Postecoglou praises four ‘outstanding’ Tottenham stars after Europa League victory
Tottenham Hotspur’s away outing in the Europa League was a success as the Lilywhites secured a 3-2 victory that sees them edge closer to qualification. Manager Ange Postecoglou has now shared his thoughts on the recent victory, singling four players out for praise.
Tottenham Hotspur return to winning ways
Coming into their clash on Thursday evening, Tottenham Hotspur had endured a turbulent week. The north London club had suffered a painful 3-2 loss at the hands of relegation-threatened Everton.
That defeat, piled up the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou as he saw his team slip down the Premier League table all the way to 15th, eight points above the drop.
Since then, numerous reports have emerged about the manager’s future, with some outlets stating that failure to turn results around will see the Australian manager lose his job.
Regardless, the game against Hoffenheim offered the players another opportunity, to put recent results behind them and get a win on board.
With the mood of the club on a low, a victory in the Europa League was needed to lift the atmosphere and relieve some of the pressure on the manager.
Manager Ange Postecoglou praises four players after Europa League victory
Though not perfect, the N17 club got the job done. A Heung-min Son brace and a goal from James Maddison was enough to seal the victory for the Lilywhites, who overcame their German opponent 3-2.
Speaking to football.london, the Tottenham manager handed out praise to his players as they showed resilience and character in these turbulent few weeks.
He said: “Just outstanding by the players, full credit to them. Winning away in Europe is always difficult irrespective of the situation you’re in, but with the situation we’re in, just a really unbelievable effort.
“Great leadership by the experienced players. We really needed them to stand up today. I thought Madders, Sonny, Rodrigo and Benny were outstanding.
“In the first half, I thought we played really well. We created some really good opportunities for ourselves and maybe could have had one or two more. Second half we looked a little bit fatigued and had to hold on a little bit and defend a lot more, which we did okay for the most part.
“When they scored the game tightened up but it was a great finish by Sonny to give us that extra buffer. Yeah, we finished with five teenagers, Brandon’s first game in Europe and second game overall.
“I think you take European victories for granted, but it was a really unbelievable effort and a really strong-willed group of players today and credit to them”.
Have Tottenham Hotspur qualified to the next stage of the Europa League?
Looking at the league phase table, Spurs’ recent victory has pushed them up into fourth place which would be enough to guarantee automatic qualification.
Despite this, the job is not done yet as the table remains congested – Tottenham still need to get at least one win to cement their place in the top eight.
However, if they fail to win, they will still have a chance to make it to the round of 16, only that they will have to get past the play-off round.
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