Ange Postecoglou has new Tottenham hero to thank for keeping trophy claim alive
TOTTENHAM 3-1 AZ ALKMAAR (3-2 ON AGGREGATE): Ange Postecoglou's bid to keep his perfect record of winning a trophy in his second season at clubs is still alive and kicking
by Mike Walters · The MirrorNothing has ever been straightforward in Ange Postecoglou’s Ministry of Fun.
But at drinking-up time in the last chance saloon, two-goal Wilson Odobert became the toast of Tottenham’s European bounty hunters.
Postecoglou’s claim that he always wins a trophy in his second season at each club was down to the last drops of credibility until Odobert came to the rescue.
In the space of a week, Spurs went from looking more rattled than a tambourine in a church band to calling the tune like a jukebox. But they turned plain sailing into a four-act drama, swapping a vapid first-leg defeat in Holland eight days ago for a nerve-shredding salvage operation.
If the Thursday Night League is by no means the apex of big clubs’ ambitions, it offered Postecoglou a road to salvation. Turning over Smorgasbord Rovers, Herdy Gerdy Rangers and Eskimo City in the group stages offers limited kudos, but for Spurs any trophy is a step forward.
In the 40 years since Tony Parks’ shoot-out heroics against Anderlecht delivered Tottenham’s last triumph in Europe, Leicester City have lifted more cups and pots than Spurs. And in the delusions of grandeur league, only Newcastle (55 years), Everton (30) and Aston Villa (29), among the Premier League ’s ‘big’ clubs, have waited longer to tie their ribbons around major spoils.
For Big Ange, this was it: Win or bust.
It was arguably Tottenham’s biggest game since the Champions League final in 2019, simply because it defined whether Postecoglou’s two-year project to restore artistic merit as keynote of the club’s DNA was riding on it.
Amid the shipwrecks of a turbulent season, Spurs had posted cup wins against Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool at the No Trophies Stadium. And with a near-full strength XI on the park - only Dejan Kuliusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur were missing from Postecoglou’s optimum hand - the Great Aussie Growler was out of excuses.
Despite the manager’s appeal for a hostile, intimidating atmosphere, there were still notes of dissent towards chairman Daniel Levy’s rule before kick-off. ‘Built A Business, Killed A Football Club’ read one banner - and, in fairness, Beyonce will be the hottest ticket in north London at her sell-out gigs in June.
But if the early scuffling was unfulfilling foreplay, at least Postecoglou’s players were aggressive, committed and showed an appetite for confrontation.
Cristian Romero, never a shrinking violet where indiscretion is an option, introduced himself to Troy Parrott with an uncompromising challenge which left the former Spurs trainee complaining bitterly that his ankle had been raked.
And after 26 minutes, the breakthrough Big Ange craved duly arrived - thanks to that relentless aggression. Son-Heung-min charged down Wouter Goes’s attempted clearance, and when the ricochet fell kindly for Dominic Solanke, Tottenham’s £65 million record signing unselfishly laid Wilson Odobert’s first goal for Spurs on a plate.
The French winger, preferred on the right wing to the out-of-form Brennan Johnson, made no mistake from 10 yards, his first bullseye since the opening day of the Championship season for Burnley in a 4-1 romp at Luton.
Odobert became the 12th different player to score for Spurs in the Europa League this season as Alkmaar made the schoolboy error of sitting so deep they were almost subterranean.
And three minutes after the break, Postecoglou could see the shafts of daylight as the escape tunnel surfaced beyond the stalag wall. Maddison, so often the ‘daisy’ of this Spurs team - some days he does it, some days he doesn’t - exchanged passes with Son and stroked his 11th goal of the season into the bottom corner with an assured finish.
But just when Tottenham appeared to have the tie under control, they hit the self-destruct button after 63 minutes.
Jordy Clasie had already fired Alkmaar’s first serious effort of the night narrowly off target from 20 yards when Odobert and Lucas Beergvall coughed up possession on the edge of their own box. Peer Koopmeiners seized on their dithering to drill a fierce shot low beyond Guglielmo Vicario to restore parity on aggregate.
But if nerves were jangling among home fans like a nightclub lothario’s bling, Odobert calmed them again 16 minutes from time with the final touch from Djed Spence’s low cross and Solanke’s flick.
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