Ange Postecoglou’s tenure at Tottenham is under more pressure after a 3-2 loss to Everton.
Ange Postecoglou’s tenure at Tottenham is under more pressure after a 3-2 loss to Everton.
By Luke Slater
January 20, 2025 — 6.45am
Ange Postecoglou showed that the pressure of Tottenham Hotspur’s awful league form is getting to him as he clashed with a broadcast journalist after another defensive shambles at Goodison Park.
With Tottenham managing only five points out of a possible 30 in their past 10 Premier League matches, the reporter started the interview with: “Ange, familiar story?” which led the Spurs manager to sarcastically retort: “Great way to start an interview.”
It is the latest sign that the Australian is feeling the pressure with Tottenham falling to 16th in the table after Everton – who had not scored in nine of their previous 11 games – were 3-0 up at half-time.
Spurs improved in the second half when late goals by Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison put some respectability on a scoreline that did not reflect Everton’s superiority for much of the game as David Moyes chalked up the first win of his second spell as manager.
But Postecoglou insists that when his injured players are back – he had 10 missing on Sunday and lost yet another defender, Radu Dragusin, with a head injury – they will improve. The manager also hopes his club can bring in some much-needed reinforcements in the transfer window.
Chairman Daniel Levy, however, is bound to be getting decidedly twitchy as his faltering team hover far nearer the drop zone than the European places.
Postecoglou said: “I separate myself from that [the pressure on him]. This is not about me, but what is about me right now is I have the responsibility of the group of players I do have, to try and get us through this, and that’s what I’ve got to focus on. For me to focus on anything else is abstaining myself from the responsibility I have.
“I’m just determined to get us out of this. The club’s doing its best to [strengthen]. It is more about helping the players than helping me because they’re the ones we’re asking some massive jobs of –18-year-olds. We had a 17-year-old out there trying to win games of football for us. And others who are just playing week on week, so, you know it’s more about getting the players help rather than me help.
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“I have never played the victim. At the end of the day I still believe the responsibility lies with me to get this right and that is where I sit with things. Whatever the circumstances are, and it is fair to say it is a challenging situation for sure, a lot of it is out of your control as a manager when you losing the amount of players we are at the moment.
“But I still have to steer us through and if I start worrying about myself and the cards I have been dealt with it is a dereliction of my duty and my responsibility. It is not how I see it. I see it as these are the cards I have been dealt and it is up to me to get us out of it and I have to be good enough to do that.”
Spurs are still in all four competitions and despite recent results, injuries and defensive calamities, Postecoglou remains confident the season can still prove successful in terms of silverware and or European qualification. Whether he stays in charge to see it through, Levy and the club’s hierarchy will decide.
Asked what provided motivation in such a worrying run, Postecoglou added: “The club, our fans, our season. We are still in four competitions this season. We are in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, we have a couple of big European games coming up, and we’re still in the FA Cup.
“Obviously our league position is not great to say the least. We need to improve that and eventually our players will come back. It is a significant talent that will come back. It is not like this is what it is, there is motivation to get through this so that when we do get our players back we can get something significant out of our season.”
It was a drastic understatement when Postecoglou admitted Spurs “were not great” in the first half. Their defence was all at sea. Dominic Calvert-Lewin ended a 16-game goal drought with a well-taken goal from Idrissa Gueye’s pass after 13 minutes.
They went missing again when Iliman Ndiaye exchanged passes with Gueye and charged unchallenged from the halfway line before evading Dragusin’s half-hearted challenge to rifle home the second after half an hour.
And they caved in again just before the break when James Tarkowski headed Jesper Lindstrom’s cross back across the goal, Calvert-Lewin flicked the ball on and Archie Gray, under pressure, inadvertently turned it into his own net with his knee.
It could have been more but Spurs at least salvaged some pride in the second half when a delightful chip by Kulusevski in the 72nd minute gave them a bit of hope before Richarlison converted a cross from Mikey Moore at the far post in added time.
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Those goals prompted more than a little anxiety around Goodison, considering Everton had twice thrown away 2-0 leads to lose 3-2 to Bournemouth and Aston Villa earlier this season.
But they held out for a deserved victory that eased their relegation worries and their high-tempo, energetic display pointed to a brighter second half of the season under Moyes.
London Telegraph
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