Ange Postecoglou says that he is not sorry that he always wins a trophy in his second season in a club, while Tottenham looks a Europa League deficiency.
Spurs fell a 1-0 defeat against AZ in Alkmaar last Thursday thanks to the first half of Lucas Bergvall, but sometimes drove their happiness despite the low score.
Spurs are both from the EFL Cup and the FA Cup and are 13th in the Premier League after struggling in recent months in the competition, so that the Europa League has left this campaign as their last chance of silverware.
They last lifted a trophy in 2008 – the EFL Cup – and Postecoglou claimed in September that he wins silverware in his second seasons, after he had done this with Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic.
When asked if he regretted the daring claim, he noted that he had simply explained a fact, without adding extra pressure to his players.
“No, no extra pressure,” Postecoglou kept full. “There is always busy there and, yes, it's a big game, but if we are successful [on Thursday] Night, it will be the same in the next round.
“When you are in the later stages of the European or a Cup competition, you know a bit that every game is useful because it means the end of the road or your progress, so we understand that we have to embrace that.
“My opinion has always been when you ask a question, you answer it. I don't make up anything.
“People used it a bit for their own purposes to suggest that I made a daring claim, but I wasn't.
“Maybe we will defy the opportunities, and I will win something. Do you know what people will say?” Isn't it great that he has made such a daring claim. “People just use it the way they want, depending on the circumstances.
“Whether I win something in my second year here, time will learn it.”
Spurs has won four of their last five European home games against Dutch teams and lost the other against Ajax 1-0 in the Champions League in April 2019.
They also scored in each of their last 29 home games in the Europa League, the longest score on a home floor in the history of the competition. The last time they didn't score at home was in a 0-0 draw with Lazio in September 2012.
That is a good omen for Spurs, who need at least one goal to keep the draw alive in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday.
One reporter suggested that this competition could be a “victory or bust” in terms of the future of Postecoglou at the club, so that the Australian was not impressed.
“There are not many professions in the world where you have to come and answer such questions, are there?” Said Postecoglou. “I'm going to be polite and say we are focused on winning the game [on Thursday].
“We have to do better performance than last Thursday. Of course that was not close to the standard we want.
“We did a number of good things during the weekend, and some not so good things, but we believe that if we play with the intensity and pace we played in the week, we give ourselves a good chance to make progress.”
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