Ange Postecoglou claimed talking about Tottenham ‘does crazy things to people’, including former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.
Wenger, who is now FIFA’s chief of global football development, drew the ire of Tottenham and Manchester United fans on Tuesday when he suggested the winners of the Europa League shouldn’t be guaranteed a spot in next season’s Champions League.
The Frenchman believed it was something UEFA had ‘to think about and to review’, especially since the Premier League would have five teams in the Champions League next season thanks to their improved ranking in UEFA’s coefficients.
But Postecoglou has returned serve in emphatic fashion and declared people ‘try and diminish’ his club at every turn.
“Well, I mean that’s a debate that’s been raging for years, like at least the last eight days,” Postecoglou said.
“I’ve never heard that before. I’ve said it before, mate, Spurs does crazy things to people. It does, it does.
“You put that club into any sentence or any issue, and invariably they all come out and try and diminish as much as they can.
“Why wasn’t there an issue before and it’s an issue now, what’s the difference? I don’t understand what the difference is.
“Last year, fifth didn’t get you into the Champions League, this year it does. What does that mean?
“There are competition rules and the rules say that the winner goes into [the Champions League] and it’s not the first year, and there isn’t an asterisk against it that you have to do something else as well.
“But it’s Spurs, mate, they love it. They love it. Oh, they love it, you love it, don’t you?”
UEFA tweaked competition rules in 2014 for the winner of the Europa League to qualify for the next season’s Champions League.
It is a rule Tottenham stand to benefit from as they hold a 3-1 lead over Bodo/Glimt going into the second leg in their Europa League semi-final tie.
Should Postecoglou’s side maintain their advantage, they appear poised to play United in the final after Ruben Amorim’s side beat Athletic Club 3-0 in the first leg.
Victory in the Europa League is the only possible route for both Tottenham and United to play European football next season and all the riches that come with it due to their appallingly low positions in the Premier League.
However, Tottenham will have to do it without James Maddison after he was confirmed to be out for the season with a knee injury he picked up in the first leg.
Thursday’s clash in Norway will also come too soon for skipper Heung-Min Son.
But Postecoglou has been given a major boost in the form of striker Dominic Solanke, who was another casualty of the first leg when he exited the contest with a quad complaint.
GettyMaddison will play no further part in Tottenham’s season[/caption]
“Dom’s good, he’s been able to train fully for the past couple of days, so he’s no problem,” Postecoglou said.
“Disappointing for Sonny. He was pushing hard.
“He has progressed, there’s the possibility of him getting some game time on the weekend for us, but he hasn’t trained with the team yet, but he is progressing, so we’ll just wait and see how he goes.”
Tottenham’s second leg against Bodo/Glimt gets underway on Thursday at 8pm and fans can tune in to all the action live on talkSPORT 2.
