Latest news with #MathysTel
The National
2 days ago
- Business
- The National
Junior Ndiaye eyes UAE debut and to follow in footsteps of illustrious French cohort
Three years ago, a group of the best teenagers in French football touched down in Paris, fresh from an adventure in the Middle East with gold medals in their luggage. With mutual embraces and good wishes, went their separate ways, sensing that ahead of them were futures of great, but uncertain promise. These kids had just won the European Under-17 championship in Israel, coming from a goal down in the final to defeat a talented Netherlands team. A gifted playmaker named Desire Doue had caught the eye for the French. The maturity of midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery and striker Mathys Tel, given the captain's armband for the final, had made an impression, too, as had France's strength in depth. 'A very talented generation,' the coach of that junior French side, Jose Alcocer, reflected. Fast forward to the here and now, and the climax of the European club season, a number of those players are making space for new medals in the grown-up homes they have since moved into. Zaire-Emery now has a Uefa Champions League title on his honours list, to add to the three French league championships and two French Cups he had already won with Paris Saint-Germain. And he's still only 19. Tel picked up a Europa League gold with Tottenham Hotspur, where he spent the second half of last season on loan from Bayern Munich, the club he joined soon after France's Under-17 triumph and where his yield has been two Bundesliga titles so far. As for Doue, he celebrates turning 20 on Tuesday as, very suddenly, a huge global superstar. He scored twice, and set up another goal, for PSG in their 5-0 demolition of Inter in Munich at the weekend, man of the match in delivering a first Uefa Champions League to Paris. This time three years ago, he was a fresh junior champion with France but yet to play a senior club match for anybody. Others from that cohort of French youngsters have had to be more patient in reaching their significant senior landmarks. But in the next week or so, a striker who jostled with Tel and Doue for opportunities in that French Under-17 side hopes to match Doue and Zaire-Emery in winning a full international cap. While that pair of PSG prodigies have graduated to the senior team of France, where they were born, Junior Ndiaye is in line to make his bow, most likely off the bench, for his native UAE, hopeful his moment arrives in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers at home to Uzbekistan and in Kyrgyzstan. Ndiaye was born in Dubai, where his father, Samba, was a successful goalscorer for Al Nasr in the mid 2000s, a late stop-off in a varied career whose inheritance for Junior Ndiaye was some expert tutoring in how to be a top-division striker but also a broad range of options about where, if his sporting career were to soar, he might build an international future. Samba Ndiaye was born in Senegal, but became a French citizen and a junior France international on the way to representing various French Ligue 1 clubs. He settled in France after retiring as a player and so Junior Ndiaye did much of his growing up there. His sporting ability took him into the admired French academy system and he shone so brightly at Montpellier, he was picked for France's Under-17s. Under Fifa rules, he still remained eligible for his country of birth, or for France, for Senegal and, via the maternal branch of his family tree, for Cameroon. The commitment to UAE was made last year, when, with the striker continuing to make a strong impression in Montpellier's age-group teams, he was invited into the then UAE head coach Paulo Bento 's preparations for the November World Cup qualifiers. He trained with Bento's squad, but watched the thumping wins over Kyrgyzstan and Qatar from the sidelines. A more refined assessment of how Ndiaye might develop in the UAE set-up would be gained playing for the national Under-23s in the West Asian Championship. Still a teenager, Ndiaye scored two goals in his three outings for Marcelo Broli's team of up-and-coming players. Ndiaye has moved up the gears since then. He turned 20 at the end of March and the following month made his first start for the Montpellier senior side in France's top division. Until then, his promotion from the junior ranks had followed a sketchy path of substitute appearances, almost always in tough circumstances. Montpellier, France's club champions in 2012, have had a dreadful season, finishing bottom of a league that Doue and Zaire-Emery's PSG have, as usual, dominated. But adversity can mean opportunity. As Alcocer advised his young players after they had won the Under-17 Euros, 'the challenge now is to go on through the next steps, to establish a place in a senior team. Some players are very good as kids but don't take that on into adulthood. Diamonds need polishing.' If Doue and Zaire-Emery have enjoyed the privileged polish of a slick and serially successful PSG, Ndiaye has graduated to grown-up football in front of Montpellier fans angry at the club's drop to the second division, a relegation confirmed with four games still left of the French league season. He's had to play up front in a side struggling to keep possession or create openings for forwards. He's had to read in L'Equipe, France's main sports newspaper, that he'd been awarded a match ranking of three out of 10 in the April defeat to Brest, although L'Equipe did acknowledge that being asked to play as a lone striker in a dispirited Montpellier put a impossibly heavy load on a young man and that Ndiaye had applied himself 'diligently to the defensive tasks' for the very long periods his team were out of possession. Three different head coaches have taken charge of Montpellier over the past nine months, too. The one blessing amid the turmoil at the club, was the last of those was Zoumana Camara, who came in to oversee the final weeks of a doomed campaign. Camara has a fine record with young players, most recently working with PSG's Under-19s. Last weekend, he watched two of his graduates, Zaire-Emery and the scorer of PSG's fifth goal against Inter, Senny Mayulu, take part in club football's most prestigious final. Camara's eye for potential led him to recommend to Montpellier's executives that they ensure Junior Ndiaye spearheads the club's attempt to rise back quickly into the top division in France. Ndiaye signed his first senior contract there two weeks ago. Camara saw plenty from Ndiaye's first four starts in the senior league team to trust that his speed and his tireless running are a strong basis for the next phase of polishing a striker who can operate across the attacking positions. It is now down to Cosmin Olaroiu, UAE's new head coach, to judge how ready for high-pressure World Cup football Ndiaye may be.
Evening Standard
4 days ago
- Sport
- Evening Standard
How close Tottenham came to signing Desire Doue after Champions League final heroics
Spurs - who did at least get a good return on their £65m outlay on England striker Dominic Solanke as they lifted the Europa League against Manchester United in Bilbao to end their 17-year wait for a major trophy - went on to sign Bayern Munich's French forward Mathys Tel on loan in January with the option for a permanent summer transfer, though it remains to be seen if that clause will be triggered after he scored only three times in 20 outings in north London.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Tottenham want to renegotiate Mathys Tel fee
Tottenham ended their 17-year wait for a major trophy after beating Manchester United to lift the Europa League in Bilbao on Wednesday, and now the club are taking their first steps in planning for the 2025/26 campaign. Mathys Tel (20) has played 1,173 minutes across 19 games for Spurs since joining the club on loan from Bayern Munich in February. The Frenchman has scored one and provided three assists since arriving in North London, and now they are looking to add Tel to their squad on a permanent basis. Advertisement Kicker report that Tottenham have until the beginning of June to exercise their €50m purchase option on the 20-year-old attacker, but that they are 'keen to reduce the fee and renegotiate'. Tel arrived at Bayern Munich from Rennes in July 2022 for €20m was an important player under Thomas Tuchel in the 2023/24 campaign, scoring seven and providing five assists in 30 Bundesliga games, but struggled to find a place in the starting line-up following the appointment of Vincent Kompany. Under the Belgian, Tel played just 466 minutes across 14 games before joining Tottenham on loan. GGFN | Daniel Pinder
New York Times
25-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Tottenham 1 Brighton 4 – European celebrations but another defeat, so what now for Postecoglou?
Tottenham Hotspur's supporters serenaded their Europa League winners but, with the memory of that win in Bilbao still fresh, their Premier League campaign petered out in all too familiar frustration. Their final home game ended up a humiliation. Ange Postecoglou's side threw away an early lead against Brighton & Hove Albion, a team who began the afternoon aspiring to qualify for Europe themselves, and were ultimately overwhelmed as the visitors ran riot. Advertisement The 4-1 defeat condemned Spurs to 17th, their lowest finish in a top-flight season since they were relegated in 1977. Mats Wieffer's foul on the lively Mathys Tel on the quarter-hour mark had seen the hosts awarded a penalty which was converted confidently by Dominic Solanke. Tel, fed by Pedro Porro, might have added a second only to be denied by an excellent save from Bart Verbruggen. Yet, while Brighton had only threatened sporadically before the break, they were revived by their half-time changes. Two set-piece goals completely transformed this contest, with Tottenham unable to cope with Adam Webster's aerial prowess at corners. First the centre-half nodded down Brahan Gruda's delivery for Jack Hinshelwood to convert smartly from close range. Then, moments after Carlos Baleba had struck the post, Hinshelwood summoned a cheeky back heel in the confusion of the six-yard box to convert beyond Guglielmo Vicario. Matt O'Riley's late penalty sealed the visitors' success and there was still time for Diego Gomez to rip a stunning fourth into the top corner from distance. Jay Harris and Elias Burke dissect the key talking points from a harrowing last game of Tottenham's season. Despite Brennan Johnson's goal and Micky van de Ven's goal-line clearance in Bilbao, Ange Postecoglou had been the star attraction on Friday's trophy parade. His address, in front of at least 150,000 fans packed into the streets surrounding the stadium, ended with a hint that he had been given assurances about his future. While his 'third season' comment provoked the biggest roar of the evening, Postecoglou clarified in Saturday's pre-match press conference that he had actually not held any talks with Tottenham's hierarchy regarding his status for next season. Suggesting whether he stays or goes is a straightforward decision would be a disservice to chairman Daniel Levy, who has endured Tottenham's worst season in Premier League history in the hope Postecoglou's second-season trophy declaration bore fruit — and it did. Success in the Europa League ensures 2024-25 will be written into their history books for triumph rather than failure. Advertisement Still, a club of Tottenham's size and talent cannot lose 22 league games, irrespective of the injuries and Europe taking priority. Their 10th home defeat of the league campaign ended up a thrashing. Yet if Levy takes stock of the options available to replace Postecoglou, the Australian's case to take the club forward is strengthened. Thomas Frank and Marco Silva have enjoyed excellent seasons at their respective clubs and may raise Spurs' floor next season, but perhaps the ceiling with Postecoglou is higher. Parting ways with the coach who brought silverware back to N17 after a 17-year wait has to be a decision you're sure about. It's clear the players are behind him. Judging by the atmosphere at the parade, the supporters are too, though the picture of thousands heading for the exit after Matt O'Riley put Brighton 3-1 ahead suggests they're not unanimous in their backing. Elias Burke Tottenham broke their transfer record to sign Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth last summer for £65million ($87.8m). He was supposed to be the elite centre-forward who could fill the void left by Harry Kane. An ankle injury sustained on debut disrupted his first few weeks at Spurs and a knee injury in January ruled him out for nearly two months. Solanke still managed nine goals in 27 league games this season, including Sunday's penalty against Brighton. It is fair to say that he is not a prolific striker like his predecessor, but he offers so much more than just goals. The 27-year-old is integral to the way Postecoglou wants his team to press. Solanke leads from the front and tirelessly chases after long balls from his team-mates. He is selfless which means that other people tend to benefit from his hard work. Brennan Johnson is the perfect example of this. Solanke's runs towards the near post will drag centre-backs out of position and leave Johnson free to receive a cut-back. Solanke might not have scored a lot this season but he delivered under pressure. He scored the winning goal in the Europa League quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt and in both legs of the semi-final victory over Bodo/Glimt. He had a great chance to score against Manchester United but was clearly exhausted when he received Destiny Udogie's pass in the second half. Advertisement The striker has looked isolated by this system at times and will need more help next season, but he should be Tottenham's first-choice striker for the next few years. His has been a promising — if not necessarily spectacular — start. Jay Harris The situation Tel entered in January would have been a challenge for a seasoned international, never mind a teenager adapting to a new league and country. Tottenham were sliding down the table and Tel, who had earned most of his minutes on the left wing at Bayern Munich, was called upon to deputise for a sidelined Solanke at centre-forward. Tel found the adjustment difficult. Since Solanke's return from injury, Tel has largely moved back to the left wing, and his performances have been more encouraging. He scored in back-to-back games against Southampton and Wolves in April, and followed it up with arguably his best performance in a Spurs shirt in a 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. Against Brighton, he offered a bright spark in attack and had a good opportunity denied by an excellent Verbruggen save. He perhaps should have had an assist in the second half, cutting a cross back to Brennan Johnson, who fired wide from a position he has scored several times this season. Spurs can exercise a €55m (£46.2m; $62.5m) option to make Tel's stay in north London permanent from Bayern Munich this summer, but, despite his recent upturn in form, whether he's done enough to justify that price tag is up for debate. But there's no denying his talent. If Levy can negotiate the price down, it's a deal that makes sense for a Tottenham side needing reinforcements across the squad. Elias Burke In the first half it felt as if Spurs would defeat Brighton because they were fired up by the incredible atmosphere inside the stadium. Wiefer was struggling to contain Tel, Rodrigo Bentancur kept making interceptions while Van de Ven found it easy to deal with the threat of Simon Adingra. Everything changed when Fabian Hurzeler brought Kaoru Mitoma and Diego Gomez off the bench at half-time. Advertisement Mitoma instantly started driving directly at Pedro Porro and won a corner. Gruda's out-swinging delivery bounced off Solanke and Hinshelwood rifled the ball into the roof of the net. Spurs never recovered their momentum from that moment. Carlos Baleba smacked the post with a shot from another corner. Gomez pinched the ball off Kevin Danso in Tottenham's own half and launched a dangerous counter. Yankuba Minteh moved to the right wing and darted in so many different directions that Destiny Udogie would have been left with a headache. As it was, Hinshelwood scored Brighton's crucial second goal from another corner which Spurs defended poorly. By the way, all of those chances happened in the first 20 minutes of the second half — Brighton swarmed all over Spurs. Yves Bissouma conceding a penalty for a late tackle on Gomez summed up the entire second-half performance. Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie lost the ball on the halfway line and slowly trudged back without much effort. Gomez's fourth just added salt into the wounds. For all the happiness that lifting the Europa League trophy brought to the fanbase, this was a reminder that a lot of work needs to be done before this team becomes competitive again towards the top of the table. This was their 22nd defeat of the season, their 10th at home, and they finished 17th. Hurzeler's tactical substitutions changed the game and Postecoglou was too slow to react. If the Australian stays and leads the team next season, he needs to learn from his mistakes over the past nine months to ensure his side heads in the right direction. Jay Harris We will bring you the Tottenham manager's thoughts after he has spoken at his post-match press conference.
New York Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
How Spurs reached the Europa League final against a backdrop of Premier League pain
The rain was hammering down on the north-west coast of Norway, and 404 Tottenham Hotspur supporters, situated in an exposed corner of Bodo/Glimt's 8,000-seater stadium, were getting absolutely drenched. Yet this was a rare occasion, in a miserable season, where the mood was overwhelmingly positive. Advertisement Mathys Tel darted across the pitch to celebrate with those fans after Spurs secured a 5-1 aggregate victory over Glimt to reach the Europa League final, where they will face Manchester United on Wednesday in the Spanish port city of Bilbao. Richarlison stood on the advertising hoardings, howling into the wind and twirling a navy and white scarf in the air while he held onto Yves Bissouma for balance. Head coach Ange Postecoglou warmly embraced defenders Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie. For a brief moment, the first-team squad and coaching staff were united with the fans. 'You can change things,' Postecoglou told the players in an emotional speech in the dressing room afterwards. 'You can make it really special. I keep saying to you: this is the group of players who are going to do it (win a trophy).' Take it away, gaffer 🗣️ — Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) May 8, 2025 Spurs are on the cusp of lifting a meaningful piece of silverware for the first time since 2008, but for the majority of the season they have been troubling the history books for all the wrong reasons. Postecoglou's side have lost 21 games in the Premier League and are 17th with one fixture remaining. They are set for the club's worst league season in decades. They were also thrashed at Liverpool in the second leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final, then just days later knocked out in the fourth round of the FA Cup by Aston Villa. They have suffered 25 defeats in all competitions — their joint-highest number in a single campaign in their history, along with 1991-92. In many ways, this has been as woeful a season as many Spurs watchers can remember, and yet this team still have a chance to completely flip the narrative in Bilbao and go down in history among the club's most iconic sides. This is the inside story of how Spurs reached the Europa League final against the backdrop of Premier League pain. When Ange Postecoglou joined Spurs in June 2023, his immediate task during that first summer transfer window was revitalising the squad. Eight new players arrived, including Van de Ven, James Maddison and Guglielmo Vicario, for a combined total of more than £150million ($200m). Harry Kane, the club's record goalscorer, joined Bayern Munich for €100m (£86m) less than 48 hours before the opening game of the season at Brentford. Advertisement It was a dizzying amount of change but it meant that in summer 2024, the recruitment department, led by technical director Johan Lange and chief scout Rob Mackenzie, was focused on improving the depth of Postecoglou's squad — apart from one key position which needed upgrading. Richarlison has struggled to stay fit since he joined Spurs from Everton for £60m in July 2022. Spurs needed a reliable and durable goalscorer who was capable of meeting Postecoglou's demands out of possession. Spurs considered signing Ivan Toney, who scored 72 goals in 141 appearances for Brentford and represented England at the European Championship, but secured their first-choice target Dominic Solanke for a club-record fee of £65million. Spurs failed to complete deals for experienced central midfielders Conor Gallagher and Jacob Ramsey but convinced Archie Gray to reject Brentford and join them from Leeds United for a fee of up to £40m. Lucas Bergvall arrived in July, having agreed to join Spurs from Swedish side Djurgarden in February. Wilson Odobert was signed towards the end of the window from relegated Burnley. Spurs had invested heavily in the future, signing three teenagers despite losing a lot of experience with the departures of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Emerson Royal and Giovani Lo Celso. Gray quickly forged a strong relationship with the captain Son Heung-min, Fraser Forster and Ben Davies. Bergvall already knew fellow Swede Dejan Kulusevski, with both players having started their careers with Stockholm-based Brommapojkarna, but they quickly grew closer. Son helped the new signings to settle by taking the entire squad to dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant on the first night of their pre-season trip to Seoul. Gray mainly played at right-back for Leeds in the Championship last season but prefers midfield. There was confidence internally that Gray and Bergvall, who were both 18 at the start of the campaign, would be able to contribute straight away but it took a few months for them to adjust to a higher level. Advertisement Postecoglou made changes to his coaching staff. Matt Wells was promoted to senior assistant, replacing Chris Davies, who became Birmingham City's head coach and later led them to the League One title. Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo, who had worked together at Central Coast Mariners and Hibernian, were new additions. Montgomery, Wells and Mile Jedinak can sometimes be spotted running around the training ground together, discussing ideas. Postecoglou delegates planning and executing a lot of the training sessions to his assistants. They are each responsible for taking short, sharp and intense drills before the players move onto the next coach's activity. For example, in attacking drills when players run down the wing and then whip crosses into the box, before the striker has taken his shot, one of the other coaches will throw in a new ball to start the next move. Postecoglou will generally watch from a distance before taking the final training session before a game. Maybe it was a sign of things to come that two players were injured in the opening game of the season. Rodrigo Bentancur suffered a concussion in the first half of their 1-1 draw with Leicester City, while Solanke damaged his ankle. The England striker had spent the majority of pre-season with Bournemouth and this injury robbed him of crucial time on the training ground building relationships with his new team-mates. Spurs produced some impressive results in the first few months of the season. They thrashed Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad, dismantled Manchester United at Old Trafford and swept aside Aston Villa at home. The problem was that they were painfully inconsistent. A week after beating United, they lost to Brighton & Hove Albion despite leading 2-0 at half-time. Brighton scored three times in 21 minutes after the break. Postecoglou did not make a substitution until the 79th minute but defended his actions by saying, 'If you do get something out of the game, you're falsely rewarded and I don't want to get falsely rewarded.' For the second season in a row, a defeat at home to Chelsea plunged Spurs into chaos. Van de Ven had been unavailable for five weeks since suffering a hamstring injury in the Carabao Cup against Man City on October 30 and Cristian Romero had been struggling with a toe problem. They only participated in a couple of training sessions before facing Chelsea on December 8. Romero limped off with a groin issue after 14 minutes and Van de Ven was substituted in the second half. Neither of them returned to full fitness until March. The Athletic reported in January that sources familiar with the situation, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, said that the medical staff had reservations about Van de Ven's readiness to play. Losing their first-choice centre-backs had a huge impact. In their next fixture, a 1-1 draw with Rangers in the Europa League, Gray was deployed as an emergency centre-back next to Radu Dragusin. They were an awkward combination who tried their best and started six league matches together until Dragusin suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury at the end of January which ruled him out for the rest of the season. Advertisement Tottenham played 10 league games between December and January and lost eight of them — their only victory was over bottom side Southampton. The Europa League was a welcome distraction from their problems. They won five of their eight league-phase games and only lost away to Galatasaray. Postecoglou started three teenagers in Turkey, including academy graduate Will Lankshear, while Fraser Forster was in goal. The league phase was crucial for the development of Gray and Bergvall. Gray started every game in a variety of positions while the latter made five starts. Bergvall looked shell-shocked and overwhelmed in the 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray but Postecoglou insisted it would be a positive learning experience for him. Since that moment, the Sweden international has risen to every challenge. It is a blow that he will miss the final after injuring his ankle ligaments in training earlier this month. At one stage in January, Postecoglou was without three members of his first-choice back four and first-choice goalkeeper Vicario. Solanke, Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson picked up injuries linked to playing on an artificial pitch in the third round of the FA Cup against Tamworth. Postecoglou admitted that Pape Sarr 'should not have played' in a 2-1 defeat to Leicester that month because he 'obviously wasn't fit.' The squad was stretched to its limit and reinforcements were desperately needed. Spurs signed Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague at the start of the winter transfer window but failed to complete other deals quickly. They liked Randal Kolo Muani but he joined Juventus on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. The 26-year-old has scored seven times in 15 league appearances for the Italian side. Spurs made an inquiry about Yoane Wissa. But Brentford made it clear to Tottenham, and Nottingham Forest who made an official bid, that the 28-year-old striker would not be leaving in the middle of the season. Wissa has scored 19 times and helped Brentford challenge for a top-half finish. With Kolo Muani and Wissa, it was clear that Spurs were targeting an experienced forward who could instantly perform and relieve the pressure on Solanke, but they ended up signing Tel on loan from Bayern Munich with an option to buy for €55million. Tel, who turned 20 in April, fits in with the transfer policy that Spurs have been pursuing under Lange of signing players under the age of 23 who can grow and develop into elite stars. The France Under-21 international has shown flashes of his quality but has only scored two goals from open play in 19 matches. Kevin Danso had a medical scheduled with Wolverhampton Wanderers before he was persuaded to join Spurs from Lens on loan with an obligation to buy. Danso was the experienced centre-back they needed to provide cover and long-term competition for Van de Ven, Romero and Dragusin. The 26-year-old started seven consecutive games before he suffered a hamstring injury in a 2-2 draw with Bournemouth. Advertisement Spurs won three league games in a row in February, including a 1-0 victory over United, but since then their form has been dreadful. Postecoglou has heavily rotated his side in an attempt to keep key players fresh for the knockout stages of the Europa League. It is the complete opposite of his approach at the beginning of the campaign when he preferred to field a strong side in domestic fixtures. But despite an upturn in their league form, Tottenham's performance in the first leg of their last-16 tie against AZ was poor. They were toothless and although Bergvall's own goal was the only goal of the game, AZ's margin of victory could easily have been wider. Senior figures were taken aback by how badly the team played, given the Europa League was the only competition left Spurs could win. Since then, Postecoglou has changed his approach and been helped by the return of Van de Ven and Romero from injury. Spurs registered their three lowest shares of possession in the Europa League this season across the quarter-final second leg and both games of the semi-final. Eintracht Frankfurt were caught off guard by the more defensive approach and failed to break them down. Spurs comfortably beat Bodo/Glimt by hitting them on the counter and scoring from set pieces. Postecoglou had used similar tactics before in their victories over Man City but it was a surprise to see him take this approach against teams they were expected to beat. Some people inside the club see this as evidence that Postecoglou should remain in charge. He has changed the playing style, seen the age of the squad lowered and Kane sold, inherited a declining Son and dealt with a crippling injury crisis. They believe he should be given the chance to make mistakes and evolve. But the counter-argument is that since the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea in November 2023, Spurs have lost 33 out of 65 games and taken 78 points. The only teams with a worse record than them are West Ham United, Everton and Wolves, along with the six relegated sides. Postecoglou's relationship with the media has become tense over the last couple of months — especially following reports, including by The Athletic, that his long-term future was in serious doubt and a list of potential replacements had been identified with Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola at the top. In March, he said that criticism does not bother him but some of the comments he receives are 'cheap and shallow.' He then accused people of 'turning gold into crap' after Tel bickered with Johnson about who should take a penalty in a 3-1 victory over Southampton. A month later, he vowed to identify a mole who was leaking information. He is prickly and defensive in post-match interviews after a loss. Instead of defusing the situation, he sometimes creates more drama, but this has been a theme throughout his managerial career. It is no secret that Postecoglou prefers to keep his distance from his players. Some members of the Spurs squad like that everybody receives the same treatment from the manager and that he is clear and direct with his communication, but others find it difficult. At times, Postecoglou silently watches training while wearing a snood which covers his face up to his eyes. One source close to the dressing room, who asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships, said 'you never know' what he is thinking. Advertisement But he does occasionally show a softer side. In an open training session the day after Spurs lost to Crystal Palace, he spent nearly half an hour sitting with Pedro Porro and Rodrigo Bentancur while half of the squad trained and the rest took part in recovery work. Bissouma has had a difficult season and was suspended by the club for the first game after video footage emerged of him appearing to inhale nitrous oxide, which is also known as NOS, laughing gas or hippie crack. In March, Postecoglou said the midfielder 'sometimes lets the game drift him by.' Yet the pair have a good relationship and Bissouma affectionately calls him 'Uncle Ange.' Postecoglou's speeches are a powerful motivational tool. Another source close to the first-team squad calls them 'special' and says that the Australian takes inspiration from current events or uses anecdotes from his own career or one of the players. 'The way he delivers messages is enthralling,' the source told The Athletic. The Australian has pointed out to the squad that most of the images on the walls at Tottenham's stadium of previous teams winning trophies are in black and white because they happened so long ago. He has told them it is time for some new photos to go up. The squad are obsessed with becoming the first Spurs side to lift a trophy in 17 years. A trophy might appease some Spurs supporters but the head coach's relationship with the fanbase has slowly deteriorated this season. Postecoglou has probably benefited from a large section of supporters venting their frustration towards chairman Daniel Levy. Change for Tottenham organised a protest outside the stadium before February's win against Manchester United which involved more than 1,000 fans. In December, Postecoglou had a confrontation with the supporters following a 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth. Then during last month's loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, fans chanted 'you don't know what you're doing' when Postecoglou substituted Bergvall and brought on Sarr. When Sarr equalised a few minutes later, Postecoglou cupped his ears to the Spurs fans, before the goal was disallowed by VAR for a foul on Moises Caicedo. The following day, he admitted he 'made a mistake' with his celebration. Perhaps all would be forgiven if he became the first Spurs manager to win a European trophy since Keith Burkinshaw in 1984. The players should not be immune from criticism, of course. Son has scored seven times in 30 top-flight appearances. The only other time he has failed to reach double figures was his debut season in 2015-16. Romero has made several high-profile errors, including losing Gabriel from a corner when the Brazilian scored Arsenal's winner in September's north London derby. Solanke works tirelessly with and without the ball but has only scored 15 times in 43 appearances. Kane scored 32 goals in 49 matches in his final season at Spurs. Kulusevski was excellent up until January when fatigue and injuries took their toll. Maddison is inconsistent and he frustrated some supporters when he watched the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace with Johnson a few hours after December's 2-2 draw with Wolves. The midfielder was supposed to start against Wolves but dropped to the bench because of illness and only came on in the 64th minute. Advertisement But nobody will care about any of this if Spurs beat United, and they have saved most of their best performances this season for the cup competitions. They beat United and Man City in the Carabao Cup before earning a 1-0 victory over Liverpool in the semi-final first leg despite missing several key players. They produced a mature and disciplined performance in Germany to eliminate Frankfurt. Bodo/Glimt had eliminated FC Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio and only lost twice at home in 12 months. Spurs comfortably beat them and kept a clean sheet. While Spurs were preparing to face Glimt, Vicario was in regular contact with his international team-mate Gianluigi Donnarumma, who was representing Paris Saint-Germain in their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal. The pair exchanged multiple text messages as they both reached the final of their respective competitions. After Spurs lost to Arsenal in September, Postecoglou corrected a reporter from Sky Sports and said that he 'always' wins trophies in his second season at a club. He won the league title in his second year with Celtic, Yokohama F Marinos and Brisbane Roar, and also lifted the Asia Cup with Australia. Over the last year, that quote has been used as a stick to beat Postecoglou with as Spurs' league form has been locked in a downward spiral. Now he is on the cusp of proving his critics wrong, his Spurs side one victory away from achieving something no other Spurs side has in 17 years. It will be a difficult task without their three most creative midfielders, Bergvall, Kulusevski and Maddison, but they have already beaten United three times this season. 'We know we can create history,' Vicario told a group of reporters, including The Athletic, last week. 'We know that next year, when we walk through the corridors into the dressing room, we will see some photos of us lifting that trophy, but now it is not certain, so we have to keep working as best we can.' 'When you join Tottenham, people say 'Ah, you're not going to win a trophy' and that you will be trophyless for the rest of your career,' Van de Ven said. 'It was the gaffer and the whole squad who said, 'We're going to come here and change something'. It's our job now to make this happen in Bilbao.' Additional reporting: Elias Burke
