Ange Postecoglou insists he has no problem with criticism of his Tottenham Hotspur approach by Jamie Carragher as the Spurs boss previews Sunday's visit from Arne Slot's Liverpool
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Updated 14:54, 20 Dec 2024
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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglu previews Liverpool's visit and reacts to Jamie Carragher criticism on December 20, 2024
Ange Postecoglou insists he has no problem with criticism of his Tottenham Hotspur approach by Jamie Carragher, as the Spurs boss highlighted the impressive job being performed by his opposite number Arne Slot at Anfield. Carragher questioned the tactical plan of Postecoglou and was particularly vocal in his post-match analyst role on Sky Sports after Spurs went 3-0 up against Manchester United on Thursday night before eventually prevailing 4-3 to reach the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Speaking after a wild quarter-final victory over United to set up a last-four tie with Slot's Liverpool, Reds legend Carragher said: “My criticism over Tottenham under the manager is they never change how they play no matter what the game state is."
Asked if he felt the complaints were invalid in his Friday press conference, Postecoglou said he has no qualms with the punditry about his team's attacking style, saying: "Jamie Carragher, mate. You can name him. He’ll enjoy that!
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"People tell me he likes me so that’s a good thing. They say: ‘Did you hear what he said? But he likes you as a person,’. So, that’s important to me. Look, it’s all valid, it’s all valid but I don’t need validation from anybody to do what I do. Whether you agree with my approach or not, there is validity in both and I don’t have an issue with that.
"I love the fact people are talking about our games and analysing our games. I think that is important as well for this football club and I’d rather that than us be anonymous and no one talk about us, or we’re just grinding out an existence. I like the fact and as I’ve always said, you have to be prepared for scrutiny, you have to be prepared for criticism and it’s how you react to that, that is more important.
"I don’t think one is any less credible than the other in many respects, but what I am saying is I don’t need validity and it won’t change what I believe because what I believe is borne from a lifetime of experiences and values that I won’t let anyone tamper with from the outside.
"I’ve said before, whether it is Jamie or anyone else scrutinising or criticising our approach, that’s healthy because to me how you react to that is much more important than that itself because if you’re going to jump every time, it tells me you don’t really have a lot of belief in this building about what we’re doing if we’re always going to worry about what he is saying, or we need someone to say a good thing, or someone already said a bad thing.
"I think it is healthy if it’s coming from the right sort of place. Someone like Jamie, he is there to give his opinion and will not stand there and say, ‘I’ve got nothing to say,’ he’ll give an opinion. Some of the other stuff I kind of don’t understand because I think it’s just about getting headlines, but again if you react to that it kind of says more about yourself than anything else."
On Slot, whose team travel to Spurs on Sunday, the Australian coach added: "I'm not sure what you mean by gung-ho [style] but we'll play our football because that's what is winning us games. That's what we'll do against Liverpool who are a fantastic side and are going really well.
"Arne has come in and it's not easy when you're taking over from somebody with the status of Jurgen Klopp. They're very settled as a team, they've got quality within the starting XI and the squad. They've dealt with things like last week when they were a man down and they have real belief at the moment. They're the standout team in the competition so far but, again, on our day when we play football we're pretty good opposition.
"I’d be very surprised, mate (if it's a 0-0 draw). But you never know, you never know. That would be because, like I said, they’ve got a fantastic team with unbelievable attacking threats. You’re always going to be aware of that but we are pretty good at scoring ourselves so we will see.
"Late 70s, early 80s (I was a Liverpool fan). My first was probably around ’74 FA Cup, Liverpool. I loved the whole pass-and-move Liverpool style. They used to play a lot of five-a-sides at training. I used to read about it. Five-a-side was a modern rondo. Ahead of their time, kept the ball on the deck.
"I loved all that stuff, mainly because my dad loved the way they played. That was borne a bit from that. Fair to say they went away from that after a while, but a lot of my early recollections and enjoyment of football came from that style of game."