Ange Postecoglou has stated that the Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson penalty situation in Sunday's 3-1 win over Southampton is "literally turning gold into crap" when it's Tottenham. Leading 2-1 in stoppage time, Johnson won the hosts a late penalty after Wilson Odobert had set him free.
Tottenham's No.22 was on for his hat-trick at that point and wanted to take the spot kick, only for Cristian Romero, who was wearing the captain's armband at the time following Son Heung-min's substitution, to take charge of the situation and give the ball to Tel. Given Johnson was on for his treble and had performed well in the match, many believed it would be he who stepped up from 12 yards to restore Spurs' two-goal cushion.
Instead, January loan signing Tel was the man over the ball and he converted to Aaron Ramsdale's left to put the result beyond any doubt for Spurs. Although it wasn't an incident that didn't get messy as we've seen time and time again in football, Postecoglou was asked about the moment when speaking to the media ahead of Thursday's Europa League quarter-final first leg encounter against Eintracht Frankfurt.
"We scored, we won. Delighted," said the Australian in his pre-match press conference. "It's incredible, it's just... literally turning gold into crap when it's Tottenham. Seriously. If we're 2-1 up tomorrow night and get a penalty in the last minute, I want the best penalty taker to take it.
"I mean the one slight against this club is apparently it hasn't been a winner. Well the winner's mentality in the last minute of the game is to score a goal. We scored a goal. And yet somehow in this ultimate universe where everything Tottenham does is wrong, that's come out as a negative. Be that as it may.
"From my point of view, I was delighted because as I said if that's tomorrow night and we get a penalty in the last minute and get a third goal which could be really decisive, I'm really pleased with the way the players handled it. "
Johnson was also speaking to the media ahead of the European tie and he was also quizzed about the penalty. He said: "I agree [with Postecoglou's thoughts on people making too much from the penalty moment]. I think we're going to go into competitions where it could go down to penalties. In this tournament it's not really about giving people free goals, it's about scoring goals."
Away from the penalty incident, it was put to Postecoglou if there is an anger in the dressing room at the minute to prove to people that the team is still fighting and is a quality side. The Australian said: "I think that feeling exists, but not because of that. I don't think that's a healthy motivation to have because ultimately you can't win that contest. I just thing we're in that position that the good stuff we may do is going to be turned into a glass half full rhetoric and from that perspective I don't think that can be a driver in what we want to do.
"The lads are really keen to bring success to the club, keep driving the principles of what we started this whole journey with, in terms of the football we want to play, really stick together as they have through the toughest of periods and hopefully we've worked our way into a position where we can make an impact on our season, a really disappointing season for us. I just think there's a real determination to take the opportunity that they've earned at this point.
"I don't think you're going to win that argument of convincing people, well I think John wrote that even if we win it, I'm gone anyway. That's not having a go at you, that's just saying the general sentiment of people. So if you're trying to use that as a motivation, you're not going to win that anyway.
"There's got to be more in it for us and for us what is the most important thing as a group is that we've been through a really tough time but we're still in a position where we can make an impact and you don't know how often you get those opportunities.
"We're in a quarter-final and I don't know how many times the club has been in a quarter-final in European competition. You don't want to let that slip you by or have the wrong mindset going into it. I think the players are handling it well in terms of how they're trying to embrace this challenge. They're going to face a top team but they have the capabilities to overcome that."
Now with attention switching back to European football, Postecoglou has virtually all of his players available but Kevin Danso, Radu Dragusin and Dejan Kulusevski remain out through injury. Asked for an injury update for the Eintracht match, the 59-year-old said: "Everyone's good from the weekend from a physical standpoint. It's a good place to be for us, hasn't been many occasions when that's happened this year. We're all excited. It's a quarter-final of a European competition, a home game as well which adds to that excitement so looking forward to it."
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