Ange Postecoglou insists Liverpool thrashing will not hurt Tottenham’s Europa League confidence
Ange Postecoglou reveals why he is not worried about the confidence of his Tottenham squad taking a beating ahead of their all-important Europa League semifinal at Bodo/Glimt despite the side’s heavy loss at Anfield.
The clash against Liverpool was always a bit of a free hit for Spurs, with the club understandably putting all their eggs in the Europa League basket.
However, ahead of the game, some pundits warned Postecoglou that the confidence of his players could take a hit if his side were thrashed badly by Liverpool.
That is exactly what transpired, with Arne Slot’s men emerging 5-1 winners to ensure they lifted the Premier League title in front of their home fans.
Ange Postecoglou says he does not need to lift the squad’s spirits ahead of semi-final
However, Postecoglou insists that his players always knew the difficulty of the challenge that awaited them at Merseyside against a full-strength Liverpool side.
The 59-year-old is confident that Tottenham will be a completely different force on Thursday with the likes of Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro and Rodrigo Bentancur back in the side.
When asked if it is now his job to lift the squad’s spirits ahead of the first leg against Bodo/Glimt, Postecoglou told Football.London: “No, I don’t think so, I think they are well aware of it.
“As I said, we had some key players missing today who I think will come in and sort of make sure there isn’t any hangover from today. Look, we knew the challenge today was going to be a big one.
“We had a really young midfield with Lucas and Archie and you’re asking a massive task of them. Change three of the back four, all of these kinds of things logically tell you it’s going to be a tough day, but when you’re facing the best team, and on such a massive occasion, it was always going to be a huge ask for us and it proved too much.”
Tottenham’s injury situation ahead of Europa League semifinal
Postecoglou did offer one piece of good news in his press conference, confirming that all of his players came through the Liverpool clash unscathed.
When asked if there are any additional injuries ahead of the Bodo/Glimt clash, he said: “Yeah everyone is good. The ones who played all got through it ok. So in terms of Thursday, everyone should be fine.”
Before the game, Postecoglou confirmed that Rodrigo Bentancur had been rested from the matchday squad and had not picked up any injury.
However, the Lilywhites are still waiting on the fitness of their captain, Heung-min Son, who has been out with a foot injury over the last few weeks.
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