‘Excited and optimistic’: Spurs legend all in on Ange… but not everyone’s convinced

Ange Postecoglou’s position as Spurs coach is under fire amid a string of poor results but a club legend has leapt to his defence, calling on Tottenham officials to ”stick with him”.

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Spurs currently sit in 10th in the Premier League, demolishing Southampton 5-0 in their latest outing. But before that came disappointing defeats to Chelsea and Bournemouth.

While Tottenham were also able to batter reigning champions Manchester City on November 24, their previous encounter was a 2-1 defeat to relegation candidates Ipswich Town.

Throw in Europe League draws against Rangers and Roma — and it’s fair to say it’s been a rollercoaster for Postecoglou and Spurs.

The Tottenham board will reportedly stick solid with Postecoglou for the remainder of the season, but if his side’s inconsistent performances continue the Australian’s tenure could come under the microscope.

Injuries and suspensions have also hampered Spurs, with Guglielmo Vicario, Rodrigo Bentancur, Yves Bissouma, Heung-Min Son, Destiny Udogie, Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven spending time sidelined in recent weeks.

All seven players have been regular fixtures in Postecoglou’s starting sides this year.

So with pressure mounting to turn his club’s fortunes around, former striker Teddy Sheringham has urged the board to put their faith in the former Celtic boss.

He pointed to the exciting style that Postecoglou employs, pressing opposition teams and creating a mountain of goalscoring opportunities with a direct attacking approach.

Only Chelsea have scored more Premier League goals this season, with Spurs netting 36 times. Meanwhile, Tottenham also have the equal second most ‘big chances created’.

“I’m here to back Ange this morning,” Sheringham said on Talk Sport.

“I love what he’s given Tottenham this year. I think over the last four or five years you’ve seen Tottenham under [Jose] Mourinho and [Antonio] Conte make one maybe two chances a game.

“I go to watch Tottenham now and I see them making ten chances in the first 15 minutes.

“I think it’s exciting. I think any team would struggle without their two main centre halves and their main goalkeeper.

“I’m still excited and optimistic for Ange and the way he plays the game and I think they should stick with him.”

However, other pundits and Premier League legends haven’t been so kind, including former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara and Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher.

O’Hara specifically took aim at Tottenham’s defensive efforts against Rangers, saying his “patience was wearing thin”.

It’s important to note that Spurs were missing their best two centre backs, starting 18-year-old Archie Gray alongside Radu Drăgușin.

“Ange Postecoglou, mate. I’ve had enough,” O’Hara said.

“You know, we go on and like, oh yeah, the football’s great. Is it? Is it great?

“I’m not watching Barcelona. I’m just watching a good team, you know, in moments, have some decent spells, but you know, every team plays good football.

“It’s not like I’m watching Barcelona play, but can’t defend, but when we’ve got the ball, it’s just, you know, it’s brilliant to watch.

“All I’m watching is a Tottenham team that I’ve watched a million times before. Boring. There’s nothing special.”

Carragher’s criticism came after Spurs’ 4-3 loss to Chelsea, with Postecoglou claiming his side “played well” despite departing their home stadium without a single point.

The former England international was of the belief Postecoglou needs to adapt his style of play — or else he faces the sack.

“Ange said how well they played. I can’t imagine any Liverpool manager I played for – and we conceded four in a game – would say in the interview we played well,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.

“If you play this way you’ll get the result like at Manchester City but you’d also get results like this one where you’re 2-0 up.

“I’ve never got my head around managers saying we play a ‘certain way and we will never change’ – I think it started with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona.

“This idea that wherever they play, they will play their way. But that was the best team I’ve ever seen. Pep Guardiola then had to change his Man City team who were winning the leagues every season, putting centre-backs at fullback. This idea that you can’t change is alien to me.

“The game-state dictates how you play, not all the time but if you go away to a tough away ground you shouldn’t play the same way as you do against a team at the bottom.

“There’s this idea of playing a pure game and the Tottenham fans singing ‘We’ve got our Tottenham back’ but you won’t win anything, you won’t challenge.”