With or without Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham Hotspur can ‘break the cycle’

BILBAO – Tottenham Hotspur ended a run of 17 years without a trophy by winning the Europa League on May 21 and it could spark further success at the club, whether manager Ange Postecoglou stays or not.

The Australian led Spurs to their first European trophy since 1984 but could be sacked with the team 17th in the English Premier League – their worst domestic campaign since they were promoted back to the top flight in 1978.

Their 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Bilbao, Spain, earned them Champions League football next season and potentially £100 million (S$173.1 million) as a result. It is money which could be used to bolster a squad that lack quality in some areas, but were also hampered by injuries.

However, the biggest step forward for Spurs could be on a psychological level, having ended a barren spell spanning nearly two decades, since they won the League Cup in 2008.

Postecoglou accepted he may not be in charge next season, but said he believes his players will be bolstered by the experience.

“Unfortunately, the longer it goes on, it’s harder to break that cycle sometimes. Until you take that monkey off your back, you don’t understand what it feels like,” the 59-year-old said.

Postecoglou added that his young side would begin to crave the taste of success and now understood the work they had to put in to achieve it.

“We’ve got a really young group of players and you can talk to them about success and what it means but, until they feel it, it doesn’t become real and I’ve got no doubt that all those boys tonight having this feeling will want this again and to get it again they’re going to have to make similar sacrifices,” he said.

“They’ve climbed a mountain now, so they know what it takes to get to where we are and I think that accelerates the opportunities to build a team that can be successful and competitive at the highest level for years to come.”

Slightly removed from the proceedings, Postecoglou watched as his players celebrated wildly.

“I’ve learnt to understand that what makes nights like these memorable is to remember them. I kind of stand back and just watch everyone else enjoy it and that’s all I need,” he said.

Postecoglou described himself as a “serial winner” and said he had learnt a thing or two while picking up trophies with Celtic and Australian side Brisbane Roar among others.

He delivered on his famous promise of always winning a trophy in his second season with a team, and did so in a fashion he has previously suggested is not his style.

When Spurs beat United 4-3 in a League Cup quarter-final earlier this season, Postecoglou had railed against criticism of his cavalier tactics and said grinding out 1-0 wins was just not the way he does business. Spurs have scored 63 league goals this season and let in 61.

They experienced heartbreak in the all-English Champions League final in Madrid, Spain, in 2019, as they fell 2-0 against Liverpool. While none of the club’s younger players, including goalscorer Brennan Johnson were there to suffer it, captain Son Heung-min was and he was delighted to finally earn his first trophy with Spurs after 10 years.

“I felt the pressure, I wanted it so badly, the last seven days I was dreaming every single day... I can sleep easy now,” the 32-year-old South Korean said.

Johnson, who turns 24 on May 23, added: “All the fans get battered, we get battered, not winning a trophy, not winning anything but, getting to get the first one in a while today, I’m so happy. Ever since I came here it’s been, ‘Tottenham are a good team, but they never get it done’ – we got it done!”

England captain Harry Kane, who won the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich this season for the first trophy of his career, was not able to get it done. He spent over a decade playing for the London club without tasting success before leaving in 2023 to find it elsewhere.

After claiming their third Europa League crown, Tottenham will have another chance to lift silverware in the Uefa Super Cup after the summer break, where they will face Paris Saint-Germain or Inter Milan, who meet in the Champions League final on May 31.

It will be a quick test of Postecoglou’s theory that Spurs have made significant progress, even if he may not be on the bench to see it.

“I haven’t had any discussions (with the board), nobody has spoken to me about anything, I’m going to go back to my hotel room, get my family and friends together, open up a nice bottle of Scotch, have a couple of quiet ones, get ready for a massive parade on Friday,” he said.

“Then Monday I’m going on holidays with my beautiful family because I deserve it, and ‘Que Sera, Sera’.” AFP, REUTERS