzeler was delighted for opposite number Ange Postecoglou, who has endured a tough season at the helm.
He told reporters: “I think both teams felt a lot of pressure and in the end Tottenham won. They played very mature, they scored one goal and that’s why they deserved to win. Congrats to them.
“I’m happy for (Postecoglou) because he’s a very good guy. He deserves it. He has a lot of pressure and how he deals with it I think he’s a role model for young coaches as well, like me.
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“I’m very happy for him. I know that he worked hard for this and what I really like is that he said already in September after a game against Arsenal (that he wins things in his second season).
“He’s a man who can look into the future and that’s something very impressive.”
Manager Ange Postecoglou has already reveals Cristiano Romero and Heung-Min Son are likely absentees along with a host of long-term injured, including James Maddison.
“There will be a couple of absences,” he admitted. “Romero has been struggling with his toe for quite a while so we’ll leave him out and probably Sonny because his foot has still not healed.
“They’ve both sort of made a massive effort to get to the final. Bissouma got a knock in the game and he’s kind of 50/50 at the moment. The rest of them physically anyway are ok.”
Those who do play against Brighton, though, will be honoured by their rivals.
Spurs players have been partying all week to celebrate
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Spurs players have been partying all week to celebrateCredit: Getty
Asked about a guard of honour, Hurzeler added: “Like we did against Liverpool, if great clubs achieve great things then it’s always a positive thing and also if English clubs achieve great things in the international cups.
“I’m very happy for them. Of course they deserve it, so we will do it.”
And they look set to be joined by a host of Tottenham legends too.
After watching out in Bilbao, their former midfielder Micky Hazard confirmed he was set to participate.
He posted on X: “Looking forward to today, looking forward to making the guard of honour for our team, the atmosphere is going to be electric I can’t wait, I’m so excited it’s untrue.
“Let’s celebrate our trophy all together with pride, let’s be one big happy family COYS.”
Hurzeler is happy
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Hurzeler is happyCredit: Getty
When all is said and done after Sunday’s final game of the season, Postecoglou is looking forward to a nice rest.
And he confirmed his plans to the press in his final Premier League pre-match conference of the campaign.
He revealed: “Just family time and finding some quiet spot. Yeah, that’s got some water and a sun lounger and not too much movement, that will do me.
“Just mainly family time and like I said, time to reflect, not just for myself, but, you know, for my wife, for my kids. Just pretty chilled and laid back.
“It’s one of those things where you probably don’t realise till you’re stopped how tired you are, you know, physically and emotionally and I’m sure that’ll hit me Monday morning.”
His future is yet to be confirmed given concerns about the club’s terrible Premier League form that could see them finish 17th, one place above the relegation zone.
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But the Australian has insisted it won’t be in his thoughts in the coming days.
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“Don’t worry about that. I’m good at relaxing mate,” he said. “Come Monday, I won’t have a care in the world. I won’t have a care in the world.
“But, I assume I’ll have an indication at some point. Only because, you know, there’s some serious planning to do more than anything else. I won’t have any problem switching off.”
Ange Postecoglou Burns Jamie Carragher After Tottenham Win Europa League
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Ange Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou burned Jamie Carragher in his brilliant post-match interview after Tottenham clinched the 2025 Europa League on Wednesday night. Brennan Johnson’s goal proved to be the difference, as the Australian boss made good on his promise to deliver silverware in his second season, sealing a 1-0 win over Premier League rivals Manchester United.
The victory at Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium ended the north London club’s 17-year trophy drought and marked their first piece of silverware on foreign soil since 1984, when they lifted the UEFA Cup. After a domestic campaign to forget, the Lilywhites have now snuck in through the back door to next season’s Champions League – a stable platform they’ll be eager to build on.
But before last night’s silencing of the critics, Postecoglou was regularly made the butt of the joke, with journalists twisting his words and lobbing loaded questions in hopes of getting a soundbite. Sitting 17th in the league hasn’t exactly helped his case, and questions over his future have loomed large for weeks. But now, he’s had the last laugh, proving plenty of doubters wrong when it mattered most.
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As soon as the full-time whistle blew on a historic night for Tottenham, Postecoglou took his time to speak to each one of his opponents’ players and staff, offering them a few short words of advice and condolences. It summed the 59-year-old’s character up, and he finally got a chance to address the barrage of criticism he has faced this season in an interview with CBS Sports Golazo.
Micah Richards had the first say, congratulating the Tottenham boss and saying he always believed in him despite the injuries and how young his team is, to which the former Celtic helmsman responded (see the full segment below):
“Well I can’t say the same for everyone on the panel.”
His initial comments were clearly a dig at Carragher, who had tipped him to be sacked at various flashpoints throughout the season, including over the Christmas period when the former Liverpool defender-turned-pundit said, as per Yahoo Sports:
“My criticism over Tottenham under the manager is they never change how they play no matter what the game state is. I don’t think football should be played the same from minute 1-90.”
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But in typical cool, calm, laid-back fashion, it wouldn’t be long before his interview then took a more serious tone as Postecoglou took a look back on the season’s success.
He continued: “I can’t put it into words [his feelings about the win]. I know what it means to the football club; I know what it means to the supporters. It’s been a tough season, but I’ve always had this thing inside me, just one focus, one target, and I just felt this was it. As I said, I know what it means to this club, who have had this nearly tag for a long time.
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“The only way you break those is by winning things, and we did that today. It’s been the toughest couple of years of my career, but I knew it would be going into it, because they’ve had world-class managers with a lot better credentials than I have that haven’t been able to get there. So I knew I had a massive challenge in front of me, but I’ve just had this laser focus that I believed we could win something this year.”
Ange Postecoglou explains why there is fresh excitement in the Tottenham squad
Bharad Thirumalai
4 – 5 minutes
Ange Postecoglou has revealed that despite the way extremely challenging times that the Tottenham players have endured this season, one crucial factor has added a lot of enthusiasm and excitement among the squad ahead of their final run-in.
While Tottenham Hotspur find themselves in a sorry position in the Premier League table, the players will be aware that they still have an opportunity to make this campaign a memorable one by lifting the Europa League.
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Doing so would end the club’s 17-year trophy drought and ensure passage into the Champions League, thus putting a completely different lens on their whole campaign.
The Tottenham boss has revealed that there is another added factor that has created an extra buzz and motivation among his squad ahead of what could be an extremely important couple of months.
Ange Postecoglou Cristian Romero
(Credit @thefrederikkejensen / Instagram)
Ange Postecoglou explains why Tottenham players are desperate to make an impact
After having had to cope with an extremely bloated injury list for much of the campaign, Postecoglou now finds himself in the privileged position of having nearly a fully fit squad to choose from.
The Australian explained that some of the players who have not played much football over the last few months are now desperate to contribute to the side and their enthusiasm is now rubbing off on others in training.
When asked if he has reminded the squad that they can achieve something special at the end of the campaign, Ange Postecoglou responded (via Football.London): “I haven’t had to remind them, internally they’ve felt that. The injured players have been really frustrated they haven’t been able to help. You’ve seen that.
“We all understand what a tough year it’s been for everybody but particularly those players who have had to carry the load. It’s the worst thing when you can’t help your team and contribute.
“As they’ve trickled back, you can sense their enthusiasm and their energy is transferring to the guys who have gone through that period. I do sense the players are excited by the prospect of: we’re here now, whatever we’ve been through, we’ve been through and we’ve still got an opportunity to do something special this year.
“Let’s tackle that in the manner we try to do everything so far. Playing our football and having a real positive mindset about things.”
Postecoglou says Spurs deserve a crack at silverware
In some ways, one can argue that Spurs winning the Europa League or even reaching the final in Bilbao would paper over the cracks of their struggles in the Premier League this season.
However, Postecoglou points out that the Lilywhites have earned the opportunity to have a crack at the trophy by continuing to produce results in their competitions despite their injury problems.
Speaking about Tottenham’s Europa League hopes, he added: “We’ve earned the right to that. We’ve got to the quarter-finals because of our performances through the tough period. We had to do that to get to this point with some very difficult moments and a lot of young players, not just first-team players but players in our academy, to get us to this point.
“I think the players who have deserved to be in this position to have a crack at achieving something. We kind of know now that there’s nine league games, hopefully, five in Europa, so you’ve got 14 games – 53 days together. So you’ve got a clear amount of time, with no interruption. So you’ve got a clear plan there of what we can do. But you’ve got to chip away at it game by game and it starts against Chelsea.”
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