Ange Postecoglou determined to prove doubters wrong at Tottenham Hotspur
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Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou had vowed to end Spurs' 16-year wait to win a trophy in his second season in charge.
PHOTO: AFP
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LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said his resolve to bring success to the struggling English Premier League club has been strengthened by a tough run of results, despite being confronted by angry supporters.
The Australian was in the spotlight after he exchanged words with some fans in the travelling support following the 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Dec 5.
He had pledged earlier this season to end Spurs’ 16-year wait to win a trophy during his second campaign in charge.
“I am here, I am going to fight to make sure we bring success to this football club,” Postecoglou said on Dec 6, ahead of the Dec 8 home clash with Chelsea. “Nothing really changes.
“Where there is doubt, internally or externally, it just gets my resolve stronger to make sure we get it right.”
When pressed on his interaction with supporters after the Bournemouth game, the 59-year-old added: “They aren’t behind me, they are behind the club. I have got no interest in who is behind me.
“They weren’t happy with what they saw and they felt like they needed to give some feedback. I took the feedback onboard and we move on.”
Spurs, who are languishing in 10th before this weekend’s fixtures, face title challengers Liverpool and Chelsea in two of their next three Premier League games.
They also take on Rangers in the Europa League on Dec 12 and have a League Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester United on Dec 19.
Postecoglou’s men have won just once in their last six games in all competitions – a remarkable 4-0 victory at Manchester City which ended the English champions’ two-year unbeaten home run.
But injuries to goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero have not helped and Spurs were dealt another defensive blow when Ben Davies was forced off injured against Bournemouth.
Postecoglou, though, believes his side have been masters of their own downfall too often in recent weeks.
“There was a repeat of cycle of us going into games, starting well enough but then allowing the opposition to get a grip on it by either conceding a sloppy goal or not taking our opportunities,” he added.
“We need to break that cycle. We know we are really thin on the ground in terms of squad numbers. We know there is not a lot of opportunity to rotate and rest players. Those are known things. What also is known is we repeatedly shot ourselves in the foot in games and we need to change that.”
Meanwhile, high-flying Chelsea are scoring goals for fun but still have many areas to work on if they hope to match up to the likes of City, Arsenal and Liverpool, manager Enzo Maresca insisted.
The Blues, who head into this weekend second in the standings, thrashed Southampton 5-1 on Dec 4 and have scored a league-leading 31 goals in 14 games.
They have found the net 57 times in 22 matches across all competitions this season, their best goals-per-game (2.6) ratio in a campaign. However, they have only kept five clean sheets in that period.
“I don’t think we are there and ready to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and City,” Maresca said. “We have to do many more things good, not just score goals. Avoid conceding goals.
“We are not thinking about April, May or June. It’s too early. Things can change quick in football. The focus is Sunday.”
Asked what he expected of Tottenham, the Chelsea boss added: “They have very good players and a very good manager. What kind of problems they have, I don’t know. But they are a fantastic team.
“You see the results, two weeks ago they beat City, so they are a very good team.”
He confirmed that winger Mykhailo Mudryk is unavailable for the derby due to illness. AFP, REUTERS
