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To say European football has brought Tottenham managers little to cheer since that exhilarating run to the Champions League final is an understatement. In fact, it has more often become the place to issue their last rites.
The seven-goal humbling on home turf by Bayern Munich hastened Mauricio Pochettino’s demise within six months of his finest hour and the dismal 3-0 surrender at Dinamo Zagreb was the beginning of the end for Jose Mourinho.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s brief reign hinged on a miserable defeat at Vitesse Arnhem when he left the first team at home in what turned out to be a presage to a feeble group stage exit in the inaugural Europa Conference League.
Ange Postecoglou would be wise to heed the health warnings as he steps into his first Europa League campaign as Spurs boss on Thursday against Qarabag of Azerbaijan.
Tottenham will kick off another European campaign on Thursday when they take on Qarabag
They have not had much success since reaching the Champions League final in 2019 – the 3-0 defeat by Dinamo Zagreb was the beginning of the end for Jose Mourinho (pictured)
Antonio Conte rushed back from gallbladder surgery only to see his Spurs side lose to AC Milan in the Champions League in 2023
His second season in north London has not set off in blistering fashion.
Wins against Coventry in the Carabao Cup and Brentford in the Premier League have eased the pain of defeat in the derby by Arsenal but he knows just how important it is to make serious progress in Europe after their absence last season.
‘We’re excited to be back in it,’ said Postecoglou. ‘It was a real gap in our calendar and didn’t help us at certain times not having that regular football and the challenge of playing against different types of opposition and exposing out whole squad to meaningful game time.
‘So for a number of reasons. And the worst thing was sitting around watching others teams play in it. That didn’t sit well with me either so being back in European competition is important.’
For the club, it is crucial in terms of prestige and self-esteem, and it increases exposure and brings an extra revenue stream, all of which will go down well with chairman Daniel Levy.
Tottenham have a proud pedigree as the first British team to win a European trophy when they won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1963. They won the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984 but have added only three trophies to the haul in the last 40 years – and none of them in Europe.
Purely in footballing terms, Postecoglou sees the competition as a key factor in the development of his young team. As rival head coaches at the big Premier League clubs moaned about their relentless schedules, Spurs played in only 41 games last season, and it meant his fringe players were not sharp when he needed them most.
‘If we had been in Europe last year, we would have been able to evolve a bit quicker,’ said the Spurs boss. ‘Especially with a young group. For a lot them it will be their first time in European competition.
‘For us as a group it will be the first time. The squad has changed a lot in the last 12 months. I see it as a fantastic opportunity to evolve as a team in a footballing sense and hopefully gets us closer to our goal.’
Ange Postecoglou’s second season at the helm hasn’t started well but there is pressure on Thursday’s tie
Postecoglou has said that Tottenham are ‘excited’ to be back in Europe after a year away
Spurs are 5/1 favourites with the bookies to win the competition – ahead of Manchester United
Under its new format, the Europa League guarantees eight group fixtures with no teams dropping in from the Champions League at the knock-out stage which in theory at least makes the prize more attainable for a club of Tottenham’s stature.
The Champions League final lost to Liverpool in 2019 is the only time they have made it beyond the last eight in Europe since beating Anderlecht on penalties to win the UEFA Cup final 40 years ago but they start this year as 5/1 favourites with the bookmakers ahead of Manchester United, Roma and Athletic Bilbao.
‘The challenge is still the same,’ said Postecoglou. ‘It doesn’t necessarily make it easier because if somehow it’s easier for us I assume it’s easier for all the other teams that are strong in this competition. I don’t think that changes.
‘It’s a unique format, it’s different. My gut feeling is that there will be more in the games. I guess at the end we’ll see if it’s had the effect everyone wanted it to have by being more exciting all the way through rather than in the knock-out phase, but the most important thing is we’re in it and because we’re in it we’ve got a chance.’
Qarabag are the Azerbaijan champions as they have been for 10 of the last 11 years. Like Spurs, they have grown accustomed to European competition and gave Bayer Leverkusen a fright at the last-16 stage of last season’s Europa League when they led on aggregate in the 93rd minute of the second leg only to concede twice in three minutes.
Postecoglou has insisted that the competition won’t be ‘easier’ despite Champions League teams not dropping into it as they have done previously
Qarabag are the Azerbaijan champions and have been for 10 of the last 11 years, but Tottenham are heavily backed to get the job done
Postecoglou will certainly not be complacent. He has inbuilt respect for those fighting with underdog status from his background in Australia even before his Celtic team were stung by unfancied teams while crashing out of a full set of three of the UEFA competitions by the February of his first season in Glasgow.
Celtic lost in a Champions League qualifier to Midtylland of Denmark and finished third in the Europa League group which sent them into the Conference League where they lost at the first hurdle against Bodo/Glimt of Norway.
Spurs go into this fixture without Cristian Romero, who is serving a one-match ban for a red card against Milan 18 months ago. Djed Spence and Sergio Reguilon are not in the Europa League squad.
