Ange Postecoglou felt lack of Tottenham 'faith' in narrow focus on Europa League glory | OneFootball

Spurs boss said he made decision in January to put all the eggs in the Europa League basket

Postecoglou's side were derailed over winter by a major selection crisis after which the Australian revealed he decided to go all out for winning the Europa League, which he described as the "toughest thing I've ever done".

He added that his decision was "at odds" with what others at the club wanted but says he understood the doubts.

Speaking at San Mames, with a winners' medal around his neck, Postecoglou said: "This club's had some unbelievable world class coaches, world class players and they haven't had a night like this.

Tottenham ended their 17-year wait for silverware

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"And it's fair to say that it's been really challenging because wherever else I've had success, by this stage I've kind of had the faith and trust of everybody.

"And here it's been different. And I understand. That's not a criticism. It's just I think, because of the club, and the way it's history, I don't think they could ever go all-in on one person.

"For me that's always how it's worked well, when people back my vision.

"But within that, I think when we got to the end of January, the end of the transfer window, and assessed our situation, I just made a decision there and then that this was the trophy we were going to go for.

"And that probably was at odds with what other people at the club believed at the time we should do. Again, that's understandable.

"But I just really believed we could win this."

Spurs have lost a 20 of their 37 league games, leaving Postecoglou's future in doubt in spite of an historic success in Europe, but he suggested their domestic form was a consequence of focussing solely on the Europa League.

"Everything we've done in terms of games, the teams I've selected, has been about making sure that when these games came around, the Europa games, that we're in the best possible condition to tackle them," he said.

"That's come at a cost, for sure, in the league. And I've got to take the responsibility for that. I just felt like the end-game of winning something was more important, and it was the only way I was going to do it."

Ange Postecoglou insisted the club’s Premier League drop-off has been an inevitable consequence

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Before the match and immediate afterwards, Postecoglou said he felt he had unfinished business at Spurs and wanted to stay in post to build on his first two years in charge.

He revealed he had no held any talks with the club's hierarchy, led by chairman Daniel Levy, over his future and had none planned ahead of leaving for a family holiday on Monday, the day after the end of the season.

"As I said yesterday, I still feel there's a lot of work to be done, I think that's quite obvious," he said.

"But not as much work as people may think. People can bang on about 20 league defeats and where we are, but they're missing the point of what we're trying to build, or what I'm trying to do anyway. I really feel that tonight can be a great platform for us to kick on.

"[I have] no planned meetings [with the club]. I haven't had any discussions, no one has spoken to me about anything.

"Maybe they felt like they don't need to or they were waiting for this game.

"What I do know is, I'll go back to my hotel room, get my family and friends together, open up a nice bottle of scotch, have a couple of quiet ones, get ready for a massive parade on Friday, play Brighton on Sunday - really important our last home game and we want to finish strong - and then Monday I'll go on holiday with my beautiful family because I deserve it. And que sera sera."