“Unfortunately, you’re going to have to put up with me for a little longer.”
A defiant response from Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou in the aftermath of his team booking their place in the Europa League semi-finals thanks to a 1-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt in the second leg of the quarter-finals.
Dominic Solanke’s penalty just before half-time fired Spurs into a 2-1 lead on aggregate, before a stoic defensive performance ensured their progression into the final four of the competition, keeping their hopes of silverware and European qualification alive in the process.
Pressure had been heaped on the Spurs boss in the build-up to the game, following a dismal 4-2 defeat to Wolves and the season hinging on progressing in Europe, but his team responded with an impressive performance to tee up a meeting with Bodo/Glimt in the semi-finals.
“Unfortunately for a lot of you, you’re going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer. So let’s see how that goes,” Postecoglou said in his press conference.
“I think I said yesterday, I am the same manager today that I was yesterday, so if people think us winning tonight makes me a better manager or whoever thinks I wasn’t doing a good job yesterday, should be feeling the same way.
Tottenham players celebrate Dominic Solanke’s opener at Frankfurt
“I don’t care, it doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t affect what I do. For me, it’s always about the dressing room. Do the players believe? Do the staff believe? That’s much more important than what others may make of me.”
Spurs face fourth-placed Nottingham Forest, live on Monday Night Football, in their next Premier League fixture.
Postecoglou: Frankfurt victory will not silence critics
Postecoglou also claimed the victory would not silence his critics but bit back at those who “ridicule” his achievements as a manager.
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Speaking to TNT Sports when asked whether or not the win could ease the pressure from the outside world, he said: “Doubt it! My pleasure comes from seeing this group of players rewarded. They have never lost belief. Super proud of them.
The Australian head coach was then asked about his “always winning something” in his second season comments from earlier in the campaign, where he continued: “I will leave that. People like to mock and ridicule. They diminish my achievements, I will keep doing what I do.
“We are in the final four. Semi-final of a European competition. We are not often there.”
Will Postecoglou’s premonition come to fruition?
Sky Sports’ Patrick Rowe…
“I always win things in my second year,” said Postecoglou at the beginning of the season.
It was a statement that has loomed large over this team for much of the 2024/25 campaign, especially after exits in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Mathys Tel was a key performer for Tottenham in the win in Frankfurt (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
However, with pressure and noise being piled onto them heading into this fixture, they responded and now move one step closer to proving all the critics wrong.
It was a performance that was needed from these players. Questions have been asked of their character, grit and determination throughout this season but this display, at a hostile Deutsche Bank Park, showed all of those qualities in abundance.
They are not there yet but if they play like that for the remainder of the competition, they will be hard to beat.
