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Ange Postecoglou has said winning the FA Cup will not transform Tottenham into serial winners despite the desperation among supporters to end a 16-year wait for a trophy.
The 58-year-old is enjoying a fine start to life as head coach with Spurs just six points off the top of the Premier League, but he faced criticism in August after the club exited the EFL Cup at the second-round stage to Fulham.
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Tottenham are without any European football this season yet Postecoglou still made nine changes to his starting line-up at Craven Cottage, where they lost on penalties after a 1-1 draw.
Spurs have not won any silverware since the 2008 League Cup and previous managers have been accused of not taking the domestic cup competitions seriously in the past.
Ahead of Friday’s FA Cup third round clash with Burnley, Postecoglou told a news conference: “There can’t be a desperation to win a trophy because it cures all ills because it doesn’t. As soon as you win one, what do you think the fans are going to say? ‘It’s OK, you don’t have to win one for another 15 or 16 years?’
“No, they’ll want more. So, it is about putting yourself in a position where you can compete for these things regularly and give yourself every opportunity to win every competition you’re in.
“It is not just winning a trophy and thinking that is going to be enough. And a football club like this, which is the context for what I’m saying, there would be a demand from not just supporters, but players and everyone involved at the club saying we want more of this.
“So, I can’t just sit back and say, ‘hold on, I’ve just delivered a trophy. Shouldn’t I have some latitude to not be successful?’ It doesn’t work that way.
“I am determined to bring success to the football club but it is not a desperation for something that will give us some respire for what is ahead. When you’re a big football club there should be a constant demand for success.”
Other managers including Mikel Arteta and Jose Mourinho have used winning the English cup competitions as stepping stones to challenge for bigger honours but Postecoglou said: “There is plenty of evidence to suggest it doesn’t work at all that way unless you can back it up. Again, at a football club like this which should be competing for honours every year, I don’t think winning one trophy should be the holy grail. It should be creating a team and a club that is competing for trophies every year.
“People are allowed to criticise. I don’t always get it right. I put out a team [at Fulham] that I thought could win us the game that night. We lost on penalties to a Premier League club away from home that’s doing pretty well there.
“So, it was early in the season. I know how hard it is to play our football and I didn’t want to expose the whole group to three games in a week that early in the season.”
Postecoglou said Micky Van de Ven is back in training and there is a possibility the Dutch centre-back could make his first appearance since Nov. 6.
Alejo Veliz is expected to be missing for around two months with a knee problem but James Maddison could be back in a fortnight as he steps up his rehabilitation from an ankle injury.
Spurs remain in talks with Genoa over centre-back Radu Dragusin and asked about the likelihood of a defender joining Tottenham in January, Postecoglou said: “It’s hard to say because I don’t get involved in that side of it.
“As I said leading into the window, we’ve got some objectives and some targets and we’re working towards that.
“People behind the scenes and in charge of those areas are working towards that and my role within that is when I’m sought for guidance and clarity on which way we need to go, I provide that.”
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