Has Postecoglou turned corner with ‘re-energised’ Spurs?

It was difficult to imagine anything other than a messy season for Ange Postecoglou when Tottenham Hotspur lost to Tottenham Hotspur for the fourth time in a row four weeks ago.

However, Spurs won their third league game in a row on Saturday against Ipswich Town 4-1 at Portman Road. This was the first time Spurs had done so since December 2023.

The outcome not only strengthened their desire to secure European football once more next season, but also demonstrated their ability to succeed without suffering from injury.

“We’re certainly in a good space, using these two weeks as well as we could to re-energise the team”, said Postecoglou, whose side are 12th in the table and face a Europa League last-16 tie against AZ Alkmaar.

“I just think that we have a really good opportunity to be well-equipped for what lies ahead in these ten days,” he said.

” What’s ahead is obviously Europe, but also an opportunity to address our league position, which is obviously not good enough. “

Although winning is one thing, Tottenham’s ability to take Ipswich apart and maintain resoluteness at the other end was impressive.

The two goals by Brennan Johnson came against the run of play, but Son Heung-min’s superb wing play contributed to the scoring. Djed Spence scored with his first top-flight goal, and Dejan Kulusevski scored for Spurs, who needed to end the game.

” I thought we did the hard things really well, “added Postecoglou”. We struggled with the second ball and duels in the first half a little bit, but we did concede a disappointing goal, despite that, I thought we handled that aspect of the game really well.

When we had the ball, I always thought we were a threat. Sonny]Son Heung-min] was unplayable in the first half and so good to get Brennan back in those areas where he’s always a threat.

Tottenham has been well documented and hasn’t yet fully recovered from their injury woes this season.

Defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven both have thigh complaints, while striker Dominic Solanke is currently sidelined with a knee injury. Ben Davies left the squad for Saturday due to a new issue, while Richarlison is still unavailable.

” We’ve still got some significant players out,]but] they’re all to come back, “said Postecoglou.

However, the situation has recently improved, with the return of Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario, and Wales forward Johnson.

Despite their struggles between November and January, Postecoglou’s side sit 10 points behind fifth-placed Bournemouth.

As long as a team outside the top seven doesn’t lose the Carabao Cup, fifth place is likely to be sufficient to guarantee Champions League football for the following season. In the final, Newcastle will face league leaders Liverpool, who are currently eighth.

It’s not out of the realm to think that Tottenham will close the gap if they continue to produce encouraging performances and outcomes.

Before the March international break, they have back-to-back home games against Manchester City and Bournemouth, before a trip across London to face Fulham.

In Europe, should Postecoglou’s side overcome AZ, then they would face Eintracht Frankfurt or Ajax in the quarter-finals.

Bodo/Glimt, Olympiacos, Viktoria Plzen or Lazio would await in the semi-finals, meaning Spurs are one of the favourites to win the competition.