Tottenham Hotspur supporters are divided over manager Ange Postecoglou’s philosophy.
“The war over Ange Postecoglou’s style is playing out exactly as we expected,” global media outlet The Athletic reported on Wednesday.
Postecoglou, who was in charge of Scottish giants Celtic until last season, took over at Tottenham ahead of the new season. After finishing eighth in the Premier League last season, Spurs are currently in contention for a top-four finish.
Postecoglou’s summer signings – James Maddison, Micky van der Vaart, Brennan Johnson, and Guglielmo Vicario – have all found success in the team, while Son Heung-min, who he named Spurs captain, has been one of the Premier League’s top strikers with 15 goals and nine assists this season.
However, Tottenham fans are now divided over Postecoglou’s style. The division is largely due to the result of the club’s away match against Newcastle United in the 33rd round of the 2023-24 English Premier League.
At the time, Tottenham suffered a 0-4 defeat away to Newcastle. Postecoglou’s side struggled against Newcastle’s forward pressure and counter-attacks, and Son Heung-min, who started the game as a frontline striker, was substituted 13 minutes into the second half after failing to take a single shot.
At this point, fans were shocked by the match data. Not only did Tottenham not score a single goal on the day, but they also conceded four goals despite having a whopping 72.9% of the ball possession. This means they had a lot of time on the ball, but a lot of meaningless turnovers.
“The 0-4 defeat at Newcastle was the worst performance, result, and atmosphere of the Pochettino regime,” the outlet explained, “and it seems that the entire Spurs community is now starting to split over the manager.”
“More specifically, it’s about whether the manager’s approach is correct and useful, and whether criticism is justified,” the outlet said. “For those who are critical of Pochettino, the defeat to Newcastle increased their fears.
“Tottenham had 72.9% of the ball that day, but they failed to create any real chances and were equally vulnerable,” he said. “They conceded because of poor passes from the defense and a lack of pressure when they played high up the line, which exposed all the flaws and weaknesses in their style of play.”
“What made Spurs’ defeat all the more poignant was the fact that Postecoglou’s philosophy was completely overwhelmed by Eddie Howe’s pragmatism,” he added, “Howe devised a tailor-made tactic for the Spurs game, despite more than half the squad being injured, and was rewarded with a big win.”
Another factor that fans point to is Postecoglou’s rigidity, according to the media. Throughout the season, Postecoglou has stuck to the same 메이저사이트 tactics no matter who the opponent is, and the inflexibility of his tactics was pointed out in the game against Newcastle, where he failed to get anything going.
Of course, there are still plenty of fans who support Postecoglou. Postecoglou’s tactics of playing high up the line and being aggressive have caught the eye of soccer fans.
“The way Postecoglou has played throughout the season has yielded results. Spurs are currently performing better than anyone expected before the season started,” and ‘Spurs have played very well this season, drawing away to Arsenal and Manchester City and winning 4-0 at Aston Villa five weeks before losing to Newcastle.’
Based on what we’ve seen so far, there’s a strong divide among Spurs fans over Postecoglou. However, the results of Tottenham’s upcoming schedule could increase the negativity toward Postecoglou.
With six games remaining until the end of the season, Tottenham will host Arsenal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on May 28 at 10:00 p.m. in the 35th round of the 2023-24 season. After the “North London Derby” against Arsenal, Spurs will face Chelsea (A), Liverpool (A), Burnley (H), Man City (H), and Sheffield United (A).
To qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, Spurs will need to finish fourth. However, with four of their remaining six games against Premier League giants, the remainder of the schedule will be Postecoglou’s biggest test of the season.
The defeat to Newcastle exposed the weaknesses in Postecoglou’s tactics. If Postecoglou is unable to improve his tactics, it is likely that he will suffer back-to-back defeats in the remaining fixtures. In this case, the fans’ negative opinion of Postecoglou will be strengthened.
After an unbeaten start to the season and a brief spell at the top of the Premier League table, Postecoglou had a lot of support from Spurs fans. However, his recent tactical weaknesses have put him in trouble, causing a rift between fans at the end of the season.