Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou
Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou wants his side to stand up and be counted
Ange Postecoglou has called on his injury-hit Tottenham to overcome “extraordinary circumstances” to beat Southampton tonight - and ease the growing pressure on his job.
Spurs will bid to end a run of five games without a win at the Premier League ’s bottom club without nine players and only one fit centre-back. And teenager Archie Gray has insisted that Tottenham's young guns are ready to step and help the team through a hectic festive period.
Spurs host Manchester United in the Carabao Cup on Thursday and then play Liverpool, Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest and then Wolves before the New Year. Postecoglou has a proud record of winning a trophy in every second season with a club - and Thursday night’s draw at Rangers keeps them in contention in the Europa League.
One win in eight in all competitions - and some dreadful performances - has seen Spurs slip into the bottom half of the Premier League. And tonight’s first visit to St Mary’s since Antonio Conte’s last game for the club in March 2023 - and his post-match rant about the culture of the club - now has added significance. Three defeats this week could signal the end for a manager whose team led the Premier League at the start of last season. But former Celtic boss Postecoglou called on his squad to embrace the challenge.
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“Now is the time we have an opportunity,” he claimed. “In these next five games between now and new year we can set up our season. Thursday was a great point for us because it sets us up for Europe, so we know we’re going to (try to) make the knock-out stages.
“Now we have four league games to get ourselves back up the ladder and make an impact. We’ve got a massive Carabao Cup quarter-final to get to a semi-final. I’m not interested in anything else beyond that. It is an extraordinary situation we are in. Where we are squad-wise with the injuries we have and what we ask our players to do, these are extraordinary circumstances.”
It has been a difficult December so far for Postecoglou. He confronted fans after the defeat at Bournemouth and then Cristiano Romero apologised for his Conte-style criticism of the club’s culture following last Sunday’s collapse against Chelsea. And the Aussie blasted Timo Werner after the German’s performance in Glasgow.
But his growing injury list - with Romero and Micky van de Ven both out until Christmas - is his biggest problem amid claims that his high-energy Angeball style is causing casualties. Big Ange famously declared "If we go down to five men, mate, we'll have a crack" after last season’s home defeat to Chelsea.
And he admitted he had considered if he should “dilute” his style but said: “What’s the long-term effect? It may relieve some short-term pain, but if that means that people lose belief and conviction in what we’re trying to do, because we have found an alternative path that alleviates that short-term stuff, I don’t think that’s healthy and get us where we want to.”
Gray praised the help given to him by centre-back Radu Dragusin amid the din of Ibrox and insisted he feels ready to play his part in more big games .
“I’m confident in my ability,” said the £30m summer signing from Leeds. “I’ll always back myself. Even if the results like against Rangers don’t go our way, I’ll always back all of us and back myself to step in and do the job.”
Tonight’s game will kick off at 7pm on TNT - after the two games on Sky Sports - to give Tottenham more time to recover from playing on Thursday night.
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