Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou claimed he "couldn't care less" about climbing to fourth in the Premier League on Sunday, suggesting other factors about the team are more important.
Tottenham moved into fourth with their 3-1 win against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, jumping ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference and 11 points clear of Manchester United in sixth. But, when asked about leapfrogging Aston Villa in the table and now being in control of the race for fourth, Postecoglou responded somewhat surprisingly.
“Couldn't care less about the race for fourth mate,” the Tottenham manager claimed.
“What I care about is the way the team is progressing. Pleased with today. It had a little bit of everything. We started the game well, not just the goal, I thought we controlled the game well.
“Then we conceded from a counter attack which was obviously disappointing. I thought we lost our way a little bit towards the back end of that first half, but a super reaction and the whole second half we were really dominant.”
There might be another reason why Postecoglou doesn't care about now being in the top four of the Premier League, though, and it comes down to the Champions League format change scheduled for 2024/25.
Indeed, from the start of next season UEFA is set to invite an extra four sides into the Champions League, with two of the four slots going to nations whose clubs achieve the best collective performance in Europe in the season before. That would mean a fifth Premier League side qualifies for the Champions League, should England finish in the top two of the coefficient.
But while England are currently ranked third, behind Italy and Germany, there's a strong possibility that fifth in the Premier League will still reach Europe's elite competition. That, of course, is dependent on the progress of Manchester City and Arsenal in the Champions League, Liverpool and West Ham in the Europa League, and Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League. Many of those sides are expected to progress to the semi-finals at least, though, which would boost England in the coefficient.
Therefore, while Tottenham will have to rely on their rivals to perform strongly in Europe, those aforementioned reasons could give reason behind Postecoglou's lack of care over moving into fourth.
Champions League coefficient rankings Tottenham might not need to rely on now they're fourth
- Italy, 17.714
- Germany, 16.357
- England, 16.250
- France, 14.750
- Spain, 14.437
- Czech Republic, 13.250
- Belgium, 13.200
- Turkey, 11.500
- Portugal, 10.666
- Netherlands, 10.000
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Plans for Tottenham's summer window are beginning already. One South American has been touted already, while the Lilywhites' transfer record could be broken with one signing.
Brentford attacker Ivan Toney has been mentioned as a potential signing, too.
And Ange Postecoglou has also dropped a transfer hint for the summer, the big tease.
