Ange Postecoglou: Under-fire Tottenham boss says VAR has him 'falling out of love with football'
Ange Postecoglou says he’s “falling out of love” with football due to VAR after a week fraught with uncertainty for the under-fire Tottenham head coach.
Wednesday's 1-0 defeat to Chelsea saw Postecoglou make some unwanted history as he became the first Spurs boss to lose his first four games away at the Stamford Bridge home of Tottenham's London rivals.
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A number of Spurs supporters in the away end questioned the manager's tactics, booing his decision to replace Lucas Bergvall with Pape Sarr - with some fans singing "you don't know what you're doing" at Postecoglou on the touchline.
When Sarr scored from range just five minutes later, Postecoglou turned to the Spurs fans and appeared to cup his ears in what was perceived by some to be a response to the boos.
The goal, however, was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check, and one of the things Postecoglou spoke about after the game was his growing disconnect with football.
It's simple, Postecoglou said ahead of Sunday's clash with Southampton - the VAR horse has bolted.
"I don't get it. As human beings we are kind of just so accepting of everything these days," Postecoglou explained.
"I don't get it. I don't know. I just thought we had a bit more about us as a race in terms of fighting against things that derail the core of what we believe in.
"It's like these things," he added, while picking up a mobile phone in front of him. "We accept them in our lives and now we are trying to reel them all back because we know the damage they do.
"The horse has bolted - it's the same with VAR and football, but we just let it roll on."
'It's not the game I loved'
Asked if VAR has got him falling out of love with the beautiful game, Postecoglou said: "No doubt, it's not the game I loved.
"Maybe I was influenced by England and particularly the old First Division. What I loved about it as opposed to other leagues was just the frenetic pace of it.
"In English football there was always something that was happening and it influenced me a lot in terms of the kind of football I liked to watch. There were always plenty of other leagues we could watch but it was always the English First Division, you know end to end stuff, not a lot of teams trying to hold on to wins, it was just everyone going for it.
"Like I said it was the speed and the tempo of it that I loved. I tried to design a gameplan that has tempo and energy because I think if we're going to bring people there for an hour and a half of entertainment and engagement, you want them off their seat.
"What, there was 12 minutes of extra time (at the end against Chelsea). I mean this is not like VAR was brought in last month, it's been in here for a long time.
"If that's what people want then let's continue. I don't like it.
"I am falling out of love with the game because I love celebrating goals. I paid a high price for it [against Chelsea]. I'm paying a massive price for it, but I'll make sure I won't do it again."
Ange 'made a mistake' celebrating before VAR check
Postecoglou acknowledged he made a mistake with his celebration towards the Spurs fans at Chelsea - because he did not wait for VAR to check Sarr's disallowed goal.
"I made a mistake last night in that I celebrated a goal," he said.
"I think since VAR came in up in Scotland - and in the first game there were four or five incidents and we were standing around - I made a decision that I'm not going to really celebrate goals as there's no point, as you have to wait for everything to get checked off.
"The supporters obviously weren't happy with my decision which is fine. My response was to celebrate and to get them to make some noise and get behind the team.
"I thought it was a real momentum-shifter in that moment because we did finish strong. I guess my mistake was celebrating a goal that, yeah, VAR has defeated me again."
But VAR is clearly not the sole culprit for Tottenham's poor league record, with the defeat at Stamford Bridge their 16th Premier League loss this season.
"I've been fighting my whole career and I will continue to fight until I get told to stop by someone," Postecoglou added.
The Spurs boss did admit before the game that there are some outstanding candidates out there to manage Tottenham should the club decide to sack him.
In response to how he deals with the talk around his future, Postecoglou replied: "I know what my responsibilities are. I'm sure if the club decide to go in a different direction, there are some outstanding candidates out there for it.
"And you know what, maybe somebody will think, 'Ah Ange Postecoglou's not a bad coach, maybe we'll take a punt on him'.
"It doesn't rock my world, it doesn't consume me. I am here and passionate about what we are doing.
"I was brought in to change the way the club plays, rejuvenate the squad and bring success. I am focused on that and that's what I'll keep doing."
Positive Postecoglou
Postecoglou remains optimistic that Tottenham can still end their season on a high with Sunday's visit of Southmpton followed by a Europa League first leg quarter-final tie at home to Eintracht Frankfurt.
"I certainly saw enough there last night that if we can build on that, and Sunday is a good opportunity to do that, then we can get to the levels we need to get for the Europa," he said.
"In terms of what we've got to try and do is get to a level to get past Frankfurt. They are the first task and there is no point looking beyond that.
"If you look at last night in the context of an away game, that's how difficult away games in Europe are, they are usually pretty tight.
"I was disappointed with the goal we conceded but we fought hard at times to stay in the game and we need to take that mentality into every game we play in Europe - because they tend to be cagey and tighter - and still improve in a couple of areas.
"We have this opportunity before us where we are in the quarter-finals of the Europa League and you can't just not understand the significance of that.
"We are one of eight teams in the competition and irrespective of what's gone on before and what will happen after, don't let this opportunity slip by us without at least us being focused on trying to achieve that."
Redknapp: Europa League is all or nothing for Spurs
Sky Sports' Jamie Redknapp:
"The Frankfurt game is all or nothing, I've never seen a club where it's joy or despair in every aspect because he will be proven right. Everything he said early on in the season.
"He is all in on that Europa League and right now the players look like that as well. Ange said they did okay but the players weren't at it.
"Considering they had everyone back. It's as poor as I'd seen them play all season.
"If they weren't in Europe I don't think he'd still be the manager. It's been that poor and he knows the price on the ticket.
"You don't lose 16 games at a club like Tottenham. He's got to win the cup, if they do - they are creating history. If you don't, you will be history. That's why it is all or nothing for Ange Postecoglou."
