Soccer-Postecoglou changed Spurs narrative, but trophy too little too late

The Star

a day ago

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa League - Final - Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United - San Mames, Bilbao, Spain - May 21, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou with his players ahead of the trophy lift after winning the Europa League Final REUTERS/Andrew Couldridge/File Photo
LONDON (Reuters) -Ange Postecoglou will walk away from Tottenham Hotspur with his pride and his reputation intact and his place in the club's heritage assured after a two-year stint in north London.
Ending the club's 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League made sure of that.
The Australian delivered on his claim of always winning a trophy in his second season at a club, but few could have envisaged the circumstances in which it happened.
From the ruins of a nightmarish Premier League season, Tottenham ground out a backs-to-the-wall victory against one of the worst Manchester United sides in decades with a display at odds with the club's 'to dare is to do' motto.
Earlier in the season, after Tottenham beat United 4-3 in a rollercoaster League Cup quarter-final, Postecoglou railed against studio pundits who criticised his expansive style.
"Are you not entertained?! What do you want? Do you want a scrambly 1-0? The studio's probably going into meltdown over my lack of tactics but I love the fact we go out there and take it to opposition," he bristled.
A few months later, Tottenham did just that, beating United 1-0 with a messy goal and a second half display in which they had 19% of the ball and barely crossed the halfway line.
Postecoglou had only to point to the euphoric scenes in the stadium to answer those who sneered at Tottenham's glory night.
In a parallel universe it could have heralded the ignition point for a Postecoglou dynasty at Tottenham, just as Manchester United's 1989 FA Cup win did for Alex Ferguson.
Instead, it just marked the end of another brief chapter in the club's history, albeit a memorable one, as he became the fifth full-time manager to be sacked in little over five years.
When Postecoglou arrived in 2023 with his swashbuckling 'Ange-Ball' style he seemed the perfect fit for a club worn down by the joyless reigns of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.
Twenty six points from his opening 10 Premier League games in the 2023-24 season was more than any other manager in his first season in the competition, eclipsing the likes of serial title winners like Mourinho and Pep Guardiola.
It was Tottenham's best start to a top-flight season since their last title-winning campaign in 1960-61.
Then the wheels fell off.
His 11th game, at home to Chelsea, offered an early clue as to what would become his eventual downfall.
The mood was ecstatic as Spurs scored early but then they suffered two big injuries and were reduced to nine men by the 55th minute when Destiny Udogie joined Cristian Romero in receiving a rash red card.
Even two players down, and with the score at 1-1, Postecoglou insisted his team play a high defensive line and go for goals and, while it was compelling viewing, they eventually subsided to a chaotic 4-1 defeat.
That loyalty to his attacking philosophy was admirable and earned him staunch support amongst the club's fans, but it also exposed a lack of tactical pragmatism.
Tottenham limped to fifth in Postecoglou's first term, securing continental football in the Europa League, and there were high hopes that his second season would see him mould a team capable of mounting a title challenge.
Instead, Tottenham endured their worst top-flight season since they were relegated in 1977, ending in 17th place with 22 defeats and 65 goals conceded.
There were mitigating circumstances. A chronic injury list took out central defenders Romero and Micky van de Ven, strikers Dominic Solanke and Richarlison and keeper Guglielmo Vicario for long periods and with no danger of relegation he put all his eggs in the Europa League basket.
He will also argue that the likes of Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Mikey Moore promise a bright future.
Sadly, he will not be the one to benefit with chairman Daniel Levy deciding that the Europa League triumph was the anomaly, rather than the 22 league defeats.
SOFT UNDERBELLY
The biggest criticism of Postecoglou was that his insistence on high defensive lines and playing out from the back, even when the players obviously could not execute it, exposed the team's soft underbelly and made them easy to beat.
Relegated clubs Leicester City and Ipswich Town both beat Tottenham whose only league win in their last 12 games was against woeful bottom club Southampton.
Yet set against their Premier League slide, Postecoglou conjured a parting gift for the long-suffering fans and they do not care how it was achieved.
He leaves having changed the narrative around the club but whether the it can seize the moment and build a sustained challenge for regular silverware remains to be seen.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)