Is Postecoglou's Job on the Line?

With a loss in the first leg of their Europa league tie with AZ Alkmaar, Tottenham's last quest for a trophy in this campaign is in jeopardy. Trailing the Dutch side 1 - 0 ahead of the second leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Ange Postecoglou knows that it might be win or bust for his side.

In press conferences during this season, Postecoglou has vowed to win a trophy at Spurs this season, saying he always wins a trophy in his second season which has been the case throughout his career.

However, if he is not successful in his quest, he will not be the only coach to have Tottenham as a mere anomaly.

Jose Mourinho has been a coach who has had silverware success everywhere he has gone with the likes of Porto, Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid just to name a few.

However, Mourinho did not win a trophy in his time with Tottenham before his untimely dismissal in 2021 which infamously occurred just days before a cup final against Manchester City. Of all the clubs Mourinho has managed at in his career, Spurs is the only one where he has left without winning a trophy.

Given Tottenham's performances this season, a trophy is unlikely but not impossible. With them being dumped out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa and dismantled in the second leg of a Carabao Cup tie by league leaders Liverpool, they are at their last resort for a trophy which would be their first in seventeen years.

It would also be the first European trophy won by Tottenham since 1984. With Tottenham also being in 13th and seeing how trigger-happy Daniel Levy was about moving on from the long termed tenure of Mauricio Pochettino in 2019 when he was 14th, it is not out of the realm of possibility that the same will happen to Postecoglou, should he fail in the Europa League this season.

Should he get axed by the end of the season however, there is not a high chance anything around the team will change. With the squad being young and seemingly in a changing of the guard and rebuild mode, similar to the beginning of the Pochettino tenure in 2014, Tottenham are seemingly not looking to compete or contend yet but rather build themselves up to be a future contender in competitions.

If Postecoglou does get sacked, then the development of the team and the philosophy and culture of the team is once again destroyed for the fourth time since Pochettino left five and a half years ago in November 2019.

However, there is still time to change the deficit as it is only a one goal advantage for AZ Alkmaar heading into the second leg of this round of 16 tie, so it is still possible for this team to turn this around. However, it should not be a surprise, given Levy's track record, that Postecoglou's Spurs are in a must-win environment for the rest of their season.