Tottenham Hotspur revitalised after Ipswich Town rout: Ange Postecoglou

LONDON – Ange Postecoglou claimed that his Tottenham Hotspur team are back on track after Brennan Johnson’s double inspired a 4-1 English Premier League victory at struggling Ipswich Town on Feb 22.

The Welsh forward helped Spurs to a third successive league victory to ease the pressure on under-fire boss Postecoglou, with the team moving up to 12th in the standings.

At a ground where his father David Johnson had been prolific across a four-year spell, he netted twice in the first half.

Omari Hutchinson reduced the deficit before half-time, but Tottenham squashed Ipswich’s hopes of a fightback with late goals from Djed Spence and Dejan Kulusevski.

A run of six defeats from seven league games as Tottenham were ravaged by injuries led to speculation that Postecoglou could be sacked in his second season in charge.

The north Londoners also crashed out of the League Cup semi-finals and FA Cup fourth round against Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively in the space of four days. But Postecoglou had insisted they would thrive once the walking wounded returned and Johnson, back from the treatment table, underlined his belief.

“I thought we did the hard things really well,” the Australian said. “A couple of times in the first half, we lost a bit of concentration in terms of the second ball and duels.

“It was a disappointing goal we conceded, but aside from that, I thought we handled that side of the game really well.

“I always felt we were a threat when we had the ball. Son Heung-min was unplayable in the first half and so good to get Brennan back in those areas where he’s always a threat.”

After such a turbulent period, former Celtic boss Postecoglou was relieved to see Tottenham resemble the attacking force he wants to field on a regular basis.

“All four of our goals were quality goals. We had to do the hard things, but the fruits of that labour was that our front-third play was super exciting and clinical,” he added.

“We’re in a good space of using these two weeks as well as we could to re-energise the team and I think it has. We’ve still got some significant players out.

“We’ve got (Dominic) Solanke, Richarlison, (Cristian) Romero, (Micky) van de Ven, Ben Davies, he’s out today. They’re all still to come back.”

Tottenham have not won a major trophy since the League Cup in 2008, but Postecoglou claimed earlier this season that he always lifts silverware in his second campaign with a club.

For that to happen, Spurs must win the Europa League, with a last-16 date against AZ Alkmaar looming in March.

“I just feel like we’ve got a really good opportunity in these next 10 days to be well equipped for what’s ahead,” Postecoglou said.

“What’s ahead is obviously Europe but also an opportunity to address our league position, which is obviously not good enough.” AFP