Ange Postecoglou wants to build on Tottenham’s Europa League triumph and said he always believed that the club could win a trophy this season.
Spurs’ victory in Bilbao delivered a first trophy in 17 years and saw Postecoglou live up to his words of “always winning in his second season”.
Postecoglou had been under pressure all season, with Tottenham losing 21 Premier League games and sliding to 17th in the table.
The manager hit back at the wording of “teetering between hero and clown” ahead of the Europa League final but was vindicated in Bilbao.
“I think people misinterpreted it. I wasn’t me boasting,” he told TNT Sports. “It was me making a declaration. I had this thing in me: I know that our league form has been unacceptable but us finishing third was not going to change this football club. The only thing that was going to change this football club was winning something.
“When I said that, that was my intent. I’m not afraid to declare it and if I fell short I was happy to cop it, but I believed in it. I couldn’t expect anyone from the club to say that. But I can say that. I was prepared to wear it. People kept reminding me of it. I was comfortable with it.”
Postecoglou said afterwards in his post-match press conference that winning on the Europa League under such pressure was the “toughest thing I have ever done”.
He said he made the decision at the end of January to concentrate on winning the Europa League, even if it meant their Premier League form took a hit, if it delivered a trophy.
“This club has had some world-class managers, world-class players and they’ve not had a night like this,” Postecoglou said. “I knew what I was taking on.
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“It’s been really challenging. Wherever else I’ve had success, by this stage I’ve had the faith and trust of everybody. Here it’s been different. That’s not a criticism.
“I think because of the club and its recent history, I don’t think they can go all-in on one person. For me that’s always how it’s worked well.
“When we go to the end of January at the end of the transfer window and assessed our situation, I made a decision there and then that we were going to go for [the Europa League].
“It was at odds with what other people in the club believed we should do at the time and that’s understandable. But I really believed we could win this.
“Everything we’ve done since then, everything we’ve done in training, the teams I’ve selected, it’s been making sure that when the Europa games came around we were in the best possible condition to tackle them.
“That’s come at a cost in the league and I’ve got to take the responsibility for that. I just felt the endg ame of winning something was more important and it was the only way we were going to do it.”
Postecoglou said he wanted to build on Tottenham’s triumph and believes his job is not done.
“I’m trying to build a team that can be successful for four, five, six years,” he told TNT Sports “I’m the manager and the decision is not my hands, but it’s not going to affect me. If it affected me, this [medal] would not be around my neck, because that means this football club has a trophy.
“I don’t feel I’ve completed the job here. The moment I accepted the role, the one thing I have in my head was to win something. We’ve done that now so I want to build on it.”
Tottenham’s match-winner Brennan Johnson said Postecoglou had “done his job” and had deserved his “mic drop” moment after the criticism he had received.
“He said he wins in the second year and he has,” Johnson said. “If there’s ever a time for a mic drop, it’s now.
“I can’t thank the manager enough for how much trust he has in us and he has a really good way of getting us up for it.”
Former Tottenham forward Gareth Bale said Postecoglou would go down as a “legendary manager” after leading Spurs to a European trophy.
“Amazing for the club. It has been a long time coming. Delighted for the club and all the fans,” he told TNT Sports. “Now Ange goes down as a legendary manager.”
