Ange Postecoglou reacts to idea he could be sacked if Tottenham exit Europa League

Ange Postecoglou has provided an interesting response when asked if his Tottenham Hotspur future potentially hangs in the balance ahead of the second leg against AZ Alkmaar.

Tottenham Hotspur will try to overcome a 1-0 deficit against Alkmaar in front of their home fans, with the game arguably being the biggest of the club’s season and of Postecoglou’s tenure so far.

Progression to the final eight of the Europa League could breathe new life into Spurs’ season while elimination from the competition will leave the club with nothing but pride to play for over the next couple of months.

Reports have indicated that a failure to overcome Alkmaar might have a big impact on the Spurs manager’s long-term future. However, Tottenham are not expected to decide whether to sack Postecoglou until the summer.

Ange Postecoglou addresses questions about Tottenham future

Despite the speculation swerving around his future, the Tottenham head coach insists that he is only thinking about how his side can correct the mistakes they made in the first leg last week.

The Australian confessed that the Lilywhites were well short of their usual standards in the Netherlands and remarked that he wants them to play with a lot more intensity tomorrow.

When asked about whether this game could be win-or-bust for his project at Tottenham, Ange Postecoglou told Football.London: “Yeah, there are not many professions in the world where you have to come in and answer questions like that is there? No, there isn’t, but I am going to be polite and say we’re focused on winning the game tomorrow night and need to put in a better performance than we did last Thursday.

“Obviously, that wasn’t anywhere near the standard we want to play. We did some good things at the weekend, did some not-so-good things, but we feel like if we can play with the intensity and tempo we played at the weekend, we’ll give ourselves a good chance to progress.”

Postecoglou takes heart from second-half performance against Bournemouth

The 59-year-old explained that he and his coaching staff have reviewed the game at the AFAS Stadium thoroughly to get to the root of why they lacked the required intensity.

However, Postecoglou pointed out that he saw some positive signs in the second half against the Cherries as his side battled back from two goals down to salvage a point.

When asked if the squad had the wrong mindset in Alkmaar last week, the Spurs boss responded: “I think there was some clear evidence there that we didn’t really play at the intensity that we usually do. It could be a multitude of things but we have analysed that and reviewed that.

“On the weekend we had our struggles but at the same time, I thought we were more like ourselves, particularly in the second half, in terms of playing with a real strong intent with and without the ball. So the level is there. It’s not like it’s disappeared. We have got to make sure we get to that level again tomorrow night.”

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
10	FulhamFulham	28	11	9	8	41	38	3	42
11	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	28	10	9	9	36	33	3	39
12	BrentfordBrentford	28	11	5	12	48	44	4	38
13	TottenhamTottenham	28	10	4	14	55	41	14	34
14	Man UtdManchester United	28	9	7	12	34	40	-6	34
15	EvertonEverton	28	7	12	9	31	35	-4	33

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou doubles down on infamous second season Tottenham claim