Tottenham Hotspur embrace unlikely status as Europa League favorites despite inconsistent season

Doom and gloom has followed Tottenham Hotspur like a pesky shadow this season, rightly or wrongly. The specific genre of despondency changes with the context – sometimes an injury crisis of epic proportions brought the mood down, other times the malcontent was inspired by managerial decisions – but the feeling has been inescapable. It is almost in direct conflict with the fact that Spurs enter Thursday as the oddsmakers' favorites to win the UEFA Europa League, just three games away from ending an 18-year trophy drought.

Such has been the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" quality of Spurs' season that they have coupled a comfortable spot in 16th place in the Premier League with a trip to the Europa League semifinals. It is the type of situation that makes it difficult for some to take stock of the team's up and down season, a scenario that leads many to place a noticeable asterisk on the accomplishments of a team that have a demonstrated habit of underperforming. Discounting Spurs, though, is an oversimplified approach, one that fails to take into consideration the fact that multiple things can be true at once.

The feeling that a spot in the May 21 final is no sure thing is a fair one; so is the idea that this competition offers a make-or-break moment for Spurs and even more specifically, manager Ange Postecoglou. The cloud of pessimism that lingers over Spurs, though, has been switched out with a rightful sense of pessimism that comes with the opportunity in front of them.

"What we have before us is a semi-final of a European competition with an opportunity to get to a final, win a trophy, Champions League football," Postecoglou said in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. "I just think for the players and everyone involved at the football club, it's a brilliant opportunity."

How to watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. Bodo/Glimt, odds

• Date: Thursday, May 1 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
• Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium -- London, England
• Live stream: Paramount+
• Odds: Tottenham Hotspur -370; Draw +490; Bodo/Glimt +750

Favorites for a reason

There is an argument to be made that Spurs' status as the oddsmakers' choice is helped by the fact that they ended up on the easier side of the Europa League bracket. Tottenham take on Norway's Bodo/Glimt, a matchup that has a very clear favorite and an equally clear underdog. Even with their poor form, Tottenham's squad is still made up of top-tier talent that is the trademark of a well-funded Premier League side. Postecoglou rightly said Glimt are here on merit and are not to be underestimated – wins against Porto, Olympiacos and Lazio would prove otherwise. It will still be hard for a motivated Glimt to match an equally motivated Spurs, especially so with the Norwegian side missing as many as five starters through injury or suspension on Thursday. If they do come out with even a draw in North London, there's a reason people would call it an upset.

Spurs will likely be without Son Heung-min on Thursday through a foot injury that has kept him out of their last three games, but Postecoglou will still be able to select a strong lineup. Center backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven are finally healthy and central to Tottenham's tactical success, while the same is true for Dejan Kulusevski, who is in the middle of an impressive season in midfield. Tottenham can also boast that one of the many youth prospects they signed last summer is turning good – 19-year-old Lucas Bergvall has quietly come into his own over the second half of the season. It's enough to build a sizable first leg advantage in this tie and potentially enough to go all the way, considering the other teams in the mix, a list that includes a Manchester United team that they have already beaten three times this season.

They boast an inherent quality that they have not been able to show often enough this season, though that does not necessarily merit a scoff at their chances in the Europa League or the opportunity in front of them. The narrative around Spurs almost made Postecoglou come off as combative in his pre-match remarks, though the argument he made is a sound one.

"I've sensed, which is not surprising because I've said it before, that this is the way this club is perceived. That people are always trying to diminish it," he said. "I've heard people say, well, it's the equivalent of Man United winning the FA Cup. No, it ain't. I'm sorry, not on any planet is it the equivalent."

There is a comparison to be made between Postecoglou and Erik ten Hag, the manager who won the FA Cup last year and delayed his eventual firing by a few short months, since he also enters the semifinals in the hot seat and with no guarantee that he will be around next season even with a winners' medal around his neck. That is where the similarities end, though. It is not easy to win the FA Cup or the Europa League, though the latter is undoubtedly harder. Even in its new format in which UEFA Champions League rejects do not drop down, the Europa League is not Europe's second-best club competition for a reason. Opening up the field to a section of Europe's teams that fell just short of qualifying for the Champions League creates an inherently difficult competition. Look at Tottenham's path to the semifinals – it included league phase games against Galatasaray and Roma, as well as a quarterfinal tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Europa League would not only end Spurs' 18 year trophy drought from a technical standpoint. It would mark a genuine accomplishment from a sporting perspective, even if it does not erase the lows of this season or the improvements they must make as soon as this summer. Important does not begin to scratch the surface on what the triumph would mean for a fanbase who have not only experienced the trophy drought first hand, but have had many rub salt in the wounds of their trophyless years. The same is true for a group of players – and a manger – who are now the ones tasked with reversing course, somehow balancing out the pessimism that surrounds them not with a realism, but cautious optimism.

The balancing act of a complicated season

Spurs are not in delusion about how this season has gone so far.

"[Postecoglou is] the first person to tell you and I'll tell you myself we've had a poor season in the league," midfielder James Maddison admitted on Wednesday. "We've been very good in Europe but the league season has probably been unacceptable and we can all take a collective responsibility for that, but he's my manager, he's my gaffer, and I respect him an awful amount."

Nearly nine months into the season, it is hard to ignore Tottenham's shortcomings. The injury crisis cost them a lot of matches but even as the squad got healthier, Spurs became a mistake-prone side. Some of the fault falls on Postecoglou, who has not always picked his lineups well or managed in-game situations effectively. There is a reasonable argument to be made that he did not do nearly enough to save his job once his first-choice players returned to fitness and it is fair to say that Spurs should move on even if he wins the Europa League. This season's issues are much bigger than him, though – there's an equally fair case to make that the sporting department, led by technical director Johan Lange, squandered the opportunities in his first summer on the job. They signed just one player over the age of 20 – Dominic Solanke – last summer and another big summer is ahead to truly put this season's problems in the past.

For some, those realities complicate the story of Spurs' season, especially when considering their Europa League success. There are some unique silver linings here, though – this is actually Tottenham's second semifinal of the campaign, previously making it to the penultimate stage of the EFL Cup before losing to Liverpool. Deep cup runs are genuine accomplishments, especially so for a team whose trophy drought is well-publicized and is arguably the appropriate approach to finally get the monkey off their back. Those deep runs also speak to the intended purpose of cup competitions – it offers a chance for unlikely teams to lift silverware and embrace the so-called "magic" of those tournaments.

Perhaps the biggest silver lining of all, though, is that Spurs are just three games away from the greatest prize package that comes with the Europa League trophy – a spot in next season's Champions League. A rebuild is necessary one way or another, but the opportunity and the money that comes with a spot in Europe's top club competition will undoubtedly make it easier to recruit talent. These next few games, then, not only offer a long-awaited opportunity to end the trophy drought but arguably the most fertile foundation for a much-needed refresh.