Ange Postecoglou hopes for end to ‘vicious cycle’ of Tottenham Hotspur injuries
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Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou is under severe pressure after a miserable run of seven English Premier League games without a win.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Ange Postecoglou admits Tottenham Hotspur’s “vicious cycle” of injuries has hampered his attempt to get the troubled club back on track.
The Australian is under severe pressure after a miserable run of seven English Premier League games without a win, with six defeats in that dismal spell also triggering fan protests against chairman Daniel Levy.
The 59-year-old said: “I’ve always felt when you are trying to build something successful, you need to be united. I have probably failed in trying to unify the club.”
Ahead of the game at Brentford on Feb 2, Postecoglou’s side are languishing in 15th place, just eight points above the relegation zone.
He earned a little breathing space on Jan 30, when a 3-0 win against Elfsborg booked Tottenham’s place in the Europa League last 16. But Postecoglou is battling a lengthy injury list that threatens to stop the north Londoners from ending their malaise.
He was already without Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie, Wilson Odobert, Timo Werner and James Maddison. Romanian defender Radu Dragusin became the latest to be bitten by the injury bug when he was forced off against Elfsborg, although centre-back Micky van de Ven played 45 minutes on his return from a hamstring problem.
“We’ve had to deal with a real extreme situation, which unfortunately once we got hit, it is then very hard to rectify on the run,” Postecoglou told reporters on Friday.
“We obviously got some significant injuries early on, which hampered our progress, and then we had to rely on a small group of players to get us through and that then burdened them.
“It has been this vicious cycle. The volume of games that clubs are playing, we’ve been in an extreme situation but a lot of clubs are facing similarities in Europe.”
It is a vital week for Tottenham, who travel to Liverpool for the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals on Feb 6 with a 1-0 lead,
Injuries forced Postecoglou to turn to youth academy graduates Dane Scarlett, Mikey Moore and Damola Ajayi, who all scored their first goals for the club against Elfsborg.
Now the former Celtic boss is desperate to avoid any further fitness setbacks as he bids to end a Tottenham trophy drought stretching back to 2008.
“Every time I’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel, it’s usually been an oncoming train,” he said.
“We seem to be losing players as we get them back. We don’t want to lose anyone else, but again, best-laid plans. You can’t plan for these things. We’ve got a big week coming up, starting Sunday.
“We’re going to have to do it with this core group of players, so we’ve just got to be careful about how we go about it.”
He received some sympathy from Brentford boss Thomas Frank.
The Dane said: “We were also hit very hard by injuries last year so, from that perspective, I understand the situation Ange is in now at Tottenham. When results are also not going your way, that’s tough.
“They’re things we need to deal with as managers and I’m convinced that Ange is doing that well and he will get through it.”
The Bees will be without Joshua Dasilva, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Igor Thiago and Gustavo Nunes through injury. AFP, REUTERS
