After Tottenham Hotspur went one step closer to Europa League glory with a win away at Eintracht Frankfurt, Ange Postecoglou has made an admission about the belief running through the Spurs squad despite the turmoil at the club this season.
It has been a difficult season for the Tottenham head coach, who has been battered and bruised by the stinging media criticism that has come his way over recent months.
Postecoglou has also had some run-ins with Spurs fans over recent months and appeared to be fighting a losing battle in his attempt to win them over.
In fact, there were even suggestions earlier this week that Postecoglou could be sacked immediately if Tottenham had failed to progress past Frankfurt.
However, the 59-year-old continued to maintain that his side can go all the way in the Europa League, and he now finally has something to smile about after guiding his side to their first European semifinal since 2019.
Ange Postecoglou admits Tottenham players never lost belief
Postecoglou admitted that it would have been easy for the squad to turn on him amidst the poor results and leave him out to dry.
Instead, he confessed that the players never stopped believing in his methods and continued giving their all, believing that there would be light at the end of the tunnel.
When asked how much confidence he has that Tottenham Hotspur can now go all the way and break their trophy drought, Postecoglou told Football.London: “Look, we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We’re in the semi-final and will play a difficult opponent in the semi, but it’s not about my belief in the team.
“What’s more important is the belief the team has had because after a season like ours, it would be very easy for the players and staff, they could have left me in a pretty vulnerable place in terms of them splintering, but I’ve never felt that (even) with all the noise around our season.
“They’ve been so united in believing in what we’re trying to achieve here and that is what gave me heart all along that if we got our own slice of luck in terms of getting some players back that I really believed this team could achieve. That is what keeps driving me. It isn’t so much my belief in them, it’s their belief in what we’re doing and both players and staff have been outstanding.
“I am the front man for it but they take responsibility for it as well and all my decisions and everything I do, but not at any stage have I felt they lost any belief in me or what we’re doing. That is crucial when you’re having a difficult season, but there is also a season of opportunity there.”
Postecoglou is confident Spurs can beat anybody
The topic of Tottenham’s injury crisis and its impact on the club’s season has been discussed to death, but Postecoglou reiterated the point that his side would not have struggled as much as they have this campaign if key players had not been sidelined for extended periods.
With almost a fully fit squad to choose from, the Australian is now confident that Spurs can take on any challenge that awaits them in the semifinal and the final.
When asked if he has a sixth sense that Tottenham’s name could be on the trophy after the difficult season they have endured, Postecoglou told Football.London: “No, I don’t think that way. From our perspective, we’ve had a difficult season and I think there’s some reasoning behind that was pretty evident that when we’ve got our strongest team out there, a lot of things we’ve suffered with this year I’m sure we wouldn’t have.
“The spine of our team, at times we’ve been missing Vicario, Romero, Van de Ven, Bentancur, Solanke, all of them we’ve been missing at different times this year. We’ve got the whole group. It’s not just them, it’s the whole group together. We know that we can be a team that’s pretty compelling against anybody. We’re in the final four now so we’ve given ourselves a chance.”