Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou sends clear message to critics after Eintracht Frankfurt win
EINTRACHT FRANKFURT 0-1 TOTTENHAM (1-2 AGG): Tottenham came up trumps in Germany as Dominic Solanke struck the winner from the penalty spot to book Spurs' place in the semi-finals of the Europa League
Ange Postecoglou revelled in Tottenham's heroic Europa League quarter-final victory at Eintracht Frankfurt by claiming: "You're going to have to put up with me for a little longer." The under-fire Aussie masterminded the gutsiest performance of Spurs' season to book their place in the last four where they will meet Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt for a place in the final.
Postecoglou said of his critics after Dominic Solanke struck the winner in Germany: "I'm the same manager today that I was yesterday [Wednesday]. Whoever didn't think I was doing a good job yesterday [Wednesday] should be feeling the same way today.
"I don't care, it doesn't bother me or affect what I do, for me it's about the dressing room. Do the players believe, do the staff believe? That's much more important than what others think. Unfortunately for a lot of you, you're going to have to put up with me for a little bit longer so we'll just see how that goes."
Postecoglou is refusing to get carried away, however, and does not necessarily think Spurs' name is etched on the trophy due to the nature of their bizarre season. He added: "No, I don't think that way but from our perspective we've had a difficult season. There's some reasoning behind that which was pretty evident tonight when we had our strongest team out there.
"I'm super proud of the lads, we were playing away from home in the quarter-final against a very good side and we needed to score and show our quality. To a man, I just thought they were outstanding, I am so proud of them and over the two games we deserved to go through. After a season like ours, it would be very easy for the players and staff, they could have left me in a pretty vulnerable place in terms of them splintering, but I’ve never felt that."
In a major boost for Tottenham, Postecoglou issued a positive update on James Maddison after he took a nasty whack from Frankfurt goalkeeper Kaua Santos to win Spurs' penalty.
Postecoglou said of the creative midfielder: "He is fine. Unbelievable courage in that moment to put his body on the line knowing full well that he was going to get a pretty severe knock and I was surprised it wasn’t a red card. Super courageous from him. He is sore but I’m sure that has all been numbed knowing that he has helped us progress to the semi."
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