Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has inadvertently offered his support to Ange Postecoglou after Tottenham Hotspur's recent injury crisis - insisting no manager in the Premier League could be successful with a raft of injuries.
Postecoglou has faced increasing pressure in North London in recent months, with his side sitting 12th in the table after a run of six defeats in ten Premier League games. During that time, however, Spurs have had to deal with one of the worst injury crises in recent memory, with as many as ten players ruled out at the end of January.
After Spurs' FA Cup fourth-round defeat to Aston Villa, Postecoglou, in his second season at the club, hit back at the critics and saluted the commitment his players have shown during a testing couple of months at the club. Now, ahead of Liverpool's trip to Manchester City this weekend, Reds boss Slot has insisted even the best sides can be derailed by injuries.
Asked what had caused an upturn in results for City in recent weeks, Slot said: "Players available! The style of play has always been the same for all the years Pep has been at Barcelona, Bayern Munich or at City.
"That's what I like from every manager: if they wear different shirts, you still think, 'Ah, this is a team coached by Pep Guardiola'. That is what we have seen even in the period that they have dropped points.