Ange Posteocglou’s dedication to attacking football is commendable, but Jermaine Jenas believes the Australian is being foolish by not making system adjustments when so many of his important players are out.
On Sunday, Tottenham lost at Aston Villa for the third time in a row. Pau Torres and Ollie Watkins goals in each half gave Unai Emery’s team the victory.
The home team, though, had enough of opportunities to easily end the match and could have won it in the first half if they had been a bit more clinical in front of goal.
After the game, Postecoglou emphasized that there were far more positives than drawbacks from the encounter, saying that if his team plays the same way going forward, they should have no trouble improving their record (Football.London).
Is Postecoglou being naive and stubborn at Spurs?
Jenas, though, thinks that the Australian’s intransigence cost Tottenham on Sunday.
“There is a lot to admire about Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou’s stubbornness about the way he wants his side to play, even with the players he has missing,” the analyst wrote in his column for BBC Sport.
“But, there are a few drawbacks as well, and not just the current Spurs losing streak of three games in a row.
“Postecoglou made some poor judgments throughout each of those outcomes, which hurt them in the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday as well as the matches against Chelsea and Wolves prior to the international break.
“Yes, he is attempting to instill the proper culture at the club and this is the kind of football the fans want to see, but if Spurs continue in this vein when they take on Manchester City at Etihad Stadium the following weekend, they are asking for trouble.”
“They currently seem to be able to lose games and still feel good about themselves, but that won’t last forever.”
Jenas insisted that if Postecoglou does not display a little more pragmatism, Spurs could suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of City.
“If he had his best team available, I would encourage Postecoglou to go toe-to-toe with City, the way he probably wants to,” the former Tottenham player continued.
“At the back, James Maddison is causing overloads everywhere, and I like Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven against anyone in the Premier League.” The Spurs full-backs are at ease with the ball.
They are a formidable club to play against, as seen by their 10-game winning streak to open the season. However, it isn’t the case right now.
“We are aware of the damage that City can inflict on opponents, so I have concerns if full-backs Ben Davies and Emerson Royal line up as the primary defensive duo against Erling Haaland at the Etihad.
Postecoglou has been utilizing a high line at the back. Does he continue to do so in order to counteract Haaland’s quickness and the threats that Jeremy Doku poses to you wide? It’s most likely not going to go well.
“They seem to need to adjust because, based on what I’ve witnessed from Spurs in the last few games, they could face a significant loss to City if they don’t.”
I don’t think we can defend firmly with men behind the ball and shut out City for ninety minutes without our first-choice center-backs. Our best chance of winning on Sunday may really lie in taking the match to the Premier League winners, forcing a shootout, and hoping that Son takes use of his opportunities.
