Graeme Souness has slammed Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou for being too ‘naive’, mistaking braveness for stupidity.
Postecoglou has now been in charge of the Lilywhites for 16 months and there’s no doubt he has improved them during that time, leading them back to the Europa League with a fifth-place finish last season.
However, Spurs have also been prone to defensive collapses, most recently throwing away a 2-0 half-time lead to lose 3-2 against Brighton before the international break.
To say Postecoglou’s rein has been a rollercoaster would be understating it.
Reflecting on Postecoglou’s time in charge so far, Souness has accused the Australian of naivety, especially when it comes to his selection of backroom staff.
“He’s walked into Tottenham without bringing any of his own staff,” Souness said (via Spurs Web).
“Is he so naïve as to think he can trust any of the coaching staff he’s inherited not to go to the chairman with their tittle-tattle?
“I would not take a job and think I can just walk into it – it’s madness – you need to go in with people you trust because being a manager is lonely.”
Ange Postecoglou ‘lucky not brave’, says Souness
Souness also harked back to Tottenham’s 4-1 defeat at home to Chelsea last season.
Despite taking an early lead, Spurs were pegged back when Cristian Romero was shown a 33rd-minute red card, with Cole Palmer netting the resulting penalty.
Things got much worse from there, with Destiny Udogie being shown a second yellow card in the 55th minute, leaving Spurs facing over half an hour with just nine men.
Chelsea went on to score three more goals to seal an emphatic victory and, in reality, should have won by more.
Souness has slammed Postecoglou’s refusal to be pragmatic in that game, with Spurs instead still trying to take the game to Chelsea whenever they got the chance.
“When I think of Ange Postecoglou, I go back to that game against Chelsea where they got two players sent off and he still had them playing right up to the halfway line,” said Souness.
“The only time you can do that is when you’ve got 11 players on the pitch and the ball is constantly under pressure.
“The minute someone can get their head up, you’re in trouble. They could have conceded four or five more goals that game – I thought that was naïve. It’s naïve to talk like that and say that the more open the game is, the better it is. If they’d lost that game seven or eight goals to two, you’ve lost the players as a manager. He wasn’t brave that day, they got lucky.”