Ange Postecoglou has warned his Tottenham players not to make one big mistake regarding the Europa League and Premier League while focussing on the objectives for the rest of the season.
Tottenham fans hoping for Europa League glory to salvage season
Tottenham are now out of both the FA Cup and the Carabao Cup and are languishing in the bottom half of the table in the Premier League.
While European qualification via the Premier League is not completely out of the question for Spurs yet, it is going to take a major turnaround to achieve a top-six finish.
The Tottenham supporters are thus hoping that the side can put all their focus on the Europa League and are dreaming of the club lifting the trophy in San Mames in May, but Postecoglou has a stern warning to his players about that.
Ange Postecoglou’s warning to Tottenham squad
Postecoglou has now warned his players about the risk of putting the Europa League at the forefront of their minds and ignoring the Premier League.
He insisted that Tottenham cannot allow their league campaign to peter out and admitted that they need to push themselves back up the table into a respectable position.
When asked about the Europa League being the club’s main focus in the final three and a half months of the season, Postecoglou said (via The Daily Mail): “We can’t put the cue in the rack in terms of the league and say let’s peter out and finish where we finish. That’s not the mindset I want.
“We need to improve our league position. Where we are I don’t think is reflective of what we have and that’s my role, to get the maximum out of the guys we have.
“We need to move up the table and see where that takes us. I still think it’s really tight. At some point, unless teams are really lucky, the kind of injuries we’ve had will catch up with others as well. Which gives us an opportunity if we can get on a run to move up the table.”
Ange Postecoglou on the Spurs reset
In some respects, this week could serve as a reset to Spurs‘ season, with the club having a rare full week to prepare for the clash against Manchester United and also welcoming several injured players back into the fold.
While Postecoglou acknowledged that a break is much needed, he admitted that it is not as simple as just forgetting the poor run of results that the side has had of late.
When asked if Tottenham’s season effectively starts now, the 59-year-old responded: “We’re still in the same position and we’re still dealing with certain things. But there’s a natural physical break which allows us to think from here onwards there’s an opportunity to maybe change the course of our season.
“You can’t ignore what’s happened. We’re still carrying remnants of that, the disappointment of the league season, the disappointment of going out in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, the disappointment of Sunday.
“You carry that with you. You can’t just extinguish that. But there is an opportunity for a little bit of a reset because it’s coincided with some significant inclusions.”