Football365

Jamie Carragher delivered a damning verdict of Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur prospects on Sky Sports this week, saying the club will “shake hands and move on” if they suffer a Europa League defeat at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt.

Tottenham head to Germany on Thursday on the back of a tense 1-1 draw in London, just days before suffering another heavy defeat at the hands of Wolves in the Premier League.

The Liverpool legend thinks that defeat will spell the end of Postecoglou‘s reign amid growing calls for his departure.

“I think if they go out to Eintracht Frankfurt in the cup, it probably would be a shake hands and move on to something different for both parties in terms of the manager and the club,” Carragher said.

Spurs controlled possession and were rarely threatened during the first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, though Hugo Ekitike’s goal in the sixth minute was enough to claim a first-leg draw for the Germans.

He continued, “And, you know, Ange Postecoglou, since he’s come in, I love watching Spurs. I love it when I’ve got a Spurs game.

“I love analysing as things go on. But if you’re a Spurs fan, you know, you’re so open. You’re always conceding goals.

“They’re an exciting team to watch. I’ve said it for so long: They should be everybody’s second team in some ways because you’re always going to get a great game.”

The Premier League’s grand entertainers have scored 60 goals while conceding 49 times en route to 17 losses in 32 Premier League fixtures.

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The Liverpool legend was keen to acknowledge an ongoing injury crisis that has hampered their season, though he also referenced their poor form from previous seasons.

“But some of the results that we’ve seen this season, there’s been mitigating circumstances in some cases in terms of the injuries that they’ve had.

“Even when they’ve had the full team, they haven’t been winning enough games.

“This has not just been going on this season. If you go back to the first 10 games of last season, when they were fantastic, top of the league, from then, this has been going on for a long time.

“This has been going on for nearly 18 months, with them conceding goals and losing games.

“So it’s not, you know, just turning on the manager really quickly over a run of form. This has been going on a long time.”

Tottenham will look to extend their stay in the Europa League when they visit Frankfurt on Thursday night.

Former Sky Sports presenter Richard Keys thinks Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is a “dead man walking” even if he wins the Europa League.

Spurs lost their 17th match of the Premier League season with Postecoglou’s side currently 15th in the table as they enter the final six matches.

There is a feeling that Tottenham may act and sack the Australian if they were to be knocked out of the Europa League on Thursday.

Tottenham drew 1-1 against German side Eintracht Frankfurt last week and head to the Bundesliga outfit hoping to keep their season alive.

The Athletic‘s David Ornstein revealed earlier this week that Postecoglou leaving at the end of the campaign is looking “increasingly likely”.

And beIN Sports presenter Keys doubts Postecoglou will last even if he guides Tottenham to Europa League silverware.

Keys wrote in his blog: ‘Of course there are a few different reasons a coach can lose his job. An obvious one is to not be very good – or perhaps he/she can be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Both apply to Ruben Amorim.

‘A coach can be stubbornly wrong. Russell Martin comes to mind in this category. If he hadn’t been so naive – no daft – early in the season, Southampton wouldn’t be going down labelled as the worst PL team of all time. Russell arrogantly over-played and refused to change. Saints weren’t good enough to stroke the ball and play ‘the right way’.

‘A coach can sometimes overstay his/her welcome. Players can get tired of hearing the same voice. It’s usually the coach that goes in these circumstances nowadays – Fergie had the luxury of being able to change the players of course.

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‘A coach will go if the chairman/owner starts getting stick from supporters. He/she doesn’t have to get on with decision makers but it helps to manage upwards as well as down.

‘There are many internal reasons that can lead to a change and we don’t always get to know about those, but the last two categories I’m going to mention are a no no.

‘Losing the dressing room will end badly. Ask the last half dozen coaches at Leicester and Chelsea. Players have so much power these days if they don’t fancy a coach they’ll be gone.

‘Steve Cooper found that out. He clearly wanted to take Jamie Vardy on, but didn’t get the time. Vardy took him out early.

‘And the last category is crossing a line from which few – if any – ever come back. That is – pissing supporters off.

‘Ange is a dead man walking. He picked a fight with Tottenham fans during the recent Chelsea game. Bad call Ange. You just can’t do that.

‘He’s gone – even if he wins the Europa League. I backed him half way through the season but I’ve changed my mind. I’m tired of listening to him mumble at the floor explaining ‘it’s what we are mate’. He knows he’s toast. Perhaps it’s why he doubled down at Wolves?’

A Tottenham flop is reportedly ready to outlast Ange Postecoglou at the club as he’s made a ‘key decision’ to wait until the summer to ‘decide whether his future lies at Tottenham’.

There are not many Spurs players who have covered themselves in glory this season. The north London outfit are currently 15th in the Premier League, having come fifth last season.

Brennan Johnson is the only player to have surpassed 10 Premier League goals, and there are only five players with more than five. The defence has also been particularly leaky.

But some players will be persisted with by Tottenham, while others will be given the boot. It’s been suggested that Richarlison – who cost the club £60million in 2022 – could be sold, after just 19 goals in 82 games for the club.

But the striker could manage to escape a sale if a new manager comes in, and that’s seemingly his plan. According to TBRFootball, Richarlison ‘could wait until the summer to decide whether his future lies at Tottenham’.

That ‘key decision’ could come as manager Postecoglou’s ‘likely sacking’ could make him stay, due to the ‘possibility of a new manager being keen to work with’ Richarlison.

READ: Who will be the next manager of Tottenham after Ange Postecoglou?

Tottenham boss Postecoglou has reportedly had it made apparent to him that if he doesn’t win the Europa League, he’ll no longer have a job.

A recent report stated that his sack ‘could be sealed’ this week, if Spurs bow out of the European competition at the quarter-final stage.

However, another report states it’s looking “increasingly likely” that Postecoglou will be given his marching orders at the end of the season instead.

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In any case, it looks as if Spurs will have a new manager at the helm come the end of the season. That could give Richarlison the chance at more opportunities than he is currently getting at the club.

He’s started just two of his 10 Premier League appearances this term, though he has been injured between many of those, so starting the Brazilian could be a risk, given the potential of aggravating his injuries.

Whether a new boss would want to give Richarlison consistent minutes remains to be seen, and he could yet be shown the door at Spurs, providing they receive the same sort of sum they paid for him from Everton.

Oliver Glasner is being reported as the most likely option to take over from Postecoglou at the moment.

Vitor Pereira has done as much to embarrass Ruben Amorim as Manchester United have, while Ange Postecoglou is gone and Newcastle did Eddie Howe proud.

Premier League winners

Vitor Pereira

Ruben Amorim was right back in December: the Wolves squad was “built for the system” of Vitor Pereira and so the comparison of Portuguese mid-season manager appointments at struggling clubs cannot be completely pure.

But for Pereira to accrue three more points in five fewer games than Amorim is a remarkable feat considering their starting positions. Only the managers of the current top seven have a better points-per-game record than Pereira in the Premier League this campaign.

Wolves, 19th and five points from safety upon his appointment, are 16th and 14 points clear of the bottom three five months later. Their current winning run of four games is a longer sequence than Arsenal have put together this season, and as good as Liverpool’s best.

And aside from the final 20 minutes of the victory over Spurs, that has been achieved entirely without best player and chief social media liability Matheus Cunha.

“Matheus is committed, working and preparing himself to help the team,” Pereira said before the Spurs win, the first time in 2025 Wolves had scored more than two goals in a match. “But we won the last three games, playing consistently, tactically and mentally.

“What is fair? It is fair to keep going with the same team. This is my opinion. This is football, this is commitment, this is leadership. And Matheus will come on to help us,” he added of a player who scored his 16th goal of the season from the bench. It is difficult not to be impressed with such clear management and confident coaching.

Manchester City

It cannot have been often that four Manchester City academy graduates have shared the same pitch in a Premier League game, even if James McAtee was immediately substituted upon Oscar Bobb’s introduction.

Pep Guardiola might consider integrating McAtee and Nico O’Reilly earlier this season if given the opportunity again, while Rico Lewis will be grateful for the chance to develop in slightly more settled circumstances.

Those players are good enough to be part of Manchester City’s new era and Guardiola’s trust in them instead of the faltering old guard is long overdue.

Newcastle

There are many different ways of measuring a manager’s ability even in the context of just one game, but securing such a powerful victory in both their image and absence is a fine indicator of success.

Eddie Howe had been missing from the touchline for a Newcastle game before: his first in charge, against Brentford in November 2021. His input was inevitably heavily relied upon, with Jason Tindall saying the pair were in “constant dialogue” and that the manager made the “final call” to introduce substitute Ryan Fraser, who set up the late equaliser in a 3-3 draw.

Newcastle could not possibly have been expected to function properly as a Howe team back then, but three-and-a-half years later the machine functioned effortlessly without the man who holds the blueprint.

Even with the undoubted generosity of an opponent as bereft of confidence and identity as Manchester United, it was a phenomenal performance that should give Howe immense pride. Neither Tindall nor the players needed their hands holding on this occasion; the manager put the game plan in place earlier in the week but only sent “the odd” message from hospital from Friday onwards. He knew he could trust the kids not to burn the house down this time.

David Moyes

The accepted wisdom is that you never go back. Moyes, having taken West Ham from relegation adjacence to European glory in his second spell in charge, would already have disagreed before picking up where he left off at Everton almost 12 years ago.

A pettier man might derive some perverse joy in sitting above both the Hammers and Manchester United after being dumped by both, even if those exits were entirely justifiable. But Moyes is long enough in the tooth to look beyond settling past personal scores and will instead focus solely on his current objectives.

Everton are closer in terms of points to the top four than they are the relegation zone. They are currently 13th, not only the highest they have been all season but the highest they have been since October 2022. Yet still Moyes is looking up, publicly dreaming of having “a season like Nottingham Forest are having this season, next season here”.

Sean Dyche habitually delivered results like these against high-flying teams. But rarely was it so consistently backed up against the rest of the league and never did he actively encourage supporters to aim high and be ambitious. It is a powerful shift in mindset.

Liverpool

The Manchester United champion vintage of 1996/97 have already been reeled in, with Arsenal’s Double winners of 1997/98 next and only two points ahead.

Liverpool still have plenty of future issues to sort but only 12 teams have ever had more points at this stage of a Premier League season and that really is quite good.

Aston Villa

It is arguably easier said than done against the continent’s form team but if Villa can keep Paris Saint-Germain within touching distance relatively deep into their Champions League quarter-final second leg then Unai Emery will know the mere act of turning to his bench could shift momentum inexorably.

Some might also suggest PSG are slightly better than Southampton but those people are no fun.

Emery specifically imbued his squad with more attacking depth in the winter, like a hibernating squirrel discarding Jhon Duran while storing Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio in preparation for a busier mid-spring.

Donyell Malen remains ineligible in Europe but his goals in three consecutive games in which he has played just 88 minutes sum up the general theme still pushing Villa on three fronts. If the first team in Premier League history to have three different substitute scorers in one game do not beat you from the start, they have more than most in reserve to finish the job.

Here’s the Premier League table since the January transfer window closed, by the way:

Kieran McKenna

Facing Enzo Maresca four times with a vast disadvantage in terms of resources and remaining unbeaten against the Italian as a manager is a neat trick. McKenna preventing it from going stale by getting relegated is wise.

On a slightly more serious note, this was welcome proof that Ipswich can function without Liam Delap ahead of his predestined summer transfer auction. He has started all but three games in the Premier League and the Tractor Boys had lost the previous two 4-3 and 4-0, with Delap scoring one of those goals off the bench.

George Hirst was mightily effective against Chelsea and has earned his shot as the attacking fulcrum in the Championship.

Brentford

The explanation for their Jekyll and Hyde ridiculousness was initially that Brentford simply had easier home fixtures and tougher away trips at the start of the season, with their form generally tracking when that was inverted at the midway point.

Then they came from behind to take a point from the Emirates, their first this season away at a team higher than ninth, and everyone just came to accept Brentford are fundamentally quite weird.

Leicester

It is difficult to recall the last time an entire team simply needed one to go in off its collective arse, so Leicester will not look a gift horse made entirely of fortunate deflections and atrocious set-piece marking in the mouth.

This will not spark a miraculous push for survival but Ruud van Nistelrooy was right about the Foxes needing “to break a negative cycle”. How unfortunate that they have six games left to get back into one.

Aaron Ramsdale

The ninth keeper to save two penalties in a Premier League game will surely soon have the opportunity to pick his next career move a little more wisely. Although perhaps joining a Southampton side incompetent enough to entirely absorb his poor performances while platforming his more eye-catching displays was actually fine 4D chess.

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Premier League losers

Spurs

Ange Postecoglou settled on “unusual” as the buzzword to describe the individual mistakes which underpinned a 17th defeat entirely typical of a miserable Premier League season.

It felt like the manager was purposefully subdued, almost to the point of antipathy after the game. Postecoglou might suggest he cannot win in that case, having been criticised for his more antagonistic, argumentative post-match interviews throughout the season. But for such a gifted orator he has so frequently struck the wrong tone this campaign.

“We made errors that conceded goals, so that’s all you can analyse and that’s what happened today,” said Postecoglou. The hope is that being outshot by a team lower in the table despite having almost two-thirds of the possession warrants a little more in-house scrutiny, because one or two individual mistakes leading to a goal is an anomaly but four such instances in the same game points to deep systemic issues.

A chaotic system begets chaos. A lack of proper structure leads to structural problems. And as was wholly predictable, those returning from injury have simply been consumed by that chaos and lack of structure rather than miraculously correcting it through their mere presence.

If Postecoglou is only willing to “analyse” those specific individual mistakes then Spurs can expect nothing else while he remains in the post.

Manchester United

It is genuinely impressive to finish level on points with a team, poach and then part with their sporting director to the tune of £4.1m while cutting costs and making hundreds redundant, outspend them by more than £150m and for the gap to widen to 18 points and ten places in their favour.

That is not all on Amorim but the perennial question remains: do things really need to be this specifically awful? The Portuguese inherited an undoubted mess but the worst of Erik ten Hag had Manchester United four points from Champions League qualification in November; they are three above 17th in April.

The tactics are a separate abject point but even the sort of bold selection calls a manager often relies on to make a statement or evoke a reaction are backfiring horribly. The Andre Onana problem has now been compounded ahead of a game which will help define this miserable season.

Nottingham Forest

No Premier League club has used as few as their 23 players this season and it is starting to show. The legs might be weary with minutes while minds start to be weighed down by pressure and expectation.

Nuno Espirito Santo saw “no positives” but there was also nothing Nottingham Forest did specifically wrong. Their attack was just blunt with Chris Wood returning perhaps a game too soon, while Murillo soiled a hard-earned clean sheet in stoppage time. Everton took full advantage.

The hope is that consecutive defeats can be compartmentalised, coming as they have against one of the league’s form teams and a side which has become remarkably difficult to beat. Everton were organised in defence and struck on the break to secure an ostensibly narrow but ultimately deserved win; Forest have administered that medicine often enough this season to know how to take it and move on.

Enzo Maresca

The prevailing theory that he is quite prone to being Found Out in some way is twofold:

Chuck in an inclination to clash with fans over the playing style and it would be no surprise if Chelsea were conducting another manager search shortly. Blaming the supporters for the errors of Robert Sanchez is brave coming from the man who has played, dropped and then restored him to the starting line-up this season.

Brighton

No club outside the bottom three has accrued fewer points per game against that imminently relegated trio than Brighton (1.67). It is a record somehow damned further by being shared with Spurs.

Brighton’s manager reign-spanning inability to extract the absolute maximum from theoretically the season’s easiest fixtures is well established but no less infuriating. They have faced four of the bottom five at home and failed to win each time, keeping just one clean sheet.

Theirs is a substantial injury list robbing them of key players in crucial positions but excuses and caveats really shouldn’t be necessary against a team which hasn’t scored for eight games dating back to late January, never mind avoided defeat.

The biggest spenders in the Premier League this season still need to invest a little more in defence and on research to discover a way of consistently beating the division’s worst teams.

Oliver Glasner

The latest manager to react in the only sensible way to being linked with taking over at Spurs: by promptly losing his next match.

Glasner did at least own it, admitting that changing formation when leading 2-0 at half-time was “the wrong decision” and his ambitious plan “didn’t work” after some early brilliance at the Etihad.

But even that is a mark against his candidacy for other more illustrious posts. The big nerd has been here long enough to know that blaming VAR or sneering at the long-ball merchantism of the opponents is far more preferable than public introspection and accountability.

Arsenal

Already more Premier League points dropped this season than in both of the last two, with a relatively worrying trend developing in terms of squandering advantages: before this campaign, the most points Arsenal dropped from winning positions in a full season under Mikel Arteta was nine. It is 16 and counting in 2024/25.

The good news is that it is really beyond the point of actually mattering and there are no relevant scenarios in which Arsenal’s emerging tendency to waste a hard-earned lead can properly hurt them this season.

The Athletic’s David Ornstein claims it is looking “increasingly likely” that Tottenham will sack Ange Postecoglou at the end of the season.

Spurs are having a horrific season with their 4-2 defeat to Wolves seeing Postecoglou’s side drop to 15th, just two points ahead of Vitor Perreira’s 16th-placed outfit.

Tottenham have won just one in their last six Premier League matches and the only thing keeping Postecoglou in a job seems to be their run to the Europa League quarter-finals.

Postecoglou’s side drew the first leg at home to Eintracht Frankfurt 1-1 and now they head to Germany on Thursday looking to keep their season alive.

The Tottenham board reportedly felt sympathy for Postecoglou earlier in the season when injuries were hitting the Australian’s squad – but, now many of the players are back, and Ornstein reckons a change of manager is now looking “increasingly likely”.

Ornstein told NBC Sports: “It’s no exaggeration Paul, to say this has been a disastrous season for Tottenham Hotspur by their standards. And I think a change in the dugout this summer is beginning to look increasingly likely. That’s certainly the sentiment around football and the people that I speak to. It’s not a personal thing on Ange Postecoglou.

“It’s down to performances, results dating back to really, since the first 10 games of last season, they’ve not been good at all, and the atmosphere among the fan base has certainly taken a dip towards him after he was being praised so heavily right at the beginning.”

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Former Tottenham and Man Utd scout Mick Brown – who is still well-connected in the Premier League – reckons Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner “will walk” at Selhurst Park and be the new Spurs boss in the summer.

Brown told Football Insider: “Oliver Glasner is one of the names on their list. He seems to me to be a very stable character, he knows what he wants and how to get it.

“The evidence is there in the way his team have performed since he came in and they’ve been largely successful – and they’re in the FA Cup semi-finals.

“He will speak to Palace to find out what sort of backing he’s going to get this summer.

“That is both in terms of players they’re going to bring in and players they’re going to keep, because there has been a lot of talk about them.

“If he doesn’t believe he will get that backing, I think he will walk and take the Tottenham job – that’s if he’s the one they decide to offer it to.

“I haven’t heard anything to suggest he’s unhappy at Palace or that he’s wanting to move on.

“But it seems Marc Guehi will leave, there’s endless talk about Mateta, then you’ve got Eze, Wharton, the spine of that team is attracting interest.

“So for Glasner, if the club can’t make any promises about keeping those players, what do you do?

“Tottenham can offer him backing in the market and they’ll be looking to get back into European competition next year, so it’s going to be a big decision.”

The sacking of Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou ‘could be sealed’ this week, with a report stating one thing will see him shown the door by Daniel Levy.

Postecoglou’s second season at Spurs has been a nightmare. After his Tottenham side finished fifth in the Premier League last season, the boss suggested he always wins things in his second campaign.

But the chances for silverware have all dissipated, apart from the Europa League. Tottenham bowed out in the fourth round of the FA Cup, were beaten in the League Cup semi-final, and are currently 15th in the Premier League.

Their Europa League quarter-final is perfectly poised at 2-2, and it’s been reported previously that Postecoglou has been told it’s that ‘or bust’, with his dismissal coming if he doesn’t win the trophy.

There is consistency in that line of reporting, with Football Insider stating his exit ‘could be sealed’ this week if Spurs suffer defeat against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Indeed, the report states Tottenham ‘must win the competition’ to both qualify for the Champions League and for Postecoglou to ‘have any chance’ of keeping his job.

It’s believed a decision ‘could be made’ about Spurs moving for a new manager ‘this week’ if the club exit the European competition.

It has already been reported that Tottenham have approached Oliver Glasner for information on his future, with the Crystal Palace boss not currently in talks to renew his deal with the Eagles.

Meanwhile, our friends at TEAMtalk have long been reporting that Andoni Iraola is a top target, and could be moved upon as soon as Postecoglou is given the boot.

They have also stated that Marco Silva and Edin Terzic are on the radar at Tottenham.

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It is viewed by most that European success will be the only saving grace for Postecoglou, with former top-flight striker Gary Lineker stating: “It’s tough for Tottenham, but hopefully they can do something in Europe. And I’m sure he had his one eye on that this week because that will possibly be his salvation this season.”

Lineker does feel like things might have gotten “a bit much” for Postecoglou this season amid the hard times Spurs have had, though. He and Micah Richards have both suggested they feel sorry for the Tottenham manager amid the tough spell at the club.

According to reports, Tottenham Hotspur may need to pay around £17m to get a Premier League manager to replace Ange Postecoglou.

The Spurs boss is fortunate to still be employed as the Premier League outfit have endured a nightmare season, sitting 14th in the table with seven games remaining.

The North London outfit have massively declined since they came close to qualifying for the Champions League last season, losing 16 games in the Premier League.

Injuries have heavily impacted Spurs, but Postecoglou‘s side have been far from good enough in most of their matches, and he is one of the favourites to be the next Premier League manager to leave.

Having failed in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup, Tottenham’s focus is on the Europa League ahead of their Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

READ: Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt prediction, expected line-ups, how to watch and stats

Postecoglou arguably needs to win this competition to keep his job as Spurs are already linked with several potential replacements ahead of this summer.

Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola and Fulham’s Marco Silva are among the favourites to be Tottenham’s next manager, but a recent report claimed they have made an ‘approach’ to Crystal Palace for Oliver Glasner.

Now, a report from German outlet BILD claims Palace have set a huge 20 million euro (£17m) asking price for Glasner amid interest from Spurs and RB Leipzig.

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Thiago Motta is another potential contender following his exit from Juventus, with a report in Italy claiming he has ‘immediately jumped to second place’ behind Iraola in the race to replace Postecoglou.

Earlier this week, Postecoglou was brutally honest when asked about his future at Spurs.

He said: “I came to this club with a clear purpose of rejuvenating a squad that was coming to the end of a cycle.

“I just think we’re in that position that the good stuff we may do is going to be turned into a glass half full rhetoric and from that perspective I don’t think that can be a driver in what we want to do. The lads are really keen to bring success to the club.

“I don’t think you’re going to win that argument of convincing people, well I think [someone] wrote that even if we win it, I’m gone anyway.

“That’s not having a go at you, that’s just saying the general sentiment of people.

“So if you’re trying to use that as a motivation, you’re not going to win that anyway.

“There’s got to be more in it for us and for us what is the most important thing as a group is that we’ve been through a really tough time but we’re still in a position where we can make an impact and you don’t know how often you get those opportunities.”

Ange Postecoglou was once again on fine form as he faced down his best friends, the media, ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League clash with Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday night.

The Spurs boss was left flabbergasted as he fielded more silly questions, firstly about Mathys Tel covering a penalty in Tottenham‘s 3-1 win over Southampton, thus denying Brennan Johnson a Premier League hat trick.

The Aussie also fired back at questions about winning the Europa League and his future at the club, responding, “I think you wrote that even if we win it, I’m gone anyway.”

Thursday’s meeting with Frankfurt offers Ange the opportunity to nudge Spurs towards a first European semi-final since the club beat Ajax during the 2018/19 season.

Tel and Johnson were seen disputing who would take the late spot-kick before the Welshman seemingly lost out and the Bayern Munich loanee converted.

Speaking on the matter, Postecoglou said, “We scored, and we won. I’m delighted. It’s incredible. It’s literally turning gold into c**p, when it’s Tottenham. Seriously.

“We were 2-1 up. If we’re 2-1 up tomorrow night and we get a penalty in the last minute, I want the best penalty taker to take it.

“The one slight against this club is apparently that it hasn’t been a winner. Well, a winner’s mentality in the last minute of a game is to score a goal.

“We scored a goal and yet somehow in this alternate universe where everything that Tottenham does is wrong, that’s come out as a negative.

“From my point of view, I was delighted because if that’s tomorrow night and we get a penalty in the last minute and we get a third goal which could be really decisive, I’ll be really pleased with the way the players handled it.

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Next on the agenda was a line of questioning about his future, with Big Ange asked if winning the Europa League would help win over his critics.

He responded: “I came to this club with a clear purpose of rejuvenating a squad that was coming to the end of a cycle.

“Whatever noise there is, now or in the future, that shouldn’t diminish that desire. Everything in my professional life has come through a struggle.

“Hopefully, we have worked our way into a position where we can make an impact for during what has been a disappointing season for us. I just think there’s a real determination to take this opportunity.

“I just think you can’t win the argument of convincing people.

“I think you wrote that even if we win it, I am gone anyway. That’s just the general sentiment of the people.

“If you try to use that as a motivation, you are not going to win anyway. It’s got to be something more in it for us.

“For us, what’s most important is that we have been through a tough time, but we are still in a position to make an impact.”

Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt prediction:

This is a massive occasion for a Spurs side that has nothing else left to play for this season, other than some pride at the tail end of a torrid campaign.

Lifting the Europa League trophy would render everything that went before it water under the bridge – at least in the short term – and would allow Ange to live up to his promise of winning something in his second season.

We think they’ll set themselves up perfectly with a high-scoring win against the Germans on Thursday.

They’ve scored two or more in 10 of 11 Europa League home ties, a trend which started in 2020 and has continued this campaign.

They even struck twice against Roma earlier in the competition, a team who are far better than Eintracht and were fortunate to escape without a hammering, let alone a 2-2 draw.

Perhaps the standout stat is the fact that Eintracht have conceded two or more goals in their last 30 losses away from home.

We’ve got no hesitation in saying Spurs should win this match and find the net at least twice.

Tottenham Hotspur team news

Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven started Sunday’s win against Southampton on the bench, presumably so they’d be well-rested for Thursday’s game.

Udogie will replace either Djed Spence or Pedro Porro as Van de Ven comes in for Ben Davies.

Ange’s side may be otherwise unchanged with Vicario in goal and Cristian Romero in defence.

Lucas Bergvall, James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur were all withdrawn before full time and the latter has served a European suspension.

Brennan Jonhson’s brace ensures the Welshman will remain in the team with Son Heung-min likely to flank Dominic Solanke on the other side, even though Wilson Odobert has seen plenty of minutes recently.

Tottenham Hotspur expected line-up

Vicario – Pedro Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie – Bergvall, Bentancur, Maddison – Johnson, Solanke, Son

Eintracht Frankfurt team news

Eintracht have plenty of experience in their ranks, though 21-year-old goalkeeper Kaua Santos was unexpectedly called into action recently.

The Brazilian has turned in a couple of man-of-the-match performances in the absence of 18-year veteran Kevin Trapp.

There’s Premier League experience in the backline with former Leeds United pair Rasmus Kristensen, who is on loan, and Robin Koch expected to start.

The German side have shuffled the pack a lot in recent weeks, even switching formations during an ongoing injury crisis.

However, we expect to see a 4-2-3-1 with Mario Gotze, Hugo Larsson, Jean-Matteo Bahoya and Hugo Ekitike in attack.

Eintracht Frankfurt expected line-up

Kaua Santos – Kristensen, Theate, Koch, Brown – Shkiri, Tuta – Gotze, Larsson, Bahoya – Ekitike

Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt: How to watch and listen

Thursday’s UEFA Europa League quarter-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Eintracht Frankfurt will be shown live on TNT Sports Ultimate and TNT Sports 3. Live commentary will be on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport Extra.

Tottenham Hotspur vs Eintracht Frankfurt stats:

– Spurs beat Frankfurt 3-2 on aggregate when the sides met in the Champions League during the 2022/23 season.

– Tottenham have a checkered past facing German teams, winning 11, drawing two, and losing 11. They’ve lost their previous four meetings, conceding 14 goals.

– This is Tottenham’s best performance in a European competition since reaching the Champions League final during the 2018/19 season.

– Tottenham are on a run of 10 wins and one draw in Europa League fixtures at home.

– Frankfurt have played seven two-legged ties against English opposition. Nottingham Forest remain the only side to beat them twice, back in the 1967/68 season.

– Frankfurt are unbeaten in 21 of 23 Europa League matches.

– Incredibly, the Germans have conceded two or more goals in their previous 30 losses away from home.

Tottenham have reportedly ‘approached’ Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner, while they also want to bring one of his Eagles stars through the door.

Spurs are having a woeful season by their usually lofty standards. Only once in the last 14 seasons have they finished outside the top seven in the Premier League. That was two seasons ago, and Ange Postecoglou turned things around in his first season at the club, engineering a fifth-placed finish after Tottenham came eighth the season prior.

The Australian boss talked a big game about always winning something in his second season, yet his side are currently 14th in the Premier League, and their only chance of silverware is in the Europa League.

Pressure on Postecoglou is ramping up, amid the belief that if that trophy isn’t lifted, his head will be on the chopping block.

Amid the ‘concern’ over the manager, TBRFootball reports Spurs have ‘made an approach’ for Palace boss Glasner. It’s stated that enquiry is to gauge what Glasner is ‘currently thinking about his future’ with his situation ‘far from concrete’.

It’s believed the Eagles boss is ‘currently stalling’ on a new contract as he ‘awaits an answer’ from Steve Parish on the club’s ‘long-term plans’.

Glasner is not the only Palace man being looked at by Tottenham. A separate TBRFootball report states Spurs are ‘huge admirers’ of left-back Tyrick Mitchell, and have ‘decided to push for his signature’ this summer.

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He’s said to be considering his options, given he’s currently competing for the left-back spot with Ben Chilwell.

As such, it’s conceivable that Spurs could land two Palace men this summer. Glasner is unlikely to say no to the chance to sign Mitchell if he does head through the door at Tottenham.

Mitchell has played all 30 of Palace’s Premier League games so far this season, so his manager is clearly a fan, and with the Spurs board already fans of the left-back, the move could be one everyone gets on board with.