A-Leagues legends Ange Postecoglou, Mile Jedinak, Nick Montgomery and Sergio Raimundo will coach Tottenham in the Europa League Final against Manchester United on Thursday morning. It’s been a hell of a ride to get here.
“While it’s not going to be perfect, particularly in the beginning, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.”
Those were the words of Ange Postecoglou in an interview with this journalist six years ago. It was eight months before the Australian trailblazer ended Yokohama F.Marinos’ 14-year wait for a J1 League title.
The year before, Postecoglou had turned Marinos on their head, leaving a pragmatic approach behind in favour of his entertaining football. There were teething issues but 12 months later, Marinos were the kings of Japan.
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Fast forward to 2025 and that Postecoglou quote rings true as an historic Europa League final against English powerhouse Manchester United awaits Ange and Tottenham.
BILBAO, SPAIN – MAY 20: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, looks on during a Tottenham Hotspur training session ahead of the UEFA Europa League Final 2025 between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Estadio de San Mames on May 20, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images) " data-medium-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216102525.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216102525.jpg?w=1024" src="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216102525.jpg" alt class="wp-image-315448" srcset="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216102525.jpg 1024w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216102525.jpg?resize=300,196 300w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216102525.jpg?resize=768,502 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
“Wherever I’ve coached, I want to win things,” Postecoglou told Omnisport previously. “There’s no shying away from that, as much as I want my team playing a certain way because I believe you can be successful doing it that way. What success looks like, I’ve never really thought that way. When I get a team to play the way I want to, success follows.”
It has been a “hell of a ride” at Spurs.
Daniel Levy and Tottenham wanted something different after high-profile managers Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte left a sour taste following their Spurs stints. From pragmatism to front-foot football; enter Postecoglou and AngeBall.
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Postecoglou’s high-octane and swashbuckling brand of football endeared Spurs fans and celebrities alike – from Robbie Williams to Henry Winkler as Tottenham entertained their way to fifth place in the A-Leagues legend’s first season in London despite the loss of talisman Harry Kane.
Then, disaster hit in 2024-25. An unprecedented injury crisis and ongoing speculation over his future. Yet despite all the media talk and questions, Postecoglou has Tottenham within touching distance of their first piece of silverware in 17 years and a first European title in over four decades.
BILBAO, SPAIN – MAY 20: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, speaks to his players in a huddle during a Tottenham Hotspur training session ahead of the UEFA Europa League Final 2025 between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Estadio de San Mames on May 20, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) " data-medium-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216104059.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216104059.jpg?w=1024" src="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216104059.jpg" alt class="wp-image-315449" srcset="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216104059.jpg 1024w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216104059.jpg?resize=300,214 300w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216104059.jpg?resize=768,549 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
“It’s hard to contextualise some of the challenges of the last couple of years. From my perspective I came into the club with some pretty clear objectives about what the priorities were for the club when taking over,” Postecoglou told reporters on the eve of the final.
“I’ve tried as hard as I can to stick to that process of getting the club to a position where they can challenge for trophies while at the same time rejuvenating a squad and changing a playing style. It’s been a fair assignment, with plenty of challenges along the way. It’s such a big game there is an opportunity to fulfil at least the main task which is to bring trophies to the club.”
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Postecoglou added: “That opportunity is to provide something special for the football club and for the supporters and for everyone who has worked so hard, not just this year but for the 15, 16 years, however long it has been without a trophy and also the 41 years without a European trophy.
“If I was worried about my tenure at this football club, it’s fair to say we wouldn’t have been in this position because I would have been distracted long ago. I’m pretty good at just making sure all my focus is on giving this football club the best opportunity that it’s had for a while to do something special. Whatever happens after that, mate, I’m very, very comfortable that I’ll continue on trying to win trophies wherever I am.”
For Postecoglou, the Bilbao final is extra significant through the lens of Australians and Greeks. The Greek-Australian tactician is the first head coach from either of those countries to reach the final of a European cup final.
From South Melbourne to Australia, Postecoglou has won it all – a pair of National Soccer League championships, back-to-back A-League titles and a record 36-match unbeaten streak at Brisbane Roar, plus a ground-breaking 2015 Asian Cup triumph with the Socceroos.
Getting his hands on the trophy would be a crowning moment for a history-maker, who has already changed the landscape of football in Australia and Japan, and won a treble in Scotland.
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BILBAO, SPAIN – MAY 20: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur, looks on during a Tottenham Hotspur training session ahead of the UEFA Europa League Final 2025 between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United at Estadio de San Mames on May 20, 2025 in Bilbao, Spain. (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images) " data-medium-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216100726.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216100726.jpg?w=1024" src="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216100726.jpg" alt class="wp-image-315450" srcset="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216100726.jpg 1024w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216100726.jpg?resize=300,191 300w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2216100726.jpg?resize=768,489 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
“It’s a great opportunity. It’s my fourth year in European football, plenty of people have been in European football for longer than I have, they haven’t got to a final,” Postecoglou said after the semi-final. “So you understand it’s something that you need to appreciate.
“I’ll certainly do that. We’ve given them some real hope and something to dream about, that we can do something special this year.”
And it is fitting that he is surrounded by three other coaches, who also impacted the game in Australia.
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Nick Montgomery, Sergio Raimundo and Mile Jedinak – all three, like Postecoglou, have had their obstacles but have gone on to influence Aussie football in various ways.
Jedinak has been at Spurs the longest. The former Socceroos captain reunited with Postecoglou when the ex-Roar and Melbourne Victory boss was appointed in 2023.
An Asian Cup winner as a player under Postecoglou, Jedinak was 22 years old when he landed a trial with Central Coast Mariners in the Isuzu UTE A-League. He went on to become one of the league’s finest players, winning a Premiership before enjoying a stellar career abroad via Crystal Palace and Aston Villa.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – MAY 22: Ange Postecoglou, coach of Tottenham Hotspur and assistant Mile Jedinak acknowledge the crowd after the exhibition match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Newcastle United FC at Melbourne Cricket Ground on May 22, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images) " data-medium-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2154125732.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2154125732.jpg?w=1024" src="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2154125732.jpg" alt class="wp-image-315454" srcset="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2154125732.jpg 1024w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2154125732.jpg?resize=300,198 300w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2154125732.jpg?resize=768,507 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Mile Jedinak (L) and Ange Postecoglou (R).
“I’m in a unique position where I can open doors for guys who wouldn’t have doors open. I’m biased towards Australians because I know how hard it is – even for you guys to get here as players – what you have to go through, the doors you have to break down,” Postecoglou told Optus Sport previously.
“The stereotypes you had to break down. It’s tenfold as a manager, as a coach. Whether that was Harry [Kewell] at Celtic, Mile here or Muscy [Kevin Muscat] or all the other guys.
“While I’m in this space, it’s not an obligation, but I feel what kind of mark can I leave in Australia as a manager. If I can open doors and create pathways and opportunities then I wanna take that.”
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BODO, NORWAY – MAY 07: Ange Postecoglou, Manager of Tottenham Hotspur (C), speaks to Nick Montgomery, Assistant Coach of Tottenham Hotspur (L), and Sergio Raimundo, Assistant Coach of Tottenham Hotspur (R), during a training session ahead of their UEFA Europe League 2024/25 semi final second leg match against FK Bodo/Glimt at Aspmyra Stadion on May 07, 2025 in Bodo, Norway. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images) " data-medium-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2213965439\_f4cb4f.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2213965439\_f4cb4f.jpg?w=1024" src="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2213965439\_f4cb4f.jpg" alt class="wp-image-315451" srcset="https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2213965439\_f4cb4f.jpg 1024w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2213965439\_f4cb4f.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https://aleagues.com.au/wp-content/uploads/sites/17/2025/05/GettyImages-2213965439\_f4cb4f.jpg?resize=768,512 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px">
Then there is Englishman Montgomery and Portuguese Raimundo. The duo were both brought in at the start of 2024-25 after leaving Scottish Premiership side Hibernian.
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Raimundo first met Montgomery during a coaching course in Belfast, where the likes of Harry Kewell, Gaizka Mendieta and Benni McCarthy were also undertaking their badges.
The pair had kept in touch and eventually united at the Mariners.
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“We had a bag of balls on the pitch. It’s where they walk the dogs. They said, looks there’s this piece of grass and those bag of balls, go out and do it,” Raimundo told aleagues.com.au previously.
Raimundo was Montgomery’s right-hand man with the Mariners’ academy team at a time when the senior side were languishing at the foot of the Isuzu UTE A-League standings.
From the start, the duo placed an emphasis on youth with one very clear message – to believe.
It led to a drought-ending Isuzu UTE A-League Championship in 2022-23, the club’s first title in a decade. It laid the foundations for back-to-back Grand Final wins in Gosford.
“We believed already. That’s the hard part – you believe when no one else does. If we said this in 2019, you probably say we are crazy. It’s fantastic,” he said, having made the move up to the senior side with Montgomery in 2021-22.
“I think people are very critical of football in Australia. They said it’s not good. I don’t agree. I think it’s very good. It can be better. What the boys lacked at the start was belief. They didn’t believe they could get to the level of some players.
“I remember seeing Max Balard if you ask him. I told him, this was our second year in the academy, the academy boys with a view more visas and local players, can challenge to win the A-League. Nowadays, Maxy comes and says we’re in the final, you were right.
“We started with a very amateur setup, but we built departments and brought good people in. Created departments that didn’t exist. It’s more than just a piece of land. It’s what you create and the belief. How you can inspire and how you can believe you can beat others.
“The belief grew around the club. We started winning things. We won the U20s, the first grade in NPL. Last season we went to the final of the Australia Cup. It’s four finals since 2019 in May that we started.
“If Australians believe and work for it, and work well. You can’t do it if you don’t work with quality. You can be challenging for big things in a few years from now, but you have to believe.
“You have to get players moving around Europe. They will be the future of the Socceroos and maybe one day challenging for a World Cup final for example. I believe. Maybe if you say that, Australians are the first ones to say it’s not possible or it’s too hard.
“I don’t think it’s too hard. I always believe with work, the Australians have a big heart. They work hard, they listen, they’re very smart. They just need good guidance and belief. Maybe you can challenge for big things in the future, but you need to believe.”