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Ange Postecoglou feeling the pressure as Tottenham’s judgement day arrives
Dan Kilpatrick
4 – 6 minutes
Tottenham Hotspurs Football Newsletter
Spurs are on course for a historically poor Premier League campaign, which goes a long way to explaining the “negative” view of their season which has so frustrated Postecoglou, and the question ahead of Thursday’s first leg in north London is whether his side can raise their levels in Europe.
The return of Spurs’ injured players has done little to improve their performances in the league, though they did enough to relegate sorry Southampton on Sunday, and their record of 16 defeats in 31 matches this term has left Postecoglou under intense pressure and fearing for his job.
Spurs have increasingly looked like a team less than the sum of its parts and prone to demonstrating the worst flaws of Postecoglou’s high-risk approach – a lack of control, openness and difficulty in creating chances – without any of the upsides.
Spurs, though, have long since written off the top-flight and Postecoglou can take comfort from the fact that Europe has so often offered unconvincing teams a respite from a difficult league season.
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There are plenty of examples of clubs who have saved themselves for European matches, including Spurs on their own run to the Champions League final in 2019, when they came through games against Barcelona, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City and Ajax, only to lose heartbreakingly to Liverpool in Madrid.
Spurs have increasingly looked like a team less than the sum of its parts and prone to demonstrating the worst flaws of Postecoglou’s high-risk approach
That year, Mauricio Pochettino’s side limped over the finish line in the Premier League, winning only two of their final 12 top-flight matches.
There is even a case that Spurs do not need to dramatically improve to win the Europa League, just raise their intensity in bursts when it really matters.
Again, there are countless sides who have gone all the way in Europe without ever seeming to play especially well; Real Madrid are the most obvious example in the Champions League – at least before Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat at Arsenal, which has added even more pressure to Spurs on Thursday.
English clubs tend to have a financial advantage over practically every opponent in the Europa League – a dynamic true of Spurs and Frankfurt – and Premier League teams who take the competition seriously usually do well, going right back to Fulham in 2010 and Middlesbrough in 2006.
In their last-16 second leg against AZ Alkmaar, Spurs demonstrated that they could win comfortably, without producing a complete performance. They were middling for periods of the game, notably at 2-0, but managed to step it up with a brilliant third goal, which stands as the best example of ‘Ange-ball’ this season.
If they stay in the game against Frankfurt, and then turn up the tempo in devastating spells, as they so often did in Postecoglou’s first season in charge, it may be enough to get them through and past Bodo/Glimt or Lazio in the semi-finals, too.
Frankfurt, who sit third in the Bundesliga, should pose a significantly sterner challenge than AZ, particularly at their deafening home ground next week – increasing the urgency for Spurs to get a result at home.
Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner is the latest Premier League boss to be linked with the Tottenham job
Action Images via Reuters
They also have history in this competition, having won the Europa League under Oliver Glasner in 2022. The Crystal Palace boss, who has said he will visit his former club on the eve of the match, was the latest coach to be linked with Postecoglou’s job on Wednesday, perhaps explaining the Australian’s mood.
Frankfurt are likely to set up to frustrate Spurs and will be happy to counter-punch in north London, a strategy which has proven effective at stopping Postecoglou’s side in the past.
The Spurs head coach is unlikely to spring many surprises in his XI but faces a choice between Brennan Johnson and Wilson Odobert on the right of the front three. Odobert’s dribbling and unpredictability can help to unlock tight defences and he scored twice in the decider against AZ in a standout display.
Johnson, though, is Spurs’ top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions this season, and Postecoglou suggested that he’s 12has always been first choice in the position. Micky van de Ven will return at centre-back, leaving Postecoglou with nearly his strongest XI available, barring Dejan Kulusevski (foot).
