Tottenham Hotspur coach Ange Postecoglou was forced to defend his free-wheeling style yet again after his team advanced to the semifinals of the League Cup with a wacky 4-3 win over Manchester United.
Spurs were cruising at 3-0 up after 63 minutes when their goalkeeper Fraser Forster had two brain explosions while playing out from the back to let United close to 3-2.
A controversial fourth straight from a corner from Son Hueng-Min on 88 minutes looked to have eased nerves, only for United to score in the 94th minute.
Pundits and fans were left shaking their heads after an instant classic knockout tie. Postecoglou remains on course to deliver his promised second-season trophy by reaching the last four.
Tottenham will host Liverpool on January 7 [AEDT] in the first game of a two-legged semifinal, with the second match on February 4 [AEDT]. Arsenal host Newcastle in January then play away in February.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, speaking on Sky Sports, called on Postecoglou to ”get a grip”.
“They never change how they play no matter how the game state is. I don’t think football should be played the same from minute one to minute 90,” Carragher said.
“At that stage [just after Tottenham conceded their first] you don’t pass the ball back to the goalkeeper and make him nervous.
“What we’ve created now is robots on the pitch. I wasn’t a great player technically or physically, but I understood the game. Some of the things I saw tonight I wouldn’t have allowed to happen. The manager has told you to play a certain way but someone has to get a grip and say ‘no, we are changing for the next five or 10 minutes’.
“It frustrates me when players can’t see how the game state changes and recognise they have to change their approach to suit it.”
Former Tottenham player Jamie Redknapp described it as “a masterclass of how not to see out a game from Tottenham.
“It was crazy to see. The manager, I don’t know how he does it, he must be pulling his hair out. But he’s got to do something about it. Stop having the goalkeeper – the worst player on the ball – passing it out from the back.”
Postecoglou was typically unrepentant, preferring to focus on the undeniable entertainment value.
“We made it harder than it should have been, we were well in control, played really well, we looked like we were going to manage the game and then two unfortunate moments, the first one affected Fraser and then the second one came as a result of that. But we showed character and scored a fourth,” said Postecoglou.
“I like the whole game. Are you not entertained? I know the studio is probably having a meltdown over my lack of tactics.
“We’ve got so many absences at the moment, centre halves, kids on the bench. If we get through the period we’re going to get enormous growth out of it.
“I really liked how we played tonight, obviously those moments tainted it a bit and that has happened this season before and it doesn’t help our consistency, but the mentality of the boys… I love it.
“I love football land love watching teams that go out there to entertain. Obviously we want to be successful and we won’t be if we make things difficult like we did tonight.
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“We’re not going out there to try and grind out 1-0 victories, we’re trying to keep folks entertained. I can’t see how that’s a bad thing.
“It’s part of football, mistakes will happen. From the context of how we play as a team, there’s nothing we need to change. It doens’t get me any credit in the bank as an astute tactician, but so be it.”
Asked if he wanted his players to cut out their mistakes, the Aussie responded: “Of course, but you’re asking for perfection in human beings and that doesn’t exist. Sometimes they stuff up just like I do and you do.”
Tony Harperhttps://www.theroar.com.au/2024/12/20/get-a-grip-ange-cops-pelters-despite-crazy-ko-win-over-man-united-trolls-pundits-are-you-not-entertained/‘Get a grip’: Ange cops pelters DESPITE ‘crazy’ KO win over Man United, trolls pundits -‘are you not entertained?’
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