Even victory in Europe may not save Postecoglou now

At Tottenham Hotspur, there’s a familiar tone. Ange Postecoglou had attempted a call to arms as the club gets closer to a first trophy since 2008, but not even he could resist sparking discussion about his own immediate future.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

A press conference that started with the Spurs manager talking about having to “make the most” of a Europa League quarterfinal evolved into Postecoglou volunteering references to articles discussing whether he would go regardless, and even namechecking journalists.

The generous interpretation of this is that it is classic siege mentality amid a difficult period for the team. Except, most of the difficulty has been around the manager’s performance. It’s not about the players, it’s him, and when a coach starts getting involved in debates about his own media coverage it isn’t a good sign.

That may feel unfair, and it’s hard not to have sympathy with someone facing such harsh discussions about themselves, but it is the reality of elite football.

There is, of course, one way to make a statement that matters. That is to win games, and particularly a crunch match like a Europa League quarter-final against a fine Eintracht Frankfurt side.

Three of Tottenham’s eight wins across 20 games of 2025 so far may have come in the Europa League, but performances haven’t exactly been encouraging. The narrow aggregate victory over a moderate Dutch side like AZ Alkmaar almost ended up causing more alarms, because of the nature of the display.

For a long time this season, it was easy to understand Spurs’ form, because Postecoglou had endured several injuries and the squad wasn’t exactly stacked. Notional rivals like Aston Villa and Newcastle United had surpassed them in their wage bill. Postecoglou himself would bring up the injuries all the time.