Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham players use Taunts online about their empty trophy cabinet to feed their search to win the Europa League.
Spurs arrived on Monday in Bilbao with Centrum Half Micky van de Ven who promises that the team is ready to banish the unwanted reputation of the club for failure in the final of Wednesday against Manchester United.
“Everyone knows that when you become a member of Tottenham, you get the words that you are not going to win a trophy, and that you will be without trophies for the rest of your career,” said Van de Ven. 'It's these people on social media, you know. People who don't really take you seriously.
“All the guys who came here were like:” We're going to change something about this club “. The Gaffer and the whole team said: “We're going to come here and change something”. For us it is now the task to let this happen in Bilbao. It will be a big thing. '
Tottenham has not won silverware since the League Cup in 2008, has picked up only three large trophies in more than 40 years and the first British club that claims a European prize has not won in Europe since the UEFA Cup in 1984.
“We all know that we are playing for a big club,” said Van de Ven. “This club deserves trophies, that's the truth. If you look at the quality in the team, we earn a trophy. It has been a difficult season, but we can end this perfectly by winning a prize. '
Van den Ven has made it a habit of incorrectly proving people in his career. As a teenager in his native Netherlands, he was almost released by his first club, Volendam. There was a time when they didn't think he needed what was needed.
Now he is a Dutch international, signed by Tottenham for £ 43 million from Wolfsburg in 2023 and perhaps their most important player, the key to the tactical style of Postecoglou.
With him and Cristian Romero since the injury back together, Spurs won four and signed one of their last five tires in the Europa League.
“That's crazy to be honest,” says Van de Ven. 'There were people who did not have the confidence in me and now I am here in a European final. It's a wonderful thing. I think I have proven they are wrong. '
The last time Spurs reached a European final was 2019, when they roared back to beat Ajax on road goals in Amsterdam in a semi -final of the Champions League, leaving a young one deeless behind.
He was an Ajax fan who worshiped their young central defender Mathijs de Ligt, who now plays for Manchester United.
“I wasn't really happy,” Van de Ven admits. “I was in the stadium and he played that game. These are the games that I remember most, from the Champions League when Ajax went to the semi -final and the first to come in my head is the match against Tottenham.
“He played incredible. If you are a young child, you look at him, the captain of Ajax at the age of 18, done an incredible work. Then you think 'I want to be the way he'. '
The goalkeeper Andre Onana of United was in goal for Ajax on that occasion, when Lucas Moura's Hattrick turned the semi -final upside down.
Spurs then lost the final against Liverpool in Madrid. Then lost a competition cup final to Manchester City in 2021.
Now they still have a chance of Glory, and the chance for Postecoglou to continue his record to always win something in his second season in all the clubs he has managed, despite an other terrible campaign, with many injuries and a record 21 Premier League defeats.
“We have been behind the Gaffer since the first day,” says Van de Ven. “He showed his quality and brought us to a European final.
'He has received a lot of doubt from the media, and we see these things, but he proved that all you are wrong and we are in a European final, so hopefully we can cancel the trophy. Not only for us, but also for him. '