The Guardian

Ange Postecoglou has railed against what he says is a well-worn narrative around Tottenham – the club must always be set up for a fall, negative interpretations at every turn. And yet the manager still believes they can break the cycle of frustration, leaning on the words of Jacob Riis, a journalist and social reformer in late 19th and early 20th century New York, to inspire his players.

Postecoglou has endured a miserable Premier League season, losing 18 matches. He takes his team to Liverpool on Sunday admitting that some of his work has gone “disastrously wrong”. It is why he may not remain in his post beyond the end of the season even if he wins the Europa League. Spurs are into the semi-finals, where they take on Norwegian club Bodø/Glimt.

What has got to Postecoglou is his sense that all of the challenges he has faced have been overlooked – chiefly, how he has been asked to overhaul the squad, placing an emphasis on youth, and reimagine the playing style. In his first season, he led the team to a fifth-placed finish; an improvement on eighth from 2022-23.

Postecoglou felt the achievement was poorly received. Spurs had been in pole position to finish fourth, which would have guaranteed a return to the Champions League, until they lost five of their final seven games, including the penultimate one at home to Manchester City. Most of their fans had wanted them to lose that night to ensure Arsenal did not win the title. Fifth place will be enough for Champions League qualification this season. Spurs are 16th.

“I love the frenzy around finishing fifth this year … they’re all brilliant, aren’t they?” Postecoglou said. “We finished fifth last year. Why is it such a disaster that we finished fifth? Around this time last year, I was asked to lose a game [against City]. And I was wrong for wanting to win it.

“We finished fifth but it’s not a good story. A better story is my tenure has been a disaster and it continues to be. I just think that the kind of hysteria that is surrounding what’s happening at the moment is all premeditated for a certain outcome. Hopefully we can defy that.”

Postecoglou said the Spurs fans he met were very supportive; he has never felt it was them against him. His impression, though, is that there is a tension between people and the club.

“There is this narrative of trying to set this club up for some sort of fall – consistently,” Postecoglou said. “There is no allowance for any kind of building of foundations, for something a bit different than before.

“The one thing you do know is what doesn’t work here. Yes, I’m trying to do things very, very differently. It hasn’t all worked out, some of it has gone disastrously wrong. I accept that. I said from the start: ‘We need to chart a different course if we are ever going to break the cycle this club has been in.’

“But I think there is a narrative around that this club has been on some sort of downward spiral again or is going down the same rabbit hole that it has in the past. Whereas I think this is totally different and there has been very little acknowledgment of that.”

Postecoglou has previously said that winning a first trophy for Spurs since 2008 would not change everything but he is now all-in on Europa League glory. He brought up a quotation from Riis about the endeavours of a stonecutter and he clearly sees the parallels.

“I talk to the players a lot about the stonecutters’ creed – only the 101st blow cracks the rock,” he said. “No one sees the other 100 blows and they think it’s the last one that does it. It’s not. So time will tell … whether what I’ve tried to do over the last two years gets us to crack that stone.”

If Postecoglou reaches the Europa League final, it would be his 100th game for Spurs – with one league match to follow before the end of the season. “You won’t know how much I’ve had an impact until we get to that place,” he said of the final. “We need to take the opportunity that’s before us and that won’t happen because we’re good for the next two to three weeks. That will only happen if what’s got us to this place gets us what we want.

“What it [the Riis quotation] says is that if you keep doing the right thing, the impact it has is unseen. You won’t break it with the 101st blow unless you’ve done a lot of things which, to the naked eye, seem like you’re doing nothing or maybe the wrong thing. But the stonecutter knows you need to keep doing it because it’ll come.”

When the manager cannot crack it at Spurs, it is invariably him who pays the price. But Postecoglou continued to brush off the swirl of speculation about his future. “If you asked any Tottenham supporter what’s the most important thing for them right now – who is going to be the manager next year or whether they win this thing [the Europa League] – 100% of them would say: ‘Just make sure we give ourselves the best opportunity to make some history,’” Postecoglou said. “The rest of it doesn’t matter. It will all take care of itself.”

Postecoglou reported that Son Heung-min would not play at Liverpool as he recovers from a foot injury. The captain returned to training on the grass on Friday and will be monitored before Thursday’s first leg at home to Bodø/Glimt.

As the old adage goes, never go back. Unless your opponents are Tottenham Hotspur and your name is Nuno Espírito Santo that is.

On a night when Nottingham Forest desperately needed to get their Champions League challenge back on the rails, Ange Postecoglou’s side could hardly have been more obliging opponents until they finally mounted a late flurry after Richarlison had pulled a goal back with three minutes to play.

Dr Tottenham had already helped Crystal Palace end their search for a first win of the season at the ninth attempt back in October and then allowed relegated Leicester to record their solitary victory in a run of 15 straight defeats. So watching the manager who lasted only 124 days in north London before being sacked in November 2021 guide Forest to their first double over his former club since 1997 has to go down as one of the more predictable results of the season.

Nuno had said beforehand that revenge was not on his agenda on only his second return to this stadium since he became the shortest reigning permanent manager in Tottenham’s history. But you could tell this meant so much more as he celebrated Elliot Anderson’s opener after just five minutes and Chris Wood’s 19th goal of the Premier League campaign not long afterwards.

In fact, the only time Nuno or any of his players showed the slightest sign of nerves against an underwhelming Tottenham side came as Forest ran down the clock during an agonising five minutes of stoppage time. After a few bear hugs for his players and a quick wave to the travelling supporters, he was back down the tunnel within 60 seconds of the final whistle to leave the stage clear for his players.

This was classic Nuno-ball: score two quick goals on the break and then defend for your lives. Yet it is a trap that numerous opponents have fallen into this season and why he will deservedly feature highly on the contenders for manager of the year, even if Forest do not end up finishing in the top five.

Of course it is tempting to wonder at this point what might have happened if Nuno hadn’t been sacked by Tottenham after a home defeat to Manchester United only 17 games into his tenure in October 2021. Spurs were eighth at the time having scored only nine goals from their opening 10 league matches, with Harry Kane still trying to get over the disappointment of failing to force a move away.

Despite winning August’s manager of the month award thanks to a victory over Manchester City, it always felt as if he was on borrowed time in north London after Daniel Levy had initially been more interested in appointing Hansi Flick, Erik ten Hag, Antonio Conte, Paulo Fonseca, Gennaro Gattuso or even bringing back Mauricio Pochettino before settling on the former goalkeeper.

After José Mourinho’s ill-fated reign the previous season, Daniel Levy had promised to appoint someone who would bring back “free-flowing, attacking and entertaining” football to the club, whose motto is basically a variation on Del Boy’s “he who dares wins”. Postecoglou seemed to fit that bill during his first season in charge as Spurs entertained on their way to fifth place yet the early promise has given way to disappointment, even if the Europa League could yet offer unlikely salvation.

After an uncharacteristically robust defensive display in the second leg of their quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek, Postecoglou attempted to channel his inner Nuno by selecting a combative midfield trio and leaving James Maddison on the bench along with the increasingly influential Lucas Bergvall. However, as early as the fourth minute when Morgan Gibbs-White produced a wonderful pirouette to take the ball away from Pape Matar Sarr before shooting in the same movement, it was Forest who undoubtedly looked more up for the fight.

Anderson thumped in the opening goal from the resulting corner and after some more slapstick defending prompted by Rodrigo Bentancur, Wood’s goal – shortly having another disallowed for offside by VAR – was the prompt for another group hug on the Forest bench as Postecoglou scowled in the direction of his. One of the complaints about Nuno during his brief spell at Spurs was that he had been too quiet or uncommunicative at the training ground but the same cannot be said at his present club, where he seems to have formed a close bond since replacing the popular Steve Cooper last season.

There is no need to attempt to rewrite history by arguing that Tottenham failed to see what they had in Nuno Espírito Santo. All that matters now is that this meticulous, softly ­spoken manager is the perfect fit for ­Nottingham Forest.

They have provided Nuno with the perfect platform for his counterpunching tactics and, in what would surely be the story of the ­Premier League season, are closing in on Champions League football after beating Ange Postecoglou’s half-hearted Spurs.

This was clinical and resilient from Forest as they bounced back from two successive defeats by rising into third place with five games left. Nerves, it seems, are not for them. They struck early through Elliot ­Anderson and Chris Wood, who punished ­diffident defending with his 19th goal of a ­wonderful league campaign, and then leant on their defensive prowess to claim the points at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs, stuck in 16th after falling to their 18th defeat in 33 games, were beaten inside 16 minutes, a header from Richarlison coming too late to save them.

“The final minutes were full of anxiety,” Nuno said. “Tottenham put us against the ropes. We are very proud of the way we competed today. We reacted well after the recent ­performances. The way we compete is as a team.”

Although Forest had to tweak their back four because of Ola Aina’s absence through injury, with Harry Toffolo coming in for his first league start of the season at left-back, there was little sign of expectation weighing them down.

The home fans must have ­wondered if the team in red could possibly have been coached by the same man who was deemed too negative before being sacked after four unhappy months in charge here in 2021. Nuno had Forest playing on the front foot, even if the omission of Callum Hudson-Odoi had suggested a more measured approach before kick-off, and it was not long before they exposed frailties within ­Postecoglou’s setup.

Spurs were not in the zone despite Postecoglou making five changes to the side that saw off Eintracht F­rankfurt. They seemed startled by Forest’s intensity and did not even wake up after seeing Morgan Gibbs-White test Guglielmo Vicario with a stinging drive in the fourth minute.

Forest went ahead from the resulting corner. Anthony Elanga’s delivery was disappointing but Pedro Porro’s clearance was worse, exposing a lack of organisation. There was no ­pressure on Anderson when the ball fell to him on the edge of the area, allowing the midfielder to drive through a shot that flicked off Rodrigo Bentancur and beat Vicario for power.

The venom of Anderson’s strike shook Spurs, who looked flimsy next to such conviction. This is why ­Postecoglou’s position is so vulnerable, even with a Europa League ­semi-final against Bodø/Glimt to come. He chose not to rest Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in central defence, but Spurs remained feeble in the face of Forest’s directness.

The crosses kept coming. Spurs could not handle Wood. The striker had one effort disallowed for offside but soon made it 2-0, rising unchallenged to head past a flapping Vicario. Porro, standing off, had done nothing to stop Elanga’s inswinging cross.

Spurs, who were without Son Heung-min and Destiny Udogie, summoned belated fire. Wilson Odobert, Mathys Tel and Richarlison had chances. The thought occurred that Spurs would have been better served by trying harder when it was 0-0.

Postecoglou was pushing it when he claimed that his side played “outstanding” football. “It’s another game we’ve lost we shouldn’t lose,” he said. “We make things really difficult for ourselves in key moments. We gave away poor goals. It’s too many losses. I know that.”

Forest adjusted during the break, gearing themselves up for a rearguard action by replacing Elanga with ­Morato, who joined Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic in the middle of a back five. This was Nuno showing his flexibility, adjusting to circumstance in a way that Postecoglou rarely does. The danger, though, was inviting pressure. It was not done yet.

Forest went close to a third, Gibbs-White missing a good chance, but Spurs stirred. Toffolo, whose diligence after coming in from the cold summed up Forest’s unity, cleared Dejan Kulusevski’s header off the line. Matz Sels twice thwarted Richarlison.

Spurs enhanced their attack, Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson coming on, and they broke through when Richarlison glanced Porro’s cross past Sels after 87 minutes.

Forest had to survive seven added minutes, Nuno praying for the final whistle. The celebrations at the end were gleeful. Forest head to ­Wembley on Sunday, an FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City there to be won, and will keep dreaming. Out of the top five before the start of play, the question was whether they could handle the pressure. Their response was resounding.

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Share

Share

Share

Updated at 21.28 CEST

Share

Share

Share

Share

GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Nottingham Forest (Wood 17)

Try chalking that one off! A simple pass from centre to left, Anderson out to Elanga, allows the winger to nip inside on to his right foot, his swings in a delectable cross, and Wood, alone between the centre-backs, leaps – he is risen! – as Vicario piles out, getting nowhere near anything, and the ball sails into the far side-netting! Forest are all over this! Spurs are Spurs!

Share

Updated at 21.24 CEST

Share

Share

Share

NO GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Nottingham Forest

You could see this one with the naked eye, but the semi-automated offside good enough for international tournaments but not for the Prem shows us beyond doubt, without a scrawled line in sight.

Share

Share

GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Nottingham Forest (Wood 10)

AND THERE IT IS! Anderson again finds space in midfield – he’s dominating this game now – clips over the top and the pass lands perfectly for wood, who punches a sidefoot volley that Vicario can only help into the net! But was Wood offside?

Share

Updated at 21.23 CEST

Share

GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Nottingham Forest (Anderson 6)

What a start for Forest! The corner swings out and maybe takes a flick or two before arriving into anderson’s path on the edge. And he gives it a proper thump too – the rising shot might’ve gone in on its own – but it hits Bentancur, bounces awkwardly, and lifts above Vicario’s dive high into the net, though the keeper should probably have done better. There is no side against whom it’s worse to concede first and early, Spurs will have known that, and here we are!

Share

Updated at 21.11 CEST

And here they come trying to make it happen, Anderson punching a terrific short, early pass into Gibbs-White – a Roy Keane pass, if you will, and there can be no higher compliment. So Gibbs-White turns superbly, shoots instantly, and Vicario dives to shovel behind.

Share

Share

Share

Share

Is Matz Sels the best plural football since Mats Hummels?

Share

This is an absolutely colossal game for Forest, now out of the top five on goal difference from Chelsea. I can’t wait to see how they set things.

Share

Our teams are tunnelled … and here they come!

Share

I’ve just seen how long I spent seeking the perfect Elmo aspect. Attention to detail, mates!

Share

Email! “A meeting between these two clubs is arguably the pinnacle of the Premier League’s perches power,” reckons Peter Oh. “The crests speak for themselves. A cockerel perched on top of a ball, and a tree on top of a river. I challenge anyone to name better perches.”

I actually think Forest’s crest looks like Elmo…

Share

Pedro Porro might be a key player tonight. He’s improved a lot since joining Spurs, has a phenomenal hairline, and will offer the width they might need to breach the league’s third-best defence. I said below he’ll be looking for cut-backs, but I also think fast, low balls to the front post will help Richarlison.

Share

Nuno speaks, saying the time on the training ground has been good and his team need to play better than they did in losing to Everton last weekend – though their opponents deserve credit.

He knows Spurs are a tough opponent – you just have to look at their teamsheet – but the team have earned the right to fight for Champions League and the theme in the dressing room is “responsibility”.

Share

I’ve been really impressed with Elliot Anderson this season. He looked a decent player at Newcastle, who sold him to make PSR ends meet, not because they didn’t want him, his combination of physicality and skill turning Forest into a different team. Spurs, though, have picked a pretty robust midfield three, so it could get tasty in there, perhaps even with a bit of the kind of thing that NO ONE wants to see.

Share

Forest, meanwhile, will soak up pressure, blocking up the centre while keeping Spurs in front of them. I’d actually not be shocked if Gibbs-White makes an extra man in the middle, as opposed to playing as a regular winger, but when he does pull wide, he might fancy his chances against Spence, who’s not on his natural side.

Share

Where is the game? Well, we know what Spurs will do: press high, with a high line; and we know what Forest will do: sit deep and counter. Simple?

Not quite. With Richarlison through the middle, not Solanke, I’m not totally certain what type of goal Spurs will be trying to score. I think they’ll be hoping Kulusevski drives through midfield; that Tel makes another man in the box; and Odobert and Porro get around the outside to pick out cut-backs.

Share

Burnley and Leeds are promoted to the Premier League!

The former have beaten third-placed Sheffield United 2-1; Niall McVeigh has all the reaction here:

Share

I thought Nuno would fancy setting Hudson-Odoi against Pedro Porro, but he’s opted to solidify in midfield. I think that’s a shame as I love Gibbs-White in the centre, but we may well see it later on as Spurs tire.

Share

I know he’s been on the bench recently, but I was a little surprised Kulusevski didn’t start in midweek. I know he’s been injured but he’s been one of Spurs’ best players since signing for them, and will be desperate to force his way back in before the Europa semi. He’ll start in midfield tonight for the first time in a while, and will feel that, though Maddison and Bentancur are likely locks, Bergvall’s spot might yet be his, likewise Tel’s.

Share

Updated at 21.00 CEST

Nuno, meanwhile, makes three alterations: out go Alex Moreno, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jota Silva, with Harry Toffolo, Danilo and Anrthony Elanga replacing them.

Share

Postecoglou said he’d make changes and he has. Following a physical test in Frankfurt and with a semi soon come, he benches Lucas Bergvall, Brennan Johnson, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke with Destiny Udogie not in the squad, while bringing in Djed Spence, Pape Sarr, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert and Richarlison.

Share

Updated at 20.18 CEST

I’ll write these down, then we’ll get into what they’re about.

Share

Teams!

Tottenham Hotspur (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Sarr, Bentancur, Kulusevski; Odobert, Richarlison, Tel. Subs: Kinsky, Davies, Danso, Gray, Bissouma, Bergvall, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke.

Nottingham Forest (4-3-3): Sels; Williams, Milenkovic, Murillo, Toffolo; Anderson, Dominguez, Danilo; Gibbs-White, Elanga, Wood. Subs: Miguel, Morato, Sangare, Awoniyi, Hudson-Odoi, Moreno, Yates, Sosa, Abbott.

Share

Going on as we speak:

Share

Preamble

These clubs are pretty much opposites. Yes, Forest are good and Spurs aren’t, I sense you chortle, and you’re right, they are and they are. But there’s more to it than that.

Forest are effective and efficient, scoring relatively few and conceding relatively few; Spurs, on the other hand, are infuriating and inept, relatively prolific and relatively profligate — underachieving as their opponents are over-achieving. As such, Forest could scarcely be a happier club and, though Spurs being Spurs, they’ve plenty of misery still to realise, at the same time, they’re not exactly loving life at the moment.

And, of course, Forest are managed by Nuno Espírito Santo, increasingly loved by supporters with good reason, after giving them a sensational season; meantime Spurs – who sacked him after just four months in the job – are led by Ange Postecoglou, increasingly disliked by supporters after picking fights with them for reasons only he understands. Where Nuno needs points for Champions League qualification, Postecoglou might soon be pointed towards the door.

Yet, football being football, there’s always a yet: Forest have lost their last two games and are out of the top five for the first time in months while, on Thursday night, Spurs recorded their biggest win of the season, a 1-0 triumph in Frankfurt taking them into a Europa League semi against Bodo/Glimt. It might just be that they are running into form, just as it’s possible that Forest have run out of it. We shall see!

Kick-off: 8pm BST

Share

Erik ten Hag has gone, but his shadow looms over English football still. The mistake was understandable enough: high on the euphoria of beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final, Manchester United renewed his contract. Three months into the new season, more than £180m spent on summer transfers, Ten Hag was dismissed with United 14th in the table on 11 points from nine games.

The sporting director, Dan Ashworth, and various members of Ten Hag’s backroom staff also left, at a total cost of £14.5m. Or, to put it another way, keeping Ten Hag cost United £200m and in effect undermined this season. Nobody wants to be caught in the Ten Hag trap.

No two cases are ever exactly alike. There is a tendency always to overcorrect on a simplistic understanding of what went before, which is why so many clubs flip-flop between idealistic dreamers and dour pragmatists – the fat pope, thin pope model of history.

Even by United’s recent standards, the decision to stick with Ten Hag was bungled: openly talking to other candidates inevitably erodes confidence in the incumbent. But, equally, every club owner or director is aware of the Ten Hag trap and the need to avoid it. For a few years yet it’s going to be harder for a manager to save their job by winning a trophy and that is of direct relevance to both Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim.

The threat to Amorim is, as yet, theoretical, although as the example of Sir Ben Ainslie with Ineos’s sailing team demonstrates, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has a capacity to be ruthless. He will dismiss a high-profile figure just as readily as he will scrap a packed lunch, stewards’ bonus or pensioner concession. The case against Amorim, anyway, is largely that his football is not a fit for the squad and it would be cheaper and easier to replace the ideologue in the dugout than an entire dressing room of players.

The ecstatic end to Thursday’s Europa League quarter-final against Lyon bolsters his position. As Rory McIlroy’s victory at the Masters last Sunday showed, sport is at its best when it blends the anxious and hapless with the brilliant to produce an impossibly dramatic denouement. Those final minutes at Old Trafford, Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire cast into emergency service as central forwards and both producing exceptional finishes, will be remembered for decades in the way a routine 2-0 win simply wouldn’t have been. Fans will forgive a lot of frustration for an experience like that – even if it is dependent on fallibility.

In that sense, Thursday’s win could be for Amorim what Liverpool’s 4-3 victory over Borussia Dortmund was in the Europa League quarter-final in 2016, a game that did not lead to immediate success but did act as confirmation of the Jürgen Klopp project. The only caveat is that, for United, much the same could be said about the 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final last season, and it turned out Amad Diallo’s extra-time winner was simply a lure on the way into the Ten Hag trap.

The case of Postecoglou is more perilous. It is entirely plausible that Tottenham win the Europa League and the Australian still leaves the club, while United stick with Amorim having won nothing. But Thursday was a good night for Postecoglou, Tottenham’s most impressive away performance since the 4-0 win at Manchester City in November. It’s perhaps not ideal that their idea of defending is apparently reliant on having a player with the freakish pace of Micky van de Ven but, on the other hand, they do, at the moment, have a player with the freakish pace of Micky van de Ven.

The difficulty of winning at Deutsche Bank Park should not be underestimated – Spurs were only the fourth away side to do so this season of 21 who have tried – but equally Tottenham’s annual expenditure on wages is around three times that of Eintracht Frankfurt. That is no guarantee of success, but it does fit the theory that Postecoglou’s ultra-aggressive football works when, as in Scotland with Celtic, his side has an advantage of resource. That superiority will be even more pronounced in the semi-final against Bodø/Glimt.

That shouldn’t devalue any success Tottenham may have, but it does perhaps place it into context. It is possible to mount a defence of Postecoglou on the grounds that injuries, particularly to the back four, ripped the heart out of the season, damaging confidence, and that, by the time a measure of stability was regained, the league campaign was already meaningless. But it’s also true that once the opening 10-game spurt was over, there has been little evidence of him having an aptitude for the Premier League.

Spurs are a club defined by their yearning for success, yet the only manager to win them a trophy in the past 26 years, Juande Ramos, was sacked eight months after that 2008 League Cup win with the club bottom of the Premier League – an extreme example of the Ten Hag trap. As José Mourinho is never reluctant to remind people, Spurs sacked him six days before the League Cup final in 2021.

The lack of silverware haunts Spurs and yet the club have a complicated relationship with it. It may even be that the best thing for a manager wanting a lengthy career at Tottenham is a very specific form of failure, one that prioritises Champions League qualification and its budgetary benefits over the more tangible achievement of trophies.

Perhaps that is simply, once again, to point out the twin impulses that guide football and the friction that exists between them: routine wins and control may offer consistency and please the executives, but the visceral stirrings that animate fans come from nights such as Thursday at Old Trafford, the sort of nonsense and drama that scorns careful financial projections, or, indeed, any sort of planning at all.

Executives will always favour reliability. Nobody ever built a successful business on unlikely players doing unlikely things at unlikely times; fans may delight in the flailing limbs of three goals after the 114th minute, but they mean less to the bottom line than consistency. And that is all the more pertinent given how aware everybody is of the need to avoid the Ten Hag trap.

Guglielmo Vicario believes Tottenham showed their true colours as they progressed to the Europa League semi-finals and admitted they had “suffered a lot” during an otherwise disappointing season.

A first clean sheet since the 16 February 1-0 win against Manchester United, who Spurs could meet in next month’s final if they beat Athletic Bilbao, helped overcome Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 on aggregate thanks to Dominic Solanke’s penalty. Ange Postecoglou’s side face the Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt as Spurs attempt to make up for an underwhelming Premier League campaign by claiming their first trophy since 2008.

Vicario made several crucial late saves in Germany and the Italian goalkeeper is convinced their performance in a frenzied atmosphere was a truer indication of their quality than they have frequently showed in the league this season.

“We know what we are capable of when we are really tuned in, when we work hard as a team like we showed [against Eintracht],” he said. “The achievement in both legs has been very, very deserved from what we showed at our home ground and in the second leg with the resilience, the desire to fight. We got the job done and it’s a fully deserved semi-final of a big European competition.”

Tottenham start the weekend 15th and face Nottingham Forest on Monday looking to avoid an 18th Premier League defeat after finishing fifth in Postecoglou’s first season. Vicario acknowledged it had been a difficult campaign but said they were delighted to deliver a crucial victory for their manager.

Maybe Ange Postecoglou’s luck has finally turned? Having complained that the football gods were against him last week, Dominic Solanke’s penalty after an intervention from the video assistant referee – another of the Tottenham manager’s pet peeves – was enough to seal his side’s progress to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

Postecoglou has probably regretted his decision to point out back in September after a defeat to Arsenal that he “always” wins trophies in his second year at a club. But after their north London rivals eased past the might of Real Madrid 24 hours earlier, Spurs also still have something to hang on to in a season that has otherwise been filled with disappointment.

A trip to the Arctic Circle to face Norwegians Bodø/Glimt awaits in the last four following this dogged display against an Eintracht Frankfurt team who look destined to qualify for next season’s Champions League. But a disciplined Tottenham side showed they are still playing for their manager. Solanke had not scored since 4 January – a run of 12 matches – but there were unbridled celebrations in the away end when he stroked home the decisive spot kick just before half-time and at the full-time whistle after almost eight nerve-wracking minutes of injury-time.

Postecoglou – who has increasingly cut a defiant figure in recent weeks as results in the Premier League have gone from bad to worse despite the return of several key players from injury – was in amongst it in between hugs for Solanke and James Maddison. The Australian spikily suggested beforehand that Spurs supporters shouldn’t take being one match away from the last four of a European competition as a regular occurrence “because it certainly hasn’t been for this club”. In the absence of captain Son Heung-min due to a foot injury, he saw his players grasp the opportunity with both hands.

Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie were outstanding in defence, while Rodrigo Bentancur marshalled the midfield superbly and, as Postecoglou put it, Maddison put his body on the line to win the decisive spot-kick.

The Eintracht supporters had packed out the end behind one of the goals almost an hour before kickoff. There was an electric atmosphere as they unfurled a tifo when the players emerged with the message “the Eagles are on the hunt” with trophies representing their two previous triumphs in this competition and its predecessor the Uefa Cup.

Almost 3,000 Spurs fans also braved the incessant rain as Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Mario Götze both tested Guglielmo Vicario’s handling on the greasy surface with early shots. There was a moment of panic when Hugo Ekitike raced onto a long punt forward from goalkeeper Kauã Santos but Van den Ven ate up the ground to get back just in time. Götze’s evening came to a premature end when he was taken off just clutching his hamstring before Tottenham had their first sight of goal in the 20th minute, although Son’s replacement Mathys Tel could not make proper contact with Brennan Johnson’s cutback. The Frenchman was on target with his next effort from distance that drew a good save from Santos.

Postecoglou will have been pleased with how his side had grown into the game and he was given even more hope on the stroke of half-time. Santos thought he had escaped when he clattered dangerously into Maddison but VAR thought differently to the Italian referee and sent him to the replay screen. Tel initially looked as if he would take it but eventually Solanke sent the goalkeeper the wrong way as a groggy Maddison was replaced by Dejan Kulusevski after trying manfully to carry on.

One of Dino Toppmöller’s assistants was sent off after reacting to a foul by Johnson that earned him a yellow card just before the break and the hosts began the second half feeling hard done by. A free-kick from 35 yards out from Götze’s replacement Fares Chaibi that had Vicario sprawling across his goal must have quickened Postecoglou’s pulse.

Cristian Romero and Bentancur both had golden chances to make things more comfortable from corners but neither could hit the target. Ekitike was convinced he should have had a penalty after a Romero clearance but this time VAR correctly said no after replays showed there had been no contact.

Postecoglou must have checked his watch umpteen times as Spurs closed in on the victory. Vicario reacted brilliantly to save Chaibi’s effort with his legs before former Leeds defender Rasmus Kristiansen somehow fired wide with the goal gaping to ensure that Tottenham’s season remains very much alive and kicking.

Key events

Show key events only

Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Updated at 21.28 CEST

Share

Share

Updated at 21.30 CEST

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Share

Peeeeeeeep!

We’re underway in Germany!

Share

The teams are out! The stadium is absolutely bouncing. Frankfurt in their all-white home shirt. Tottenham are in their slime green away kit.

Share

Updated at 21.02 CEST

It’s over eight years since we wrote this 2017 piece.

It’s amazing to see Gotze, Frankfurt’s midfield creator tonight, playing such an important part in a European quarter-final in 2025, over a decade on from his World Cup final-winning goal.

Share

Five minutes until kick-off. Frankfurt fans are unfurling a huge tifo as the teams prepare to come out. I’ll get a pic of that on the blog as soon as I can.

Share

Updated at 20.59 CEST

I went to Frankfurt’s stadium at the Euros to watch England against Denmark and it’s a brilliant arena (although that might have been because the Danish supporters were so loud). Beers in the stands, too.

Share

Eintracht Frankfurt have some great nicknames: they are known as the Eagles, but also ‘Moody Diva’ (due to the often mixed nature of their results down the years) and my personal favourite, Schlappekicker (the Slipper Kickers), after J. & C. A. Schneider, a local manufacturer of shoes and especially slippers (called Schlappe in the regional Hessian dialect), who was a major financial backer of the club in the 1920s.

Share

The big miss for Spurs is captain Son Heung-min, who is sidelined. The South Korean hasn’t travelled to Germany after sustaining a foot injury.

Tottenham fans, what’s the verdict on Son’s replacement in Mathys Tel? There are reports that Spurs want to keep the Frenchman permanently – Bayern’s asking price is around £50m. I haven’t watched him week-in, week-out but he hasn’t massively impressed from afar. And I didn’t think much about his decision to deny Brennan Johnson a hat-trick the other day against Southampton! Tel took an injury-time penalty with Johnson asking for the ball. He scored in fairness but Tel has just three goals in 25 games this season.

Share

The teams!

Eintracht Frankfurt (4-2-3-1): Kaua Santos, Kristensen, Kock, Tuta, Theate, Skhiri, Larsson, Bahoya, Gotze, Brown, Ekitike.

Subs: Grahl, Siljevic, Amenda, Chaibi, Wahi, Dahoud, Can Uzun, Chandler, Nkounkou, Batshuayi, Collins, Knauff.

Tottenham (4-3-3): Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison, Johnson, Solanke, Tel.

Subs: Austin, Whiteman, Danso, Bissouma, Richarlison, Gray, Kulusevski, Spence, Odobert, Sarr, Davies, Moore.

Share

The Europa League has definitely been enhanced with the carrot of Champions League qualification, first introduced in 2014-15. The only thing is that, in certain cases, the glory of winning a European trophy sometimes feels a little overshadowed by that same carrot.

For Manchester United, for example, who have a proud history of winning the European Cup/Champions League, adding another Europa League probably doesn’t mean a great deal to the trophy cabinet/board/fans, despite all the noise about creating winning habits, etc. Champions League qualification is invaluable, though, especially for a club that has so publicly pleaded poverty and cut costs. United are in action tonight in their own quarter-final, remember, against Lyon. You can follow along with Scott Murray here.

Tottenham are a different beast. They are not at Newcastle levels of silverware droughts but winning the Europa League would be their biggest scalp in at least 34 years (1991 FA Cup) and perhaps back to the Uefa Cup triumph of 1984. I perhaps did Spurs a disservice in the preamble – this competition means more than just Champions League qualification to Tottenham – although that is a huge bonus.

Share

This is what Postecoglou had to say in the lead up to tonight’s match:

Because I don’t define my career and me as a person by what people think about me. I never have. Never will. If you don’t think I’m a good coach today, you won’t think I’m a good coach tomorrow, even if we win. One game ain’t going to make a difference to that. You either think I’m capable of doing the job now or you don’t.

That’s where I sit with these things. If people think that us winning tomorrow all of a sudden makes me a better manager than what I am today or us losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that’s their burden, not mine. I don’t think that way and I don’t think most people think that way. Or I’d like to think they don’t, in terms of their own sort of self-esteem and who they are as people. I couldn’t care less.

Share

Preamble

Rarely has a quarter-final been so decisive for a team’s season, or a manager’s future. If Tottenham lose this game, and exit the Europa League, then their season is definitely over and it will almost certainly spell the end of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure. Spurs are 15th in the Premier League, and while they are not mathematically safe from relegation, there is nothing left to play for domestically, apart from pride. Managers in N17 have been booted out with a much better record than that.

But win? Tottenham will be just three games from silverware and the promise of the Champions League. And should they qualify for Europe’s elite competition next season – with all the riches and prestige that that entails – then the season, and Ange’s job, will be saved. In a footballing world full of permutations and and and is a thrill (for the neutral, at least) for things to be so binary.

Things are a little rosier for Frankfurt, and not only because they survived the Tottenham onslaught last week to escape the first leg with a 1-1 draw. Now, with the second leg at home, the German side are probably favourites to progress to the last four. This is a club with serious pedigree – the Eagles won the Europa League in 2022 under Oliver Glasner (beating Rangers on penalties in the final) and are currently third in the Bundesliga, well on course to qualify for the Champions League. Tottenham might shout about how ‘the game is about glory’ (and not ‘meeting PSR requirements by qualifying for the Champions League’) but for Frankfurt, the Europa League really is just about winning a major trophy.

Spurs should be thankful that Omar Marmoush made the January switch to Manchester City but in Hugo Ekitike, Eintracht have another of the most exciting young forwards in Europe. Signed from PSG in 2024, in effect replacing Randal Kolo Muani who had gone the other way a year previous. From André Silva, Sébastien Haller, Kolo Muani, Luka Jovic, Frankfurt certainly know how to pick a striker, and Ekitike is the latest off the wagon. With 21 goals in all competitions this season, he’s very good in front of goal, and very nervous when petting the club’s mascot, Attila the eagle.

It’s the eagles against the cockerel. Join me.

Kick-off: 8pm BST.

Share

An ancient London oak controversially felled earlier this month was assessed to be a “fine specimen” last year by tree experts working for Tottenham Hotspur as part of the football club’s plans to redevelop parkland next to the site.

Mitchells & Butlers Retail (MBR), which owns the Toby Carvery in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, apologised on Thursday for the “upset” caused by the felling of the tree.

The company’s financial links with Spurs have raised questions about how much the club knew about the decision to fell the tree.

Spurs and MBR are majority-owned by the investment company Enic. In its latest annual accounts, MBR disclosed that it had entered into an option arrangement with Spurs to buy the lease on one of its retail sites, believed to be the Toby Carvery in Enfield.

Spurs have submitted a planning application to build a women’s football training academy on 17 hectares of adjacent land in Whitewebbs Park. It also submitted plans to build an access road from the training ground to the Toby Carvery. The plan for an access road has since been replaced with a scheme for a footpath across the site where the oak, which was up to 500 years old, stood.

As part of the planning process, Spurs commissioned the Tree and Woodland Company to produce an arboreal impact assessment on the veteran woodland in the park.

In a report submitted to Enfield council last July, the company assessed that the now felled oak was a “fine specimen” that was expected to live for at least another 50 years. It recommended conservation measures for the tree as a high priority.

MBR claimed its contractors felled the tree on 3 April for safety reasons after assessing it was dead and diseased. In a letter to Enfield residents on Thursday, its chief executive, Phil Urban, said: “I can only apologise for all the upset that it has caused.”

It said: “We are obliged to act on all health and safety issues where expert advice warns us of a direct risk to life or serious injury. We will complete a thorough review and ensure that, in future, exceptional situations are treated differently from the more regular health and safety issues that arise on a day-to-day basis.”

Enfield council has threatened the company with legal action and imposed a tree preservation order on the whole Toby Carvery site.

The Woodlands Trust, which objected to the training facility plans because of the impact on ancient trees in the area, said Spurs and MBR had more questions to answer.

Adam Cormack, the trust’s head of campaigning, said: “There is some uncertainty about whether the ancient Whitewebbs oak that was felled is or is not part of development plans for Tottenham Hotspur FC’s new training facility and we’d like to seek clarification from the club on this.”

Cormack welcomed Toby Carvery’s apology but said it did not go far enough. He said: “Toby Carvery must now be fully transparent with their paperwork and work with local authorities as they investigate. Did they know about the Spurs tree survey, which called the oak a ‘fine specimen’ and makes recommendations for its conservation? Did they consider any alternatives to felling, and if not, why not?”

Russell Miller, an expert on ancient trees who visited the oak before it was felled and has inspected it since, said: “I refute the claim that the tree was dying and dangerous. I have looked at the structural integrity of the tree and I saw it in December. There was no logic to touching that tree other than wanting an ancient tree out of the way because of some financial interest.”

Police closed their investigation on Tuesday after deciding it was a civil matter.

MBR decline to comment.

A Spurs spokesperson said: “The tree and the decision to fell it has no connection to the club as the tree sits outside of our lease demise for our proposed women’s and girls’ training centre and academy.”

The club confirmed it had an option to lease Toby Carvery’s land within Whitewebbs Park but stressed this was just an option. It also claimed it was “ridiculous” to suggest the tree was felled to make the land easier to develop.

Ange Postecoglou has said Tottenham will fight “tooth and nail” to salvage their season by reaching the Europa League semi-finals and admitted he “couldn’t care less” about speculation over his future.

Tottenham will be without Son Heung‑min for the second leg of their quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday because of a foot injury. Postecoglou admitted that it was a blow to lose his captain as his team prepare for their most important game of the season, after a 17th Premier League defeat of the campaign against Wolves on Sunday.

However, asked whether he was feeling the burden of pressure as Spurs attempt to reach the last four of this competition for the first time since winning it in 1984, Postecoglou said he is not concerned about what fate awaits him if they lose.

“No, not at all mate,” the Australian said. “Because I don’t define my career and me as a person by what people think about me. I never have. Never will. If you don’t think I’m a good coach today, you won’t think I’m a good coach tomorrow, even if we win. One game ain’t going to make a difference to that. You either think I’m capable of doing the job now or you don’t.

“That’s where I sit with these things. If people think that us winning tomorrow all of a sudden makes me a better manager than what I am today or us losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that’s their burden, not mine. I don’t think that way and I don’t think most people think that way. Or I’d like to think they don’t, in terms of their own sort of self-esteem and who they are as people. I couldn’t care less.

“What I’m sitting here doing is thinking we’ve got a great opportunity to get to the final four of a major tournament. I’m not going to let that slip by without fighting tooth and nail for it irrespective of what may come the day after.”

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Crystal Palace’s Oliver Glasner – who led Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022 – have been linked to Spurs if Postecoglou is sacked. Tottenham are on course for their lowest Premier League points tally after a season that has been scarred by injuries and individual errors, with Postecoglou confirming that Guglielmo Vicario and Cristian Romero will retain their places despite making mistakes against Wolves.

“It’s better they don’t make them at all but they’re human beings, these things happen,” he said. “Both have got a really good mentality, they’re both strong leaders, they’re both strong individuals. They weren’t hiding away from the fact that they made those mistakes, they owned up to them which is no surprise to me. And I think they’ll go out tomorrow night not thinking about that but, again, thinking about the opportunity for us.”

Frankfurt have lost only once at home against an English club in eight meetings and the Frankfurt defender Robin Koch, formerly of Leeds, warned Spurs they will be entering “the lion’s den” of 58,000 supporters at Deutsche Bank Park. But Micky van de Ven is confident they can cope with the hostile atmosphere and was adamant that the Tottenham players are still behind Postecoglou.

“We all still have the trust in the gaffer and still have trust in the way he’s playing,” he said. “So tomorrow we want to win the game of course for him, but also for us, also for the club, and also for the fans.

“It hasn’t been a really good season, but it’s a big game for us and of course we want to achieve something special this season. I think this is the best way to do it.”