Better than Iraola: Spurs could hire "incredible" Europa League winner

It would be impossible to describe Tottenham Hotspur’s season as anything other than a failure this year.

Now, it’s true that Ange Postecoglou still has the chance to achieve something remarkable in the Europa League, but should that not happen, he’ll have overseen the club’s worst campaign in a generation – or two.

For example, in the Premier League alone, the North Londoners have lost 19 games, so reports suggesting he’ll get the sack regardless of what happens on the continent are hardly surprising.

One of the names most heavily touted for replacing the Australian in recent weeks and months has been Bournemouth’s Andoni Iraola, but another name has now been thrown into the ring: a manager who’d be a far better choice.

Tottenham’s manager search

Before getting to the man in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other coaches who have been linked with the role, such as Marco Silva.

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It’s easy to see why the club might be interested in the Fulham boss, as since taking charge of the West Londoners in 2021, when they were in the Championship, he’s transformed them into a comfortably mid-table Premier League side.

A far more ambitious manager linked with the North Londoners has been Xabi Alonso.

The former Liverpool star led Bayer Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title ever last season, and if that wasn’t impressive enough, he did it undefeated and won the DFB Pokal to boot.

However, it would appear as if Real Madrid might be keen to hire the Spaniard, making a move to Spurs feel incredibly unlikely, which isn’t the case with Oliver Glasner.

According to talkSPORT’s Alex Crook, the Crystal Palace manager is one of the names on the list of potential successors to Postecoglou.

While it certainly wouldn’t be easy to get the Austrian coach out of Selhurst Park, it wouldn’t be impossible, and with how well he’d done in South London, he’d be worth the effort and a better option than Iraola.

How Glasner compares to Iraola

So, if it gets to a point at which Daniel Levy and Co need to make a decision between Glasner and Iraola in the coming weeks, why should they pick the former?

First, he’s already proven that he can win big prizes with teams who aren’t always expected to, as he led Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022, which was only their second major trophy since the 1987/88 season.

Moreover, he’s just got Crystal Palace into only their third FA Cup final and has completely transformed a number of their players, most notably Jean-Philippe Mateta.

For example, in the 22/23 campaign, the Frenchman scored just four goals in 33 games, but last season, that jumped up to 19 goals and six assists in 39 games, and this season, he’s already hit 17 goals and four assists in 41.

Finally, and this is important, despite taking over the Eagles when they were in relegation form, he has a better record with them than the Cherries boss has with his side.

For example, since taking the job at Selhurst Park, the “incredible” 50-year-old, as dubbed by content creator James B, has won 25 games, drawn 15, lost 15 and averaged 1.64 points per game.

In contrast, the Spaniard has won 33 games, drawn 20, lost 30 and averaged 1.43 points per game on the south coast.

Ultimately, while both managers would probably be an improvement on Postecoglou, Glasner has the pedigree of winning major honours and has arguably overseen an even more impressive transformation of a struggling Premier League side than Iraola.

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