BODO, Norway :Ange Postecoglou says a Europa League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United would upset a lot of people but the tough-talking Australian could not care less on Thursday after guiding his side into the May 21 showdown.
Tottenham produced a gritty display to beat Bodo/Glimt 2-0 inside the Arctic Circle for a 5-1 aggregate triumph in the semi-final and the north London club are now one win away from salvaging a troubled season with a first trophy since 2008.
Despite Tottenham being 16th and Manchester United 15th in the Premier League standings, the winner in Bilbao will be rewarded with a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Postecoglou hit back at former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger on Wednesday after the Frenchman insisted it was wrong for the Europa League winners to gain entry to the Champions League.
When the subject was raised again after Thursday’s composed victory in the Aspmyra Stadium, the 59-year-old was primed.
“It’s going to upset a lot of people isn’t it! The debate’s now raging, the latest one is that neither of us will be able to get a trophy if we win, they’re just going to take a team photo because we’re not worthy,” he told reporters.
“I mean, who cares if we’re struggling in the league? Why is that important? If it’s so easy to get to a final, then why doesn’t everyone who finishes in the top three do it?
“We understand our league form hasn’t been great. We understand the struggles we’ve had. A lot of them are because of the situation we’ve been in. But how does that diminish the achievement of getting to a final?
“I couldn’t care less who’s struggling and who’s not. I think both us and United have earned the right to be there.”
Tottenham’s form un Europe this season has been in stark contrast to their Premier League campaign in which they have lost 19 times in 35 matches. In the Europa League they have won nine of their 14 matches, drawn three and lost just two.
Just as in the quarter-final second leg away to Eintracht Frankfurt when they ground out a 1-0 win, Tottenham dispensed with the risky style that has undermined them this season and produced a textbook display of pragmatism.
Bodo/Glimt had beaten the likes of Porto, Besiktas and Lazio on their home pitch to reach the semi-finals but Tottenham nullified them to such an extent that the Norwegian side failed to score in a game for the first time since October.
“I love winning. That’s what I’ve done my whole career.” Postecoglou, whose tactics have been vilified at times this season by TV pundits, said. “I love the way the boys clearly understood what we needed to do tonight.
“The key thing for us was not to allow them to get any sort of rhythm in their game. We never allowed them really to get into our half with any sort of clean possession. It’s a credit to the boys that they understood what the task was tonight.”
For Bodo/Glimt it was a bridge too far as they failed to become the first Norwegian side to reach a European final.
“Tottenham deserve it and were much better than us. They are really good in the press; how they press a lot one against one and use time when they need to use time,” their manager Kjetil Knutsen said. “I really feel we were not in the game at all.”
(Writing by Martyn Herman in London, additional reporting by Phil O’Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
