Tottenham Hotspur’s manager Ange Postecoglou chuckled at remarks made by former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger concerning his team’s ambitions of qualifying for the Champions League.
Spurs are striving to clinch the Europa League title to secure a place in Europe’s premier tournament, despite experiencing a disappointing season in which they currently occupy 16th place in the Premier League standings. Meanwhile, Manchester United, also semi-finalists in the Europa League, are placed 15th in the domestic league.
With both English clubs favored to reach the final, discussions have emerged regarding their qualification for the Champions League. Wenger joined many who opposed automatically granting the Europa League winners a spot in the top-tier contest.
“They should qualify automatically for the Europa League again, not necessarily for the Champions League, especially where you are in a league where you already have so many teams – five teams who will qualify,” Wenger insisted.
A thoroughly unimpressed Postecoglou took the opportunity to fire back at Wenger and those who share his opinion, claiming “Spurs does crazy things to people”.
“Well, I mean that’s a debate that’s been raging for years, like at least the last eight days,” Postecoglou responded sarcastically. “I’ve never heard that before, so…
“I’ve said it before, mate, Spurs does crazy things to people. It does, it does., You put that club into any sentence or any issue, and invariably they all come out and try and diminish as much as they can. Why wasn’t there an issue before and it’s an issue now? What’s the difference? I don’t understand what the difference is.
“Last year, fifth [in the Premier League] didn’t get you into the Champions League, this year it does. What does that mean? There are competition rules and the rules say that the winner goes into [the Champions League] and it’s not the first year, and there isn’t an asterisk against it that you have to do something else as well. But it’s Spurs, mate, they love it. They love it. Oh, they love it, you love it, don’t you?
“I don’t want to go down that road because I’ve got a great respect for Arsene. He’s one of the legends of the game, but it does crazy things to people, mate, I love it. I love it, bring it on. it’s going to upset people, so that makes me happy.”
Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario also laughed off the comments, adding: “Everyone can have their thoughts on everything in life. I do not agree [with Wenger] but it does not matter. They are the rules.”
Postecoglou’s side breezed to a 3-1 win over Bodo/Glimt in the first leg of their semi-final – a match they could have easily won by more goals – and are comfortable favourites to put the tie to bed in Thursday’s return fixture.
Should they advance to the final as expected, they will likely come face to face with United, who hold a 3-0 advantage over Athletic Club.
