Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou happy with January signings

LONDON – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou joked that he had wanted to sign Lewis Hamilton on transfer deadline day, before the seven-time Formula One world champion confirmed that he will be racing for Ferrari in the 2025 season.

“The only disappointing one for us (in the window) was that I felt there was a good opportunity for us, but the club didn’t feel it was right and he ended up going elsewhere. He went to Ferrari instead,” he said on Feb 2.

“I got you all going there, didn’t I? I felt you needed something after a bit of a flat day yesterday.”

The Australian was speaking before his side’s English Premier League trip to Everton on Feb 3.

Spurs head into the match on the back of a 3-2 win over Brentford, while the Toffees are back in the relegation zone following a 0-0 draw with Fulham.

Despite seeing his men move into the Champions League spots ahead of surprise package Aston Villa on goals scored, Postecoglou was unhappy that they remonstrated with the officials too much instead of focusing on their game plan.

Speaking ahead of the Everton clash, Postecoglou was in a lighter mood and was also happy that the club managed to sign players who can help the team in the second half of the season.

“We had clear objectives. We had a gap at centre-back after letting Davinson Sanchez go and getting Radu (Dragusin) in was great,” he said.

“Getting Timo (Werner) early was also excellent. We’ve had injuries and with Sonny (Son Heung-min) away, and already he’s made a contribution.

“If we left it to the last day, it takes time to settle. Both have settled well.”

While the Spurs boss will be boosted by his new recruits, he will also be wary that Tottenham will need to improve massively on their away form if they want to clinch a victory over Everton.

Spurs have prevailed in only one of their last five league fixtures on the road.

Goodison Park has also not been a happy hunting ground for Tottenham in recent years, as Everton are unbeaten in four home matches against their opponents since losing 6-2 in December 2018.

However, all four games ended in draws and Postecoglou will know that a win would not be such a big challenge for his attack-minded side, who remain the only team to score in every league match this season.

The Spurs boss will be missing the injured Manor Solomon, Alejo Veliz, Giovani lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon.

Captain Son is still at the Asian Cup with South Korea, while Mali’s Yves Bissouma is at the Africa Cup of Nations.

As for Everton, manager Sean Dyche confirmed that Abdoulaye Doucoure is not back from injury yet, and Arnaut Danjuma, Amadou Onana and Seamus Coleman are all doubtful.

The Toffees will hope to get out of trouble soon, as they have clinched just one win from their last nine in all competitions – a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace in the FA Cup.

The stalemate with Fulham was their fifth straight league game without a win.

Dyche was wary about Spurs, saying: “They sign players, they sign quality.

“Ange Postecoglou has adapted them to what he wants... They’re having a very strong season and you saw against Brentford that they’ve got the mentality to go with it.”