Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League win is a triumph of management for Ange Postecoglou

Lads, it’s Tottenham.

There was something surreal about watching the scenes at the San Mames stadium just before 11pm. Guglielmo Vicario collapsing to his knees, then to the floor, and staying there. Richarlison sprinting down the touchline, twirling his shirt over his head. Cristian Romero being mobbed by team-mates. Son Heung-min sobbing, embraced by James Maddison. Dejan Kulusevski, who underwent knee surgery last week, dancing around as fast as his brace and crutches would allow.

Many Spurs fans here — and many more watching at home — will have been wondering for years what exactly it would look like, what it would feel and sound like, to see Tottenham Hotspur win a trophy. It had been 17 years since Juande Ramos’ Spurs beat Chelsea to lift the League Cup.

It looked like nearly two decades of pent-up frustration finally exploding from the dugout and the stands. It felt like the memories of the previous four finals — the League Cup in 2009, 2015 and 2021 and the Champions League final in 2019 — being laid to rest, the settling of the historical debt between the club and the fans. And it sounded unlike anything you have ever heard, from the roar at the final whistle to the deafening Can’t Smile Without You 45 minutes later. They belted it out, hoarse, ecstatic, grateful to be here, grateful to be alive.

For too much of the past few years, Tottenham fans have seen their team become a byword for banter, the easiest punchline in sport. On Wednesday in Bilbao, the joke was finally on the other foot.

But amid all of the tears and dancing and singing, from Freed from Desire on the pitch to Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten in the dressing room, stood one proud, calm man. Ange Postecoglou was jumped on by his staff at the final whistle, but looked happy to stand there and take it all in. The head coach radiated relief, satisfaction and a level of vindication never registered in a human being before. He did not even need to say that he had been proven right, because it was so obvious. And if there was any doubt, Maddison and Sergio Reguilon, medals around their neck, paraded a banner around the pitch. It showed Postecoglou holding a photoshopped Europa League, captioned, “I always win things in my second year.”

The players did not get back to Bilbao’s Hotel Carlton until just after 2am. By then, the party was in full swing. Some players wanted to dance, some spent time with their families, others just looked exhausted. Daniel Levy thanked everyone and Postecoglou, who arrived before the squad with a huge grin, spoke movingly about the importance of family to this success.

The real story of this Europa League triumph — Tottenham’s first European trophy since the UEFA Cup in 1984 — was how Postecoglou navigated his way through an otherwise disastrous season to glory. Right at the moment when Spurs were at their lowest, and the Postecoglou project felt like it was sunk, he convinced his players to keep their eyes on this trophy, to keep walking along that narrow path, to become a different team, play a different way, and win.

When the Australian was applauded into his press conference, a few minutes after midnight, he revealed something that made this whole run make sense. That at the end of January, he decided the Europa League would be the target. Even though “other people at the club”, as Postecoglou put it, saw things differently. But he always believed Spurs could lift the Europa League trophy and everything he did from that point was to achieve that.

That explains so much over the past four months. Protecting Micky van de Ven and Romero as they returned from injuries that ruined Spurs’ league season. Resting them from Premier League games even if it meant racking up more and more league defeats. Van de Ven has started only nine games in 2025 since he recovered from his second hamstring injury of the season. But seven of those nine have been in Europe. And this trophy would have been impossible without him, the man who makes this team work. The acrobatic clearance from Rasmus Hojlund’s header was a move only he could make.

Micky van de Ven’s acrobatic clearance (Carl Recine/Getty Images)

Romero has played more Premier League football than Van de Ven this year but he has missed the last four league games, with Kevin Danso starting instead. And he showed on Wednesday what a unique footballer he is, combining ice-cold intelligence with physical aggression (Spurs have conceded three goals in their past six European games with those two back together). We could say similar about the rest of the starting XI, managed and protected to give Tottenham the best possible chance on the night. The debates about Postecoglou’s rotation policy have now been settled.

But this was about more than just the players, it was about how they played. The head coach also revealed he is hurt by suggestions he is an ideologue, an aesthete, someone who cares more about style than substance. He sounded as if Levy saying that Spurs “went after winners, and now we’ve got Ange” rankled with him. “I’m a winner,” he said. “I’ve been a winner my whole life.”

Over the past few months, since Postecoglou decided to go all-in on Europe, we have seen a radically different Spurs approach. So much of what we thought we knew about ‘Angeball’ has been turned on its head. They have become a different team in front of our eyes. No high line, no constantly playing out from the back, no monopolising possession unless it can be used to do maximum damage.

When we first saw this in the 1-0 win at Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-final second leg, it felt like it might be a one-off. Against Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final, Spurs were more ruthless and efficient than ever before. Richarlison came back on the wing and dominated his opponents. Spurs won 5-1 over two legs. It should have been more. The coaching staff were so thrilled with Richarlison’s commitment and running, especially in Norway, that he got the nod to start over Son in the final.

But this was not just a way past the Norwegian champions. It was a blueprint to win the whole thing. Postecoglou knows knockout football is different. It requires clarity, pragmatism and more specific plans. “Big games come down to moments,” Postecoglou explained after the game. “You’ve got to limit the moments for the opposition. You’ve got to change your approach. That was always going to be our approach in Europe.”

The players bought into it. All season, they have been obsessed with the prospect of winning a trophy and talked about little else. It has been one of the things holding this group together. It was a feeling Postecoglou knew how to tap into. The walls of the training ground are decorated with black and white photos of Spurs teams of the past lifting trophies. Postecoglou has had a clear message for the players: “Get on that wall.” The power to make history lay in their hands.

The mood among the squad was relaxed throughout Monday and Tuesday. But on Wednesday morning, something shifted in the camp. A new feeling of ruthless determination and focus. In part, it came from Postecoglou, determined not to get distracted by anything external. The rest of the coaching staff fed off his confidence and clarity.

The players led the new mood, too. Romero, the starting captain for the final, was key to this. He has won two Copas America and one World Cup already, and knows better than most how big games work. Even if he is not fluent in English, he leads by example and set the tone for the rest.

So, for all the pre-match talk about Spurs’ latest injury crisis, missing their three best creative midfielders, Tottenham still came into this game with a robust plan to win. The plan they had been perfecting on Thursdays for months. Defend deep. Keep it tight. Go direct. Be physical. Waste time if you have to. Everything geared towards the greater goal of glory. Setting them up for the most efficient performance of them all: three shots, 27 per cent possession, 115 passes, another clean sheet, one trophy at the end.

It has been a triumph of management to win this competition. Postecoglou has confounded so much that we thought we knew about him. But becoming a different manager is one thing. Convincing his players they could become a different team is quite another. Convincing them they could actually win. He has been wrestling with a profound force, the inevitable weight of “the history of Tottenham”. And he has emerged victorious.

(Top photo: Alex Pantling — UEFA via Getty Images)

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