Jamie Carragher believes Arne Slot’s high praise for Tottenham counterpart Ange Postecoglou and his brand of attacking football was ‘no accidental’ ahead of Liverpool’s 6-3 victory on Sunday.
Slot had defended Postecoglou against the criticism that his attacking style was costing Tottenham points at his pre-match press conference, saying: “People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and that is so important. For me, his brand of football is so much more important.
“If he can combine it with winning something that would be so good for football in general because then people can stop talking about ‘is it too attacking?’. How on earth can you play too much attacking football?”
Liverpool promptly went away to Tottenham and absolutely took them to the cleaners, with the scoreline flattering Spurs in the end – and Carragher believes Slot knew exactly what he was doing by baiting Postecoglou into sticking to his guns. We’re honestly not sure he needed much incentive, but there we go.
READ: Another ludicrous Ange Postecoglou-y scoreline flatters Tottenham as Liverpool run riot
The former Reds defender said on Sky Sports after the game: “That press conference from Slot on Friday was hilarious. I mean, people thought he was defending Postecoglou, but I don’t believe that for one minute.
“I actually thought he went too far, it was too obvious. He was desperate for Tottenham to play exactly the same way as they played against Manchester United, and they did – and Liverpool could have scored 10.
“So what he said in that press conference…honestly, everyone I spoke to Liverpool supporters, it was obvious what he was trying to get at.”
Former Spurs striker Les Ferdinand meanwhile believes Tottenham must change if they are serious about rising up the table, saying: “Spurs, at the start of the season, we were talking about them being a top four side. OK, they’ve had their injuries and they’ve had a few problems like a lot of teams this season.
“But if you want be up there challenging the Liverpool and the Man Cities and the Arsenals and the Chelseas…they saw today what that’s all about.
“They’re a long way away from it at the moment, and that’s no disrespect, but Ange has got a lot to do. They have entertained this season at times. We’ve come here and they’ve played some outstanding football when they’ve got their best first XI. When they haven’t got their first XI they’re a pretty average side.”
Ferdinand added: “When we’re sitting here talking about making tweaks, we’re not saying to Postecoglou ‘you’ve got to be more defensive’ – we’re just saying that there’s obvious errors that are occurring week in, week out. At times it was one pass and Liverpool were in. That can’t be right if you’re trying to win games of football. We’re not saying ‘don’t be attacking’, but it’s costing them at the moment.”