Axe rumours to player rift claim: Why Ange’s Spurs plea could be his last...or end doom spiral

The defining moment of Ange Postecoglou’s time at Tottenham has arrived.

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Spurs host Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar on Friday morning Australian time in the second leg of their Round of 16 tie, needing to come from behind to keep their hopes of winning a trophy alive this season after losing the first leg 1-0 in the Netherlands a week ago.

Postecoglou’s statement back in September that “I always win things in my second year”, in reference to titles with Celtic, Yokohama F. Marinos, the Socceroos, Brisbane Roar and South Melbourne, has seemingly become a rod for his own back during his second season in north London.

It is a quote that is brought up constantly, and when asked about it again in his match eve press conference, he passionately defended his words once again.

“I wasn’t making anything up. I was asked the question, and I answered it,” Postecoglou explained.

“Critics have used it for their own purposes, suggesting I’m making a bold claim, but I was stating a fact.

“Usually in my second season, I win things.

“That’s the whole idea. The first year is about establishing principles and creating a foundation. Hopefully, the second year is going to win things.

“If that doesn’t happen this year, then I can’t say that anymore. What am I supposed to say? I’ve always won in the second year; I have in the past, everywhere I’ve been, but here (at Tottenham) it won’t happen.

“Is that what people want to hear? People can twist these things, use them, and you know what, maybe we defy all the odds and we do win something.”

With the FA Cup and Carabao Cup gone, and Tottenham sitting a lowly 13th place on the Premier League table, Postecoglou is all-in on the Europa League.

Spurs won five, drew two and lost one of their league phase matches to avoid a playoff and gain automatic passage to the Round of 16.

But a second poor showing in the first knockout stage would end Postecoglou’s stunning second-year streak and the knives are sharpening in preparation.

Tottenham are winless in their past three matches in all competitions despite clearly playing better football as the cavalry returns following their injury crisis.

Key players getting out of the medical room and back on the pitch built positivity, which was boosted by a hat-trick of league wins before an arguably unlucky 1-0 loss to Manchester City started their current winless stretch, but the discontent, that has bubbled away for several months, quickly resurfaced.

Spurs salvage draw against Bournemouth | 01:30

Reports from Italian outlet TuttoSport emerged this week that Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy is keeping a close eye on Inter Milan manager Simone Inzaghi as a possible replacement for Postecoglou.

Meanwhile, former Tottenham and England striker Jermain Defoe revealed to TalkSport that he and other coaches at Spurs in 2023 wanted now England manager Thomas Tuchel appointed instead.

The Athletic’s Tottenham-focused podcast, ‘The View from The Lane’, spent much of their most recent episode debating whether Spurs would be more likely to win the Europa League if they moved on the Australian now.

Former Tottenham and Barcelona striker Gary Lineker also poured fuel on the fire, suggesting on the Rest is Football podcast that Postecoglou may have had a falling out with attacking midfielder James Maddison because he started on the bench in their 2-2 draw with Bournemouth on Sunday.

Defender Cristian Romero made his return from injury in the same game, having not played since December, but the World Cup winner increased speculation of unrest by thanking the Argentinian physiotherapists, and not Tottenham’s, on Instagram for getting him back on the park.

But despite the huge amounts of negativity swirling about, Postecoglou is pushing ahead with trying to orchestrate a memorable comeback victory.

Son Heung-min started on the bench along with Maddison against Bournemouth, in a call seemingly made to ensure they are fresh for this European clash.

Romero played a little over an hour before making way for Micky van de Van, who has also returned from injury to offer Postecoglou the chance to start his preferred pairing in central defence.

But midfielders Rodrigo Bentancur, after a third booking in the competition, and Dejan Kulusevski, foot injury, will be absent because Tottenham could not possibly have their first-choice team available at the same time this season.

The key addition that Postecoglou is most counting on, however, is a supportive home crowd.

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Tottenham fans are routinely ridiculed for their negative antics, and Postecoglou has experienced a testy relationship with the supporters.

It was all sunshine and roses when they sat atop of the Premier League table ten games into the Australian’s maiden season at the helm.

He was serenaded with “I’m loving big Ange instead” to the sounds of Robbie Williams’ hit Angels upon the full-time whistle after home wins, but by the end of the season, Postecoglou blasted the club’s fragility as fans pleaded for the team to lose the penultimate game of the season to eventual champions Manchester City to deny rivals Arsenal the title.

The tension increased throughout the current campaign as Postecoglou clashed with verbally abusive fans on several occasions after disheartening losses.

He was also met with choruses of boos instead of jubilation upon the final whistle as well as calls for his sacking on social media and talkback radio.

But the 59-year-old has asked the faithful to channel their passion into supporting the team rather than ridiculing.

Postecoglou believes the players need a vibrant crowd to feed off rather than becoming engulfed by an anxious one.

“Yeah, look, again I said before, I can’t sort of dictate to people how they sort of interact, but, AZ’s crowd certainly helped them on Thursday night,” he said after the Bournemouth match.

“We need our crowd to get behind the boys on Thursday to make it an atmosphere where maybe we lose some of that nervousness and anxiety within our game.

“But the reality is, we as a team have to respond irrespective of the atmosphere and one may follow the other. If we start the game strong, it’ll get the place nice and loud, which will help us.”

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Tottenham have undeniably been a team of moment throughout the Postecoglou era.

When they are good, they have ran over the top of teams and piled on goals, proven by the fact only league leaders Liverpool have scored more goals than them despite such an underwhelming campaign.

When they are poor, the reverse is true. Unable to stem any bleeding with defensive frailties causing unrest in the stands.

An early goal would be a nightmare for Postecoglou’s side, while like Liverpool in their Round of 16 defeat to PSG in the Champions League, the fans would scarcely be able to handle the drama of a penalty shootout.

But the reality of the situation is that the feeling of impending doom will not disappear if they can advance to the quarter-final.

Tottenham have infamously not won a trophy since the 2008 League Cup, and their European drought dates back to the 1984 UEFA Cup, the precursor to the Europa League.

Patience has not been Tottenham’s strong suit in the 17 years following their 2-1 triumph against Chelsea at Wembley, with Postecoglou their eighth full-time manager since Spaniard Juande Ramos, who lifted the trophy that day.

The nerves will likely get greater if they can make it deeper into the competition, but that is far better than Postecoglou being given his marching orders.

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