Tottenham ended the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final against Eintracht Frankfurt at home with a draw. Not many people thought that Ange Postecoglou and his team could defeat the German team in the second leg away. Frankfurt is the team that just won the Europa League two seasons ago and is currently ranked 3rd in the Bundesliga.
However, Tottenham won 1-0 in the 90 minutes and continued with a total score of 2-1. Overall, in terms of playing style, in addition to the 5 crazy minutes at the end of the match, Spurs had the best and most stable performance since the beginning of the season. They made Frankfurt their first home game without a goal since a 0-0 draw with Union Berlin in March 2024.
When the final whistle blew, Ange Postecoglou was "surrounded" by many students and colleagues. They shared a happy taste with the Australian strategist for a ticket to the semi-finals in the context that Spurs were not rated higher than their opponents. Tottenham's victory without captain Son Heung-min was even more meaningful.
Since taking charge at Spurs, Postecoglou's playing style has been shaped as pushing, sometimes attacking despite being short-handed. However, his performance against Frankfurt was opposite. The home team held 61% of the ball control time and continuously crossed into the penalty area of Tottenham, forcing Vicario to continuously take positions to clear the siege.
Not only that, the "Rooster" defense also had a day of working at full capacity to preserve the home team's net. The biggest bright spot of the defense is the pair Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence. Spence has proven his ability to be the top choice with impressive contributions in attack and defense. Meanwhile, for Udogie, he impressed in the first leg at home but even played better in Germany.
Mathys Tel started on the left wing to fill Son Heung-min's position. Every time he lost the ball, Udogie always appeared to help regain control. The defender continuously made dangerous overlapping runs and created a great opportunity for Brennan Johnson to score. However, Arthur Theate blocked the ball.
In the last few seconds of the match, Udogie dribbled towards the corner of the yard instead of passing the ball to the teammate in the position that could score. This is only the second time since October 2024, the five stars are Udogie, Pedro Porro, Van De Ven, Vicario and Cristian Romero. The reunion of this defense has brought Spurs a huge thrust from the lower route.
For the past two years, it seems that Postecoglou does not want to change anything about philosophy. However, there are signs that the 59-year-old has learned from his mistakes and is starting to show a different side against Frankfurt.
Postecoglou has cured his habit by not sending Wilson Odobert and Richarlison off the bench to find more goals. He replaced the two wingers Tel and Johnson with Pape Matar Sarr and Kevin Danso. Sarr came on and played a defensive support role in midfield. Meanwhile, Danso created a 3-man defense with Van de Ven and Romero.
As for goalkeeper Vicario, he deliberately wasted time every time to reduce the excitement of the opponent, as well as force his teammates to slow down. Obviously, Postecoglou's Spurs have managed the game differently every time because everyone knew that playing like that would get a good result in this away match.
The result of this change was a ticket to the semi-finals. Spurs' opponent is considered the weakest team in the last 4 teams - Bodo/Glimt. Postecoglou's future at Tottenham remains uncertain but things will be rosy if he helps the Spurs win their first trophy since 2008. Not to mention the Champions League ticket, a gift as a gift as a gift for Spurs in this difficult period.
