Craig Foster believes Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League favouritism is justified after watching them ease past Ferencvaros 2-1 in Budapest on Friday (AEST).
Australian manager Ange Postecoglou made seven changes to the Spurs team that beat Manchester United 3-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League on Monday (AEST).
Spurs are now two from two in Europe and the bookmakers have listed them as the competition’s most likely title winners.
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“Ange just clearly got his team humming again,” former Socceroos captain Craig Foster told Stan Sport.
“An immense amount of pressure was building – after the loss to Arsenal – unfairly, I think because the performance against Arsenal was, in most respects, excellent.”
Postecoglou copped it after the 1-0 loss to their fierce north London rivals last month but clapped back at reporters in saying he “always wins” in his second year at a club.
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Foster said Postecoglou had now built enough squad depth to give the Europa League a real shake while also mixing it with the best Premier League clubs.
“That (Europa League) may well be Tottenham’s best opportunity for a trophy this season,” he said.
“It’s certainly eminently winnable by teams of the quality of the English Premier League… at Spurs, the ambitions for this season have raised significantly.
“It’s been an outstanding start to the season, to the competition.
“So it’s going to be a fantastic journey, an adventure.”
Pape Sarr and Brennan Johnson continued their hot form by scoring the Spurs goals in Hungary.
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“Ange was able to demonstrate this morning that he has the size of squad and quality of young players at the club that will allow him to manage more competitions than what was the case last season,” Foster said.
“And that’s very, very important because they had a period in last season’s EPL where a couple of key injuries cost them.
“Clearly he’s attuned to that and he’s well aware of the importance of having expanded the number of players at his disposal.
“And that was on full display this morning.”
In contrast, Manchester United’s season remains on shaky ground after a rollercoaster 3-3 Europa League draw with Porto on Friday (AEST).
United had let a 2-0 lead slip to trail 3-2 in the second half and the wheels further fell off when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off in the 81st minute.
Harry Maguire then salvaged a draw when the England centre back rose high to score the equalising goal from a trademark header in the 91st minute at Estadio do Dragao.
“Conceding another three goals under (manager Erik) ten Hag has been a great concern for the club,” Foster said.
“Once again, having started the game brilliantly, as we’ve seen so often with Manchester United in Europe over the last few years.
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“They seem to somehow always conspire to find a way to get themselves behind in a game and have to pull something out miraculously late in the game.
“That trend has been long standing and it’s one that ten Hag seems to be completely confounded by.
“So this morning only confirmed that Manchester United do have problems.”
Former United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich agreed.
“Erik ten Hag will be relieved that his team got a point out of the game after being 2-0 up,” Bosnich told Stan Sport.
“Does it relieve any pressure on him? Not really, but if Maguire had not equalised then the knives would have been out for him this weekend (Monday AEDT) vs Aston Villa away.”