Ange Postecoglou, the head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, has made it clear that he will not permit his players to focus solely on the Europa League as their path to success. With Tottenham advancing to the quarter-finals after defeating AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, they move closer to a potential qualification for the Champions League. However, Postecoglou insists that the team's efforts should extend beyond just European competition.
The coach addressed a controversial incident involving Fulham's Calvin Bassey and Tottenham's Lucas Bergvall, stating that he would leave the decision to the officials.
"I'll leave that to the officials, but I will say that we don't carry on like a lot of other clubs and I think that hurts us for sure," Postecoglou remarked.
Tottenham's domestic performance has been under scrutiny, with the team sitting 13th in the Premier League and accumulating only 10 points from their last 10 games. Despite this, Postecoglou is adamant that his team cannot afford to squander the remaining nine Premier League matches of the season.
In a recent match against Fulham, Postecoglou made strategic half-time substitutions by bringing off Yves Bissouma and Brennan Johnson, replacing them with Lucas Bergvall and Son Heung-min. Reflecting on Bissouma's performance, Postecoglou commented:
"I just feel Biss can sometimes let the game drift by him."
He further explained that the substitution was not due to a lack of effort by Bissouma.
Postecoglou has faced significant criticism regarding Tottenham's domestic challenges this season. He pointed out that when refereeing decisions go against Tottenham, they rarely attract attention.
"Things go against us and there's not even a sentence on it," he stated.
He also mentioned a past incident involving Bergvall in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool, where a decision favored Tottenham yet sparked widespread discussion.
"I don't think there's ever any noise around us and decisions. We get one slightly in our favour and there's national headlines for a week," Postecoglou added.
Tottenham's path to European competition through the Premier League appears increasingly challenging, making their Europa League journey even more crucial. Yet, Postecoglou remains firm in his belief that the team should not rely solely on this avenue for success.
Leave a Reply