Angel Postcoglou can put an end to the drought of the Tottenham Trophy in 17 years by winning the Europa League final against Manchester United, but even the victory in Bilbao on Wednesday may not be sufficient to save it from the bag. Beating United to break the curse of silverware and gain a place in the Champions League for next season would be an important moment in the recent history of Tottenham. The London club has not won a major trophy since it beat Chelsea in the 2008 League Cup final, while their last European silverware came at the 1984 UEFA Cup.
But Postcoglou presided over such a miserable campaign of the Premier League that the boss of Tottenham goes to the San Mames stadium with his future at stake, whatever the result.
Tottenham president Daniel Levy was not shy with regard to management changes and has already been linked to Thomas Frank de Brentford, Oliver Glasner by Crystal Palace and Marco Silva from Fulham.
While speculation rises that Postcoglou will be gone after the final, his impetuous boastful in September that he “always earns things” during his second season came to define the campaign.
The 59-year-old Australian can indicate titles and cuts won during his second year with Celtic, Yokohama F-Marinos, Brisbane Roar and South Melbourne.
But these successes came far from the high pressure environment of one of the English football series sub-performants.
Tottenham’s last Topten-Vol Crown arrived in 1961 and since their last FA Cup final victory in 1991, the competition was won by Crystal Palace, Leicester, Portsmouth and Wigan.
The derisory term “Spursy” has entered the football lexicon to describe the type of self-inflicted injury which so often afflict the club.
Despite a promising start, Tottenham’s stop shooting in the foot was impossible for Postoclorou.
Spurs have enabled a place in the Champions League to slip into their reach in the last weeks of last season and Postcoglou never recovered.
His penchant for ultra-attacked tactics initially won praise, but it was not long before the directors of the wise opposition exploited the holes in his defense.
‘Adversity’
Postcoglou was supported for his naive approach by fans so often that he finally fell in love with a 1-0 defeat in Chelsea in April.
He celebrated Pope Sarr’s apparent equalizer by sarcastically putting his ear to the supporters who had him, only for his hell season to reach a new hollow while Var intervened to ban the objective.
It was one of the 21 Premier League defeats this quarter, going beyond their worst 19-year count in 1993-94 and 2003-04.
Languant in 17th place with a match to play, Tottenham should endure his worst finish since his relevation in 1976-77.
In the middle of the wreckage of the lamentable inner shape of Tottenham, Postcoglou directed them towards the edge of European glory.
Same Postcoglou admitted that the “general feeling” was that it would be dismissed, regardless of a Europa race which included elimination links
To defend his troubled season, Postcoglou continuously underlined his difficulties repairing together a team ravaged by injuries.
James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall will all miss the final of the last series of blows.
“We have dealt with adversity all year round, in particular around our injury situation and the availability of players,” postcoglou told UEFA.com.
“I have great admiration and respect for this group of players. And I really hope they will get the award for this in the final.”
Echoing the postcoglou verdict, the Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma, said: “He is like a father or an uncle for us. He always protects us. Each game where we lose or win.
“He has a high -level mentality. He understands football. He knows that it is from top to bottom. He never blamed players.”
That this faith in postcoglou will be enough to save it from the ax is another question.
(With the exception of the title, this story has not been published by NDTV staff and is published from a unionized flow.)
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