One of the border control officers of Frankfurt airport joked by saying a group of journalists that each fan of Tottenham Hotspur whom he met on Wednesday was pessimistic about their chances of beating Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter -final of the Europa League.
It was a miserable season for the Spurs. They lost more than half of their first league games and were beaten by Liverpool in the return match of the Carabao Cup semi-final. The supporters went to Germany with a feeling of moral duty rather than the hope of looking at their team progress.
They were rewarded with a 1-0 victory for a global victory 2-1 and the reality is, apart from a manic spell of five minutes at the end of Thursday evening match, they were unusually mature and solid on both legs.
Francfurt failed to score at home for the first time since a draw with Union Berlin in March 2024. The Spurs beat the superior quality opposition for the first time since a 1-0 victory against Liverpool in January.
All the emotions have been poured full time. Angel Postcoglou was assaulted by his coach staff and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario charged through the field and jumped on it. Richarlison ran on the ground of the substitutes, not knowing who congratulated first.
Postcoglou gave Dominic Solanke, who scored the decisive goal, a huge hug, while the rest of the team hung the applause of the fans. This is the first time that they have been united for months and Postcoglou has had a rare smile engraved on his face. That the Spurs won without their injured captain, the son Heung-Min, makes him even more impressive.
Tottenham coach staff have all jumped on Postcoglou with full -time whistle, then Vicario also ran pic.twitter.com/nqbr2pe3on
– Jay Harris (@jaydmharris) April 17, 2025
Postcoglou descended the tunnel with his arm around his injured hero James Maddison. The English international won the Solanke converted penalty after being slammed by the goalkeeper Kaua Santos. Maddison tried to continue playing but had to be substituted before half-time. Postcoglou praised the “incredible courage” of the midfielder and said he was “painful” but well.
If the Postcoglou game style is to dominate possession and push high on the field, then this performance was the opposite. Frankfurt had 61% of the ball and, in the first half, constantly whipped the crosses in the box. They had several pieces and Vicario was forced to make some stops. In the 15th minute, Santos launched a goal kick directly in the middle that seemed to present Hugo Ekitike with an individual with Vicario. Micky Van de Ven has produced a fantastic tackle to prevent the international under 21 from scoring.
There was a heroic block of Lucas Bergvall to deny Ekitike in the second period too. The main quality of Bergvall is forward with the ball, but it was remarkable in the number of times it resumed to cut a cross.
The best player on the field, however, was udogy fate. The left back in Italy had trouble during its second season with the Spurs. Udogie missed two months of action with an injury to the hamstrings and its replacement, Djed Spence, shone. Spence presented a solid case to become a first choice with its attacker and defensive contributions. Udogie impressed in the first leg against Frankfurt but was even better in Germany.
Udogie was back to his best against Eintracht (Maja Hitij / Getty Images)
Mathys Tel started on the left wing due to the wound at the foot of the son. This was struggling to dribble Rasmus Kristensen, but each time he lost the ball, Udogie was there to help reclaim it. Udogie continued to do dangerous races and created a fantastic opportunity for Brennan Johnson to score in the 66th minute, only so that Arthur Theate does an interception. In the last seconds of the match, he wisely dribbled towards the corner instead of giving in to the temptation to pass the ball to a teammate in a scorer position. It was only the second time since October that Audogie, Pedro Porro, Van de Ven, Vicario and Cristian Romero began together. Gathering this quintet gave the Spurs a massive boost.
He felt in the past two years as if Postcoglou did not want to look at one of his beliefs, but there were signs against Francfurt that he learned from his mistakes. He resisted the desire to call Wilson Odobert and Richarison of the bench looking for an additional objective. He replaced his two wingers, Tel and Johnson, with Pape Matar Sarr and Kevin Danso. Sarr was an additional body in the midfield while Daro forged a three back with Van de Ven and Romero. Vicario seemed to take more time than usual with his kicks. The PostCoglou team managed the game differently.
This is an important moment in the Tottenham season and the Postcoglou reign. If they had lost, his position would have been untenable. Now, they face the Bodo / Glimt of Norway for a place in the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21. Despite all the difficulties that the Spurs encountered, including a long list of injuries, they reached the semi-finals of two different competitions of cuts. There is uncertainty about the long -term future of PostCoglou, but it could win the Spurs their first trophy since 2008.
“We cannot go too far on ourselves,” said the director. “We are in the semi-finals and will play a difficult opponent, but it is not my belief in the team. What is more important is the belief that the team had because after a season like ours, it would be very easy for players and staff, they could have left me in a fairly vulnerable place in terms of belief, but I never felt what we are trying to make us unite. I had our own chance in terms of recovery of certain players, which I really thought that this team could realize.
“This is what leads me.
What will be the size of this victory in the reign of Postoccoou? (Kirill Kudryavtsev / AFP via Getty Images)
The happiness and relief of the postcoglou were clear to see, but he could not resist taking a blow on the media with the last line of his post-match press conference.
“I am the same manager today as I was yesterday, so if people think that we win this evening a better manager or whoever thinks that I was not doing a good job yesterday, I should feel the same thing,” he said. “I don’t care, it doesn’t bother me, it doesn’t affect what I do. For me, it’s still a cloakroom. Do players believe? The staff believe? It’s much more important than what others can do with me. So, unfortunately, for many of you, you will have to bear me a little longer, guy, so let’s see how it goes.”
It could have been the last postcoglou match in charge, with the comic defeat last weekend against Wolverhampton Wanderers, darkening the atmosphere. The presence of technical director Johan Lange and the director of football Scott Munn during the open training session on Wednesday seemed to add to the tension.
Everything was at stake and Postocoglou managed the situation perfectly. In September, he reminded everyone that he won a trophy in his second season with a club. Postcoglou took a giant step towards success.
(Top Photo: Postcoglou famous with its full -time staff and players; by Alex Grimm / Getty Images)
