Tottenham assistant coach Sergio Raimundo has revealed that belief was a major factor in the club ending their 17-year trophy drought by winning the Europa League. Turning to Ange Postecoglou in the summer of 2023 due to his track record of winning silverware, the Australian guided his players to the European title with a 1-0 win over Premier League rivals Manchester United.
Postecoglou famously said back in September that he always win things in his second season at a club, which is exactly what happened as Tottenham put a wretched domestic season behind them to win the Europa League and also secure a Champions League berth for next season.
Either always on the losing side in recent finals or not making it past the semi-finals, Postecoglou and his coaching team knew they had to give the players some belief in their goal to win things, with Raimundo stating that the head-coach in particular was "fantastic" at instilling that sense in the team.
"We started the season wanting to change this story. What we did was, and also largely due to the coach, who was spectacular at this, always have belief and we passed this belief on to the players," Raimundo said in an interview with Portuguese publication Record (via Sport Witness).
"I remember saying to the players in pre-season: 'This is the year we lift a cup, this is the year we win a title'. So, we started to generate this belief within the group, and we had that mental strength to not deviate, to remain united as a group and always together, even in the worst moments."
Having progressed through the league phase of the competition, Tottenham found themselves 1-0 down from the first leg of their round of 16 tie against AZ Alkmaar before winning the return leg 3-1 on the night to advance. Producing two very good displays against Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final showdown with Bodo/Glimt, Tottenham brushed the Norwegian outfit aside prior to beating Manchester United in the final.
Excellent in Europe even in the most testing of times, Raimundo has put that down to the mentality of the players.
"I think we started very strong at AZ Alkmaar [round of 16], but even more so in Frankfurt [quarter-final]," he said. "We have always been professionals, but from Frankfurt onwards we had a mentality.
"They are not philosophies, they are not principles, it is to maintain all of that, but now it is to win. In the end it is important that we play well, but it was more important for everyone and for the club to win the trophy."
Returning home from their Bilbao triumph to a sea of Tottenham fans outside the club's home as they took part in a victory parade, Raimundo unfortunately missed out on the occasion as he needed to be in Ireland to continue his UEFA Pro Diploma course studies with the Irish FA. However, he got a taste of just what was happening in N17 on a video call.
"They did a Zoom with me live and there were about 250,000 people in the streets. It was crazy," he said. "And after the game against Brighton, the fans were super happy, everyone stayed on the pitch, we walked around with the trophy and you can see the impact of them being teased and having that 'Spursy' theme. It means they almost arrive but never do. Now everyone is motivated, happy, you see a lot of shirts on the street."
Amid the current uncertainty over Postecoglou's future and whether Raimundo and the rest of the coaching staff will still be at Tottenham next season, the Lisbon-born coach just wants to keep winning with Spurs.
"It’s about continuing to win," he admitted. "I always had the idea of winning ten titles in ten different countries, with first division teams.
"Wherever you are, keep winning, because the impact it has on your family, on the fans, on the clubs, the joy you generate… it’s addictive!"