“I felt sorry for them” – Ange Postecoglou slammed for his treatment of two players vs Chelsea
Ange Postecoglou came under fire from Glenn Hoddle for the lineup he chose for Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 loss to Chelsea.
Spurs took the lead through Kulusevski in the derby, and minutes later Son scored, only for the goal to be disallowed. It was a chaotic encounter.
Cristian Romero’s dismissal for catching Enzo on the follow through after a reckless challenge inside the box altered the course of the match.
Chelsea had a goal disallowed moments after equalizing from the penalty spot. Spurs’ situation was made even more challenging when James Maddison and Micky van de Ven were forced off with injuries just before halftime.
Even worse, in the 55th minute, Udogie received a second yellow card, dropping Spurs to nine men.
As anticipated, Chelsea’s attack was a one-way street, with the Blues finding it incredibly simple to get through on goal because of Tottenham’s very high defensive live.
Everyone was taken aback when Ange changed to a 0-7-1 formation with the seven players forming a defensive line at half-line. Some praised him for the move, while others were critical. Glenn Hoddle is one of those who has criticized his strategies.
According to Glenn Hoddle, the Tottenham players would have been in the locker room challenging their manager.
Additionally, he stated that he felt bad for Eric Dier and Hojbjerg, who had hardly kicked a ball all season and were now put in such a difficult situation.
He stated to HITC (via Premier League Productions):
“He’s going to be questioned, you know. “Do we really have to play like that?” was the topic of conversation while getting dressed and taking a shower.
“Don’t get me wrong, Ange did a fantastic job. However, you must make the room smaller. It’s not your typical back four, either. Hojbjerg, who hasn’t kicked a ball all season, is returning to the center back position in the second half, and Dier is also available. I had sympathy for them.
They are expected to stand on the halfway line, run back in, and handle all kinds of balls. Over and over again. I simply couldn’t make sense of it.
TBH Stated:
We disagree with Hoddle’s evaluation. Even with just nine men left on the field, the players gave it their all for Ange.
Even though Spurs are down to nine men, Ange decided not to compromise on his philosophy, and as a result, his team is playing some of the best attacking football in the league.
And it came close to working until the 75th minute, at which point everything broke. Even so, Spurs had multiple opportunities thanks to their attacking setup, and Dier even managed to score a goal, though it was disallowed.