LONDON, – Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou mentioned he has no regrets saying he at all times wins a trophy in his second season at a membership because the North London aspect appears to be like to overturn a primary leg deficit at residence in opposition to AZ Alkmaar within the Europa League.
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With Spurs out of each home cups and 36 factors behind Premier League leaders Liverpool, the Europa League is the final probability at silverware for a membership who haven’t received a trophy since 2008.
Postecoglou made the declare having received trophies in his second seasons with Australia’s Brisbane Roar, Japan’s Yokohama F Marinos and Scotland’s Celtic.
However his Spurs aspect should first beat Alkmaar who lead 1-0 after the primary leg within the Netherlands.
“No, no extra pressure. We were obviously disappointed with our performance in the first leg. The important thing is we didn’t make the tie impossible for us to get back into, it’s still very tight,” Postecoglou instructed reporters on Wednesday.
“They’ve got the goal advantage but playing at home, if we can play with the intensity and tempo that we did in the weekend then I think we will have an opportunity to progress.
“Ought to we progress we can have one other huge problem within the subsequent spherical. The main target is to place in a powerful efficiency tomorrow night time.”
When asked if he had regrets making such a bold statement about winning trophies, Postecoglou said he was simply stating facts.
“I wasn’t making something up, I answered a query. Individuals have used it for their very own functions suggesting I used to be making a daring declare,” he added.
“If that does not occur, then I can not say that any extra subsequent 12 months, can I?”
Having endured a roller-coaster run in the last three months due to an injury crisis, Postecoglou received a boost with defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero available to start together for the first time since early December.
While Romero played an hour against Bournemouth, Van de Ven came on for the last 30 minutes.
“They obtained by way of the sport nicely,” he said. “Romero, no points. It was nice to get Micky on the market. They’re each accessible.”
Postecoglou also said he is relying on the club’s “management group”, including goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, to guide Spurs into the quarter-finals.
“You need your skilled gamers to carry out in these sorts of video games for positive. We relied rather a lot on our youthful gamers who’ve progressed very well,” Postecoglou said.
“The likes of Romero, Vicario, Maddison and Sonny on the market they’re our 4 leaders. Having all 4 on the market will probably be useful.” Tottenham Hotspur Stadium England Tottenham Hotspur AZ