Former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has defended his Tottenham players after Spurs were knocked out of the FA Cup following a 2-1 defeat at Villa Park against Aston Villa yesterday.
With Tottenham knocked out of the League Cup on Thursday against Liverpool at Anfield, Spurs’ only real chance of a trophy this season is the Europa League.
Ange, who previously told journalists he always wins a trophy in his second season, has backed himself to secure Spurs’ first trophy since 2008 when they won the League Cup.
With players like Wilson Odobert, Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Radu Drăgușin, Destiny Udogie, Timo Werner, Dominic Solanke, Brennan Johnson, and James Maddison all injured, Ange has had to manage one of the biggest injury crises of his managerial career.
Tottenham currently sit 14th in the Premier League table, 10 points clear of 18th-placed Leicester City and 16 points off fourth-placed Chelsea. Injuries have played a large part in a poor season by Postecoglou’s high standards, which he set for himself during his time in charge of Celtic.
Whether Tottenham will stick with the Australian remains to be seen, but given his consistent success throughout his career, it’s clear that a culture at the club has affected their inability to win a trophy in 17 years, with Ange attempting to overturn this.
For Ange, the move to take over at Tottenham was seen by some as a great opportunity after Celtic, while others saw it as a poisonous chalice, with world-class managers like José Mourinho and Antonio Conte failing to end the trophy drought.
Postecoglou is now facing the same problem, while attempting to play a more attractive style of football than fans in North London have not become accustomed to over the last decade.
Postecoglou’s time at Tottenham won’t define his career, but he will look to turn things around.
It’s clear to see he isn’t blaming players and instead feels that a terrible time with injuries has affected results undoubtedly.