Ange Postecoglou has delivered a rather confusing message about the team he is going to pick for the Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City.
Big game for Tottenham
If one subscribes to the idea that winning a trophy is more important for Tottenham this season than finishing in the top four, one can argue that the upcoming clash against Manchester City is the club’s biggest of the season so far.
If the Lilywhites get past the Premier League champions, they will be just two matches away from a big Wembley final and having a crack at ending their 16-year trophy drought.
However, Postecoglou’s latest confession about the team he is going to select might worry some Spurs fans.
Ange Postecoglou’s admission about starting eleven
Postecoglou has now hinted that he will do what he has done in all of Tottenham’s midweek games so far this season.
He pointed out that it is important to manage the minutes of some players, given that they played on Sunday, but insisted that whatever team he picks is one he believes can win the game.
When asked what sort of team we can expect, the Spurs head coach said (via The Standard): “We’ll do similarly to what we’ve done in all our mid-weeks games, Europe included, [which] is try to pick a team we think will win the game and take into account we did play Sunday.
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“Obviously City played on Saturday so we’ve got to make sure the players we put out there tomorrow are able to compete physically with what’s going to be on the other side of the pitch from us.
“The good thing is just about the whole squad’s had some kind of football so that means whatever changes we make the players coming in are at a good physical level.”
Postecoglou addresses fans’ concerns
Postecoglou was told that some supporters view the Carabao Cup clash against Manchester City as more important than the one against Aston Villa on the weekend.
However, the 59-year-old insisted that it is not his role to win “brownie points” with the supporters by prioritising one game over another.
Postecoglou added: “I’m not a supporter of this club, I’m the manager of this football club & I’d hate to think that any supporter of this football club thinks that I try harder in one game than another.
“Supporters can feel what they like, which is the most important game. But it would be the biggest injustice for me as a manager if I said, ‘We’re going to try harder tomorrow than we do at the weekend or we did last weekend’. It doesn’t work that way.
“You need to separate supporters of a football club from people who have the responsibility of representing it. Our responsibility lies with trying to be the best we can be every day for our supporters, for everyone who’s part of this football club. It’s not about trying to gain brownie points. That’s not what our role is.”