Tottenham Hotspur have sacked Ange Postecoglou despite the 59-year-old Australian winning them the Europa League.
It was Tottenham’s first trophy in 17 years. A shocking triumph as Spurs are not used to winning trophies regularly, let alone European ones.
Therefore, Postecoglou’s sacking after delivering a European trophy comes as a bit of a surprise. However, given Tottenham’s horrible domestic form, it probably seems justified that the Australian was shown the door.
Tottenham’s Terrible Domestic Record in 2024/25 Season
Tottenham finished in 17th position in the league table – fourth from the bottom.
Postecoglou’s men suffered 22 defeats in 38 matches, which is as shambolic a record one could think of.
Hence, Tottenham’s owner Daniel Levy had to make a decision regarding Postecoglou. It is true that Spurs had to deal with injuries from time to time, but Postecoglou was guilty of being over-adventurous for much of the season, which resulted in a string of defeats.
The Australian quite infamously played with a high defensive line despite being reduced to nine men against Chelsea, leading to five conceded goals.
His decision to play with a single holding midfielder and using both James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski as central midfielders also backfired mostly, as Tottenham were vulnerable defensively.
It did not help that Richarlison and Timo Werner finished with six goals between them in the entire season.
Tottenham’s football was free-flowing and fast mostly, but it was not good enough in terms of effectiveness.
The approach was not pragmatic at all, as they should have used the double-pivot of Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr more often in the midfield.
That would have stifled their attacking freedom a bit, but would have provided them with a certain degree of security and assurance.
Postecoglou mended his ways towards the end of the season.
His side came with a dour display against Manchester United in the Europa League final, securing a 1-0 win despite having 27% ball possession.
Injuries to Micky van de Ven and Christian Romero, the regular centre-backs, was a problem throughout the season, but the former came up with a spirited performance against United in the final.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Lyon’s Paulo Fonseca’s Nine Match Ban Has Been Upheld, but Why?
Big Ange’s Spurs Chapter Comes to an End
One can only wonder what might have happened had he changed his approach much earlier in the season.
Postecoglou has won trophies in Australian football as well as in Scotland with Celtic.
He repeated the feat with Tottenham, but that alone isn’t enough when a team loses so many matches in a season. His side will play in the UEFA Champions League next season – under a new manager.
The domestic form of his team has thus cost him his job and no justification can be made for finishing 17th in the league table.
One can only hope that “Big Ange”, as he is popularly known, finds a good club as his next assignment and delivers more trophies there as well.
However, he will do well to understand that pragmatism almost always prevails in football management in general.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Crystal Pix
Recording Date: 06.06.2025