‘Mate, it’s not a Willy Wonka golden ticket’ – Ange on big picture of progress and Champions League

Ange Postecoglou has insisted that securing Champions League football for Tottenham Hotspur does not mean success and instead, there is a bigger picture that needs to be considered in terms of progression under the Australian head coach.

Tottenham head to fourth-placed Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon looking to close the gap on their opponents to just two points and will also have a game in handy over Unai Emery’s side.

While it appears that it will be Tottenham and Villa who slog it out for the final, guaranteed Champions League qualification spot, Postecoglou believes that creating a solid foundation to his team and continuing to improve is far more important than just a season in European football’s most presigious club competition.

Tottenham have been starved of European football this season after a disappointing end to the previous campaign saw them only manage to finish in eighth place in the Premier League table.

Postecoglou wants consistent Spurs progress over a brief Champions League return

Tottenham had become Champions League regulars under Mauricio Pochettino, making it to the final in 2019 but had struggled under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte to make any progress deep into the latter stages competition .

Postecoglou is not happy with just qualifying for competitions, but wants to be in a position to continually enhance his side to win trophies.

He told Football.London when asked how important Champions League qualification is to help him develop his squad: “It’s not, actually. What’s more important is that come the end of this year, we’ve got a team that’s going to challenge the following year and keep growing. Right now, the most important thing is us, our identity and our football, because just getting into…mate, it’s not a Willy Wonka golden ticket, you know? It just gets you a year in the Champions League. But if you don’t build on that or grow from that, it is meaningless, I think anyway. Because we’re not in it for participation. We’re in it to win things. Yes, if we make Champions League this year it means we’ve progressed from last year. But has our football progressed? Are we a better team? Are we a stronger team? Are we going to improve in the summer to make sure that next year we are going to be even better?

“That’s much more important to me. My target this year has always been to create a team that I hope will lay strong foundations for moving forward being a team that can win things. That’s where it begins and ends. Logically as you say, if we’ve improved and make Champions League, it means we’ve had a decent year. But that isn’t going to give me any comfort if we’re not playing the football that I want to play and we haven’t improved in the off-season to make sure we’re ready for the next step.

“OK, so there are a couple of teams who got into the Champions League this year from last year, had a good season. Does that guarantee anything the following season? No. I’ve said all along, I’m in no desperation to get something just for comfort or insurance. I’m here to create a team that wins things. For me, it defies logic – I’m just not built that way – to aim for anything other than the top. Now, it doesn’t mean you are always going to get there but I’m not going to settle for anything other than that. If I fall short, well that’s on me, OK? But I’m not going to sit here and try and create a scenario where we’re happy with anything other than being the best. That’s just the way I think.”