What Constitutes a Successful European Season for Spurs?

Twelve months ago Ben McAleer wrote an article for The Guardian in which he championed Tottenham’s chances of upsetting the Premier League odds and winning a first top flight title in over half a century.  In hindsight, the article reads as somewhat fanciful but, this time last year, North London was full of real hope and optimism.

The autumn of 2023 was a time of high line hi-jinks, “Madders for England chants” and a series of press conferences in which Ange Postecoglou bewitched seasoned sports journalists by repeatedly calling them “maaaaaaate”.

(Classic Ange Postecoglou ‘Matery’.)

Unfortunately the second half of the season didn’t really live up to the billing, with Spurs sliding down the league, picking up a number of high profile hidings along the way. Looking back over last season, it’s plain to see that as a club and a fanbase we were all guilty of breaking one of professional sport’s greatest maxims – Never get too high when you’re winning or too low when you’re losing.

Talk of the league title and statues for Ange were clearly overblown, as was the panic that followed along with the calls for the Australian’s head on a platter. In retrospect there was nothing wrong with a fifth place finish following the turmoil of previous seasons and the gaping hole left in the squad by the sale of the talismanic Harry Kane.

Had Spurs managed to turn one of their 12 losses from last season into a victory, they would in fact have pipped Aston Villa to fourth and found themselves in the Champions League.

The fact that we didn’t has left us with a return to Thursday nights and the Europa League, but could that be a blessing in disguise? Is victory in the Europa League a realistic ambition this season? If not, what would constitute a successful season on the continent for Spurs and Ange? Read on to find out.

Is a Europa League Win Likely?

That’s a tough question. If you were to look at the betting odds you would find that the majority of bookmakers have Tottenham as their outright favourites for the competition, so on that front, yes.

But how much can we really rely on the betting odds? After all, Manchester United are second favourites to win the competition and they have arguably the worst manager in the Premier League in Erik ten Hag. So are the betting odds a reliable barometer of probability or more a reflection of the over inflated opinion that English football has of itself?

We think the latter unfortunately. If you scroll down the list of teams in the Europa League this season, there are plenty of clubs with a greater historic and recent European pedigree than Tottenham and, on paper, more talented squads.

(Athletic Bilbao are one such talented squad who have also been performing well in La Liga this season.)

Athletic Bilbao, Lazio, Real Sociedad, Roma and Porto will all come into this year’s competition with realistic expectations of lifting the trophy in May 2025. So, if winning the Europa League isn’t as straightforward for Spurs as the bookmakers suggest, what would constitute success for Ange Postecoglou’s men this season?

Going Deep

One of the things that I hate most about international tournaments is when former players and pundits make claims like, “anything less than reaching the final is a failure for England.”

Well what if they play France in the Round of 16 and have a man sent off in the first half? Or what if they dominate Spain in the semi-final and lose to a controversial VAR decision? What then? Is context irrelevant? Is success arbitrary? I think not.

If that were the case we should all be embarrassed when we think back to that epic night in Amsterdam with fondness. Fortunately football isn’t like that; nothing is as black and white as a TalkSport presenter might like to make it out to be.

(Sorry Jamie, we know you’re a Spurs man but you’re a terrible pundit!)

So, what for European success? Well, in order to look back on this season with a sense of pride we would like to see Tottenham act like what they are – one of the best teams in this tournament. Whether that means going all the way and lifting the trophy in Bilbao next season or bowing out to the eventual winners in the Quarter or Semi-finals.

Anything less than that would be a major disappointment and potentially terminal for Postecoglou’s long-term prospects at the club.