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Ange Postecoglou has landed himself in hot water with a section of the Tottenham Hotspur faithful after a baffling gesture at the away end during Thursday night’s defeat to Chelsea—Spurs fans did not hold back.

Despite Tottenham Hotspur’s struggles this season, few can fault the fans who have stuck with their team through thick and thin.

Spurs’ last Premier League outing before the international break ended in yet another defeat, their 15th of the campaign, as Fulham claimed all three points at Craven Cottage.

Following that loss, tensions ran high, with Ange Postecoglou involved in a heated exchange with a supporter, a moment that needed intervention from Tel and Spence to defuse.

Thursday night saw Tottenham travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. Given Spurs’ dismal record away at Chelsea, their 1-0 defeat came as no surprise.

Ange Postecoglou’s gesture sparks outrage at Tottenham

The clash at Stamford Bridge was an eventful one. Chelsea started brightly and eventually broke the deadlock in the second half.

For Ange Postecoglou’s men, it could have been worse in the opening 45 minutes, with the woodwork coming to their rescue inside the first minute after a mix-up involving Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, and Nicolas Jackson. Not long after, Vicario produced a fine save to deny Jadon Sancho.

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As the game progressed, Tottenham grew into it and created chances. Pape Matar Sarr, who replaced Lucas Bergvall, found the net with a low-driven shot that Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Robert Sanchez, failed to deal with properly. However, after a VAR review, the goal was ruled out due to a foul on Moises Caicedo in the build-up.

Before the goal was disallowed, Postecoglou was caught cupping his ears towards the away end. The Australian later clarified that it was not in response to criticism over his substitutions but rather an attempt to encourage louder celebrations for Sarr’s ‘goal.’

The Tottenham boss has since explained that he simply wanted to hear the away fans celebrate and that it was meant as a disrespectful gesture. Unfortunately, that has not spared him from criticism.

https://x.com/MiguelDelaney/status/1907909049099891009

Fans react to Postecoglou’s gesture to the away fans

Spurs fans were far from convinced by Postecoglou’s explanation, with many labelling it as a weak excuse.

One fan said: “He definitely stared at the fans thinking he was a genius because the substitute he made, which the fans questioned, scored. Then it was disallowed anyway… embarrassing.”

Another responded sarcastically: “Yeah, okay mate.” A third supporter commented: “To be fair, it’s not a bad answer. Took him a few to think it up.”

One frustrated fan added: “He’s gotta go. It’s getting more and more toxic! The atmosphere must be horrible right now.”

Another simply stated: “Backtracking again, are we?” while another remarked: “Superb answer, but he did have 40 minutes or so to think that up.”

With tensions rising and results failing to improve, Postecoglou’s relationship with the fanbase appears to be under real strain. Whether he can turn things around remains to be seen, but gestures like this certainly won’t help his cause.

Ange Postecoglou has risked facing the wrath of the Tottenham Hotspur travelling supporters after something he did when it looked like his team had equalised against Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou is no stranger when it comes to confronting Tottenham supporters at away matches. There have been countless incidents where the Spurs manager has reacted to vocal criticism from the stands, which often comes in the form of verbal abuse.

Recently, Djed Spence had to pull Postecoglou away from an argument with a fan after the 2-0 defeat to Fulham.

It is not surprising that this has continued to be the case as Spurs have been abysmal on the road this season, with a 1-0 defeat being quite a common result. This was once again the scoreline tonight, in what was Tottenham’s fourth defeat in a row against Chelsea.

Spurs have now lost nine matches away from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, whilst recording only five victories. This has been a key reason they are 14th in the Premier League table, level on points with West Ham who are in 16th.

Postecoglou’s controversial gesture and response

Ange Postecoglou has got himself on the wrong side of Tottenham’s away supporters yet again. According to Jack Pitt-Brooke, the Aussie cupped his hand to his ear and waved to the Spurs fans when Pape Matar Sarr scored a long-range effort, which was later disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

https://x.com/JackPittBrooke/status/1907893559048523783?t=Y-isKdqzG4Kns…

This was in response to the supporters booing his decision to bring on Sarr as a replacement for Lucas Bergvall, who looked bright on the ball, despite his lack of involvement in the game.

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Ryan Taylor reported cries of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ were also sounded due to his decision. This is the same chant Spurs fans chanted at Nuno Espirito Santo when he replaced Lucas Moura with Steven Bergwijn in a game shortly before his sacking.

https://x.com/RyanTaylorSport/status/1907894503194976679

Postecoglou has since claimed he was not cupping an ear to the fans. In a post-match interview, he said he simply wanted the celebrations to be louder for Sarr’s goal.

https://x.com/MiguelDelaney/status/1907909049099891009

Does Ange Postecoglou have a future at Tottenham Hotspur?

Ange Postecoglou’s response to the Tottenham supporters buying tickets and following the club has caused a storm on social media. It seems there are very few fans left who are still backing the head coach, who is accused of being stubborn and short on new ideas.

Even with his claim that supporters misunderstood his gesture, he will still have caused frustration. No fans want to be lectured on how to support their team, particularly when the goal would not have been all that significant even if it had counted.

An unlikely success in the Europa League could potentially be enough to save Postecoglou, but with his inability to ignore criticism, he may have turned Tottenham’s supporters against him for good.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is not winning any popularity contests, but perhaps pulling the plug on Postecoglou’s tenure would help take some heat off his back.

Ultimately, it is hard to see how the 59-year-old will be able to recover his relationship with the fans. His reaction, coupled with the fact his team lost yet another London derby, is a really bad look.

Another away day at Stamford Bridge, another defeat for Tottenham Hotspur. Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Spurs’ latest 1-0 loss as the pressure continues to grow on Ange Postecoglou.

Ange Postecoglou vs Tottenham fans

It’s never a good sign when the fans start to boo your substitutions. That is exactly what happened in 2021 when Nuno Espirito Santo took off Lucas Moura in a 3-0 defeat to Manchester United. History repeated itself this evening when Ange Postecoglou removed the bright Lucas Bergvall for Pape Sarr.

Of course, context is important – the Spurs boss was likely protecting the Swedish midfielder after a recent bout of illness, not to mention a big European game on the horizon. But that will matter little to Tottenham fans, many of whom are clearly turning against the man in the dugout.

Worrying lack of patterns in Spurs’ build-up

We saw so many clear and unique patterns of play when Postecoglou first arrived in North London. The full-backs inverted and pushed high up the pitch. The team pressed high and won the ball aggressively. The wingers maintained width and peppered the box with crosses.

Tottenham were able to turn possession in their own half into a blistering attack with a neat flick around the corner from their number six. None of that has been visible this season – before the injury crisis, certainly during it, and now out the other side. That is worrying for Postecoglou as it seems the wheels are starting to come off his project in North London.

Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero are back! Oh…

Tottenham endured an injury crisis for so long that we almost forgot about what would happen once it was over. The rhetoric has always been this season that Spurs would bounce back to their swashbuckling, chaotic, free-scoring football as soon as the likes of Van de Ven, Romero and co were back in the XI. Most of the team has been back for a good few games now, but the performance levels have shown little sign of resuscitation.

Both the Argentine and the Dutchman were poor in the buildup today, nervous defensively, and all over the place with their marking in the box. How on Earth you let Enzo Fernandez ghost into the box for a free header with three Tottenham defenders around, I will never know. One thing is for sure, Diego Simeone would not accept that level of defending at Atletico Madrid. If you want to be considered among the best players in the world, or even the best players at Tottenham Hotspur, you simply have to raise your levels.

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Rodrigo Bentancur given the nod over Archie Gray

Rodrigo Bentancur has been inconsistent at best this season, and downright woeful at worst. Archie Gray, on the other hand, has been a standout star for Tottenham across numerous positions. It feels as if Spurs fans have waited and waited and waited for Micky Van de Ven and Cristian Romero to return so Gray could be unleashed into his preferred midfield role, only for the youngster to earn a place on the bench instead.

Of course, he needs to learn the position in his XI and get used to the engine room at Premier League level, but Gray and Bergvall are so clearly the future of this Tottenham midfield, so why are they not being given a chance to grow together? If Bentancur or Yves Bissouma were putting in good performances, it would make sense, but both are underwhelming on and off the ball. If the bar is being set that low, you may as well invest in the future and give Gray his deserved chance to shine.

Eintracht Frankfurt will destroy that version of Tottenham

Make no question about it, if Tottenham play the same as they did tonight across the two legs against Eintracht Frankfurt, they will get dismantled piece by piece. All over the place in defence and toothless in attack – Spurs desperately need to find some form this weekend against Southampton, for a confidence boost if nothing else.

The referee has blown the full-time whistle at Stamford Bridge, meaning it’s time for our Chelsea vs Tottenham Hotspur player ratings.

Over the course of the last ninety minutes, we examined each player’s individual performance, rating them on a scale of 1-10. Let’s take a look at how they got on.

Tottenham’s player ratings vs Chelsea

Guglielmo Vicario: Vicario, despite looking like a bag of nerves to begin with, settled down enough to make some important saves. After an awful start, giving the ball away unnecessarily and putting his defenders under needless pressure, he made a big save to deny Sancho before HT. He was later beaten by a powerful header which was the difference in the end, unfortunately. 5.5.

Djed Spence: Spence had a demanding duel on his hands against Sancho, but he dealt with the Englishman well one-on-one. He had a license to roam but he didn’t make enough of the ball when he did surge up the field. 5.

Cristian Romero: Romero put in a decent performance tonight but it wasn’t enough. He showed real passion and desire, as well as boasting his brilliant ball-playing capabilities on several occasions. 4.5.

Micky van de Ven: After a slow, rusty start to the first AND second half, van de Ven was caught ball-watching as Enzo leapt highest and headed home to make it 1-0 to the visitors. Micky just wasn’t himself today. 3.5.

Destiny Udogie: Udogie was a bit of a mess tonight in all honesty. He often passed the ball out of play or to an opposition player and was stopped in his tracks when he tried to surge forward. 3.

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Lucas Bergvall: Bergvall was one of the brighter sparks tonight as his tidy footwork and intricate passing helped Spurs keep hold of the ball many times, but he was surprisingly substituted just after the hour mark. 6.

Rodrigo Bentancur: Bentancur honestly contributed nothing tonight apart from nearly bursting a blood vessel amidst screaming at Chalobah. 4.

James Maddison: Maddison was rather poor going forward, perhaps choosing the wrong pass when advancing into the final third and a lot of the time, he sat too deep to create anything anyway! A frustrating watch was James Maddison tonight. 3.

Wilson Odobert: Odobert was kept quiet and was eventually hooked for Johnson just after the hour mark. He never really got the opportunity to express himself on the ball and often found himself going backwards. 4.

Dominic Solanke: Solanke was non-existent today. A bystander. 2.

Heung-min Son: Son was the outlet for Spurs for much of the game as much of the football flowed down the left. The captain was too wasteful though, and struggled to find the right final pass. 5.

Substitutes:

Pape Sarr: Sarr replaced Bergvall and thought he had levelled the scoring with a screamer from 30 yards but the goal was chalked off for a foul in the build-up. 5.5.

Brennan Johnson: Brennan replaced Odobert and nearly set up the equaliser but Son’s shot was saved. 4.

Mathys Tel: Tel replaced Maddison. N/A.

The half-time whistle has sounded in the West End of London, signalling the end of the opening forty-five minutes in tonight’s all-London affair between Tottenham and Chelsea – and it’s now time for our first-half player ratings.

Ange Postecoglou has been told the weight of his job lies on thin ice, depending on how results in Europe turn out.

It appears the club’s full focus has been shifted to the Europa League. Tottenham sit 14th in the Premier League in April and show no signs of escaping the bottom half of the league anytime soon.

In the meantime, Spurs look forward to a European quarter-final against Frankfurt over the course of the next fortnight.

Throughout the first half, we analysed each player’s individual performance, rating them on a scale of 1-10. Let’s take a look at our Tottenham player ratings…

Tottenham’s first-half player ratings vs Chelsea

Guglielmo Vicario: Vicario made a couple of odd decisions that he was lucky to get away with. He fired a pass straight into a Chelsea player who was on the edge of the box before flapping at a cross instead of claiming it. His distribution continued to be a trending issue as the half wore on, as he put passes out of play or players under pressure constantly. He did however make a crucial save to deny Sancho just before half time. 4.

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Djed Spence: Djed had a big physical battle on his hands in the first half as he found himself up against the tricky Sancho. He often dealt with him well though. 5.

Cristian Romero: Cuti and his centre-back partner were cut open inside the first minute and were lucky not to see the ball find the back of the net, as all it took was one straight pass from the back to see Jackson through on goal. The Argentine settled into the game though, playing progressive passes in abundance and winning physical battles left and right. 6.

Micky van de Ven: Micky appeared slightly sluggish and slow to begin with, which aren’t words we often associate with the Dutchman. As the half grew on, he settled down more and made some important physical challenges against Jackson. 5.

Destiny Udogie: Udogie showed exciting flashes of brilliance going forward but fans were often knocked back down to earth whenever he passed the ball out of play or to a blue shirt seconds later, which just about sums up his season. The Italian was just way too wasteful in the first half, unnecessarily halting Spurs attacks while struggling to stop Chelsea’s. 3.

Lucas Bergvall: Bergvall was the tidiest player on the pitch in that first half. He didn’t get on the ball too often, but when he did, he was always two steps ahead looking to create the next chance. 6.5.

Rodrigo Bentancur: It was nice to see Bentancur sprinting for once, and the Uruguayan midfielder wasn’t half bad in the first half. He did nothing special, but he did nothing bad either. 5.

James Maddison: Maddison, despite being trusted as the most advanced midfielder, found himself too deep at left-back too often throughout the first half. It’s a strange approach considering his best work develops in the final third. 4.5.

Wilson Odobert: Wilson was kept quiet by Cucurella in the first half, as the young Frenchman wasn’t allowed the space or the time to boast his trickery at the Bridge. 4.

Dominic Solanke: Solanke had a couple of ‘nearly’ moments in the first half but nothing ever developed enough to turn into a clear-cut chance. He was quiet, otherwise. 4.

The Tottenham Hotspur side has been confirmed for this evening’s Premier League match against Chelsea.

Tottenham have not played since the 2-0 defeat to Fulham on March 16th and now face a tough test against their London rivals at Stamford Bridge.

There is no doubt that Tottenham’s season rests on their success in the Europa League given their lowly fourteenth place position in the Premier League table has made qualifying for Europe through the league an almost impossible task.

The pressure is firmly on Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou to salvage a horrific 2024/2025 campaign, beginning with a win against Chelsea ahead of the crunch first leg at home to Eintracht Frankfurt next Thursday.

Who starts in the Tottenham team vs Chelsea

Dejan Kulusevski is ruled out until the Europa League second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt on April 17th, while Kevin Danso’s hamstring injury also keeps him sidelined.

Richarlison is back in training and could be included to face Southampton on Sunday.

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Chelsea have the likes of Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and former Tottenham academy graduate Noni Madueke back available.

This is who takes to the pitch in west London this evening:

Chelsea: Sanchez; Gusto, Chalobah, Colwill, Cucurella; Caicedo, Enzo; Neto, Palmer, Sancho; Jackson

Subs: Jorgensen, Acheampong, Badiashile, Tosin, James, Dewsbury-Hall, George, Madueke, Nkunku.

Tottenham: Vicario; Spence, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison; Odobert, Solanke, Son

Subs: Kinsky, Porro, Davies, Gray, Bissouma, Sarr, Moore, Johnson, Tel.

For those wondering how to watch Chelsea vs Tottenham in the UK, the match is being televised live on Sky Sports.

Tottenham’s next five fixtures in all competitions

Tottenham face a crunch handful of fixtures which will not only decide the fate of their season, but also likely whether Ange Postecoglou could be sacked by Spurs come the summer.

Given lowly Southampton are next up on Sunday, it will be likely that Postecoglou could decide to keep the likes of Micky van de Ven and Heung-min Son fresh for Frankfurt.

Tottenham Hotspur have learned that Liam Delap’s contract has a release clause, which will become active this summer under one condition, but the Lilywhites are expected to battle five other Premier League rivals for the striker this summer.

Top-class number nines are hard to find in today’s market, which is why Delap’s impressive performances since his switch from Man City to Ipswich last summer have captured many people’s attention.

It has been widely reported over recent weeks that Spurs are keen on securing Delap’s services this summer, particularly as the Tractor Boys look set to go straight back down.

Spurs have now received some bittersweet news regarding the future of the striker and what it will take to bring him to N17 this summer.

Liam Delap’s release clause revealed as Tottenham linger

The Daily Mail have now claimed that the 22-year-old’s contract at Portman Road Stadium has a release clause of £40m, which will become active if Kieran McKenna’s men get relegated this season.

Ipswich are hot favourites to drop down to the Championship, with the club currently sitting 12 points away from safety.

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However, it is made clear that the Man City academy graduate also ranks fairly high on Man United’s wishlist ahead of the summer.

The Red Devils are expected to fund a deal for the centre-forward by offloading Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho, with Rubem Amorim’s side said to view the England Under-21 international as a cheaper alternative to some of the other number nines on their wishlist.

Four more Premier League giants are eyeing Delap

The Daily Mail add that Delap is also attracting interest from Premier League giants Chelsea, Newcastle, Liverpool, and Manchester City ahead of the summer.

It is explained that City added a buy-back option for the striker when they sold him to Ipswich last summer, but the value of the clause is not revealed.

It thus looks like Tottenham Hotspur will have their work cut out if they are to win the race for Liam Delap this summer.

Simon Jordan has issued a stern warning to Daniel Levy, insisting that the Tottenham chairman can no longer make any excuses as to why the North London club cannot be competitive at the top end of the Premier League.

Tottenham fans are evidently at the end of their patience with how the club is being run, with thousands of Spurs fans marching in protests against Levy and ENIC earlier this season.

A couple of days ago, Tottenham announced they had made a loss yet again for the financial year ending June 2024, which is the fourth year in a row where they have posted a loss.

While announcing the figures, Levy warned that the club’s transfer spending over the last few years is not sustainable. He also made it clear that Spurs will not make any decisions this summer that will jeopardise their financial health.

Many Tottenham fans blasted Daniel Levy for his warning on the club’s spending, seeing it as further evidence that he cares more about the bottom line than on-pitch success.

Simon Jordan says that Daniel Levy is running out of time and excuses

Simon Jordan has now remarked that Tottenham Hotspur fans will not care about the club’s sustainability and that they will continue to turn up the pressure on the ownership until they see on-pitch success.

He suggested that the supporters will expect the club to show ambition this summer and added that the Spurs chairman is running out of road to defend the way he operates.

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When asked about Levy’s warning and the reaction of the Tottenham fans, the former Crystal Palace told talkSPORT: “The bottom line is football fans expect ambition from their club, they expect aspiration.

“If Spurs and Daniel Levy aren’t delivering it because his pursuit of sustainability and the model that he wants to work to isn’t going to give them the outcomes that they want, then they have the right to say it. I personally think with Daniel that his road is running out in terms of the opportunities he has to defend his position.”

Jordan has been a defender of Levy in the past, but he insisted that irrespective of any of Tottenham’s financial commitments, fans have a right to expect the club to be competing for honours, six years after moving into their new stadium.

He added: “I defend Daniel against one-sided arguments because I’ve been an owner on the other side of the equation and I can’t help defend owners to some extent because I know what the other side of the conversation is. But I also suggest that Tottenham Hotspur cannot go around not achieving things.

“Of course, we’ve had COVID since the stadium was built and the opportunities of revenues. There were hundreds of millions of pounds lost to football clubs during that period of time that is now being caught up with and Daniel will run that particular argument.

“And he’ll run the argument about covenants and the amount of money they’ve got available to themselves but fans are not interested in that. If they’ve been told that the building of a stadium is going to make them more competitive with the opposition and then the argument being run is that they can’t meet the opposition because they’ve got to service debt then you can’t have it both ways.”

Can Tottenham achieve success while being run sustainably?

There is no doubt that clubs can be successful even if they are run sustainably, with transfer spending and wage spending not always directly correlating with success.

For example, Liverpool have shown that it is possible to remain a top side while operating within their means, something Spurs themselves have done in the past under Mauricio Pochettino.

However, Levy and the Tottenham board have not shown anything over the last six years to suggest that they are capable of delivering on-pitch success while running the club in the manner have.

Fans will just continue to put pressure on the owners to sell the club, particularly as reports continue to suggest that investors from Qatar are showing an interest in a takeover of Spurs.

There has now been a fresh update regarding Atletico Madrid’s efforts to sign Cristian Romero from Tottenham Hotspur this summer, and it is not good news for Spurs fans.

Regular readers of Spurs Web will be aware that a number of outlets over the last few weeks have reported that Atletico Madrid have reached out to Romero regarding a summer switch to the Spanish capital.

The centre-back has had an injury-hit season and it has been suggested by a few outlets that Cristian Romero is willing to leave Tottenham this summer in search of Champions League Football.

As the transfer window draws closer, some sources have even claimed that Spurs are ready to listen to offers of around £50m for Romero.

Atletico Madrid stepping up intrest in Cristian Romero

Diario AS reporter Eduardo Burgos has now become the latest to report on Atletico’s interest in Romero and he provides a rather ominous update for Tottenham Hotspur.

He says that the La Liga giants are now ‘speeding up’ their move for the Argentine even though we are still more than two months away from the opening of the summer transfer window.

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Burgos claims that Atletico are not expected to have any issues agreeing personal terms with Romero, but they are likely to find the negotiations with Tottenham to be challenging.

Finally, the journalist adds that the 2022 World Cup winner likes the idea of moving to Madrid this summer.

Will Daniel Levy price Romero out of a summer transfer?

As previously mentioned, some outlets believe that a fee of around £50m may be enough to price the centre-back away from Hotspur Way, given that he has just two years left on his contract.

However, just two days ago, a report claimed that Daniel Levy may demand ‘well over £100m’ for Romero this summer.

The update suggested that the Tottenham chairman remains determined to retain the former Juventus centre-back despite the growing interest in his services.

Teddy Sheringham has explained why he still has faith in Ange Postecoglou’s ability to get Tottenham moving in the right direction as reports continue to suggest that the Australian might not last too much longer in the Spurs hot seat.

Under normal circumstances, no Tottenham manager would have survived a season as disastrous as the one Postecoglou has presided over so far.

However, the Australian has had to deal with an unprecedented injury crisis this campaign, and he still has the chance to become the first Spurs manager to win a trophy in 17 years as the Lilywhites look to do something special in the Europa League.

Reports over recent days have claimed that Tottenham have already begun looking for Ange Postecoglou’s replacement, but one Spurs legend believes that the 59-year-old is still capable of turning things around.

Teddy Sheringham still has confidence in Ange Postecoglou

Sheringham acknowledged that it would be difficult to justify keeping Ange Postecoglou in the job if Spurs fail to end the season with silverware.

However, the former Tottenham striker insisted that he still has faith that this Spurs side can do something special in the Europa League, given that they have been boosted by the return of key players.

Sheringham told WDW BINGO ON: “I think if Spurs finish where they are currently in the league and don’t win the Europa League, then conversations will be had regarding Ange Postecoglou’s job.

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“There are already rumours circling, which isn’t a good sign for Ange, and if they don’t win the cup, then it’ll be a really poor season. However, at this moment in time, I have every confidence in him and his football team. When they get their full-strength team back, they will look like a completely different outfit.

“Quite a few of their players haven’t been away on international duty, which always helps, they will have loved a bit of time off, and I expect them to finish the season strong, and if that means they win the Europa League, then brilliant.”

Postecoglou bullish about Tottenham’s Europa League hopes

While the speculation continues to run rife over Ange Postecoglou’s future, he has his eyes firmly on one key target – to finish the season with a trophy in his hands.

During his press conference on Wednesday, Ange Postecoglou confidently asserted that Tottenham have a fighting chance of winning the Europa League.

However, the Lilywhites will first have the difficult task of overcoming Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarterfinal before dreaming of going all the way.