‘Insane’: Ange Postecoglou blows Premier League away

Ange Postecoglou is the talk of the Premier League with a wild detail emerging from his team’s demolition job on Manchester United.

Ange Postecoglou is the talk of the Premier League again after Tottenham’s demolition job on Manchester United on Monday morning.

The Aussie manager’s side piled more pressure on Erik ten Hag’s position as United manager with a dominant 3-0 win at Old Trafford.

A ten-man United outfit was blown off the park and were fortunate wasteful Spurs didn’t put six on them.

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Wild details to emerge from the match show Postecoglou’s team had a ranking of 5.33 expected goals on the XG Philosophy index which compares the number of actual goals scored to the expected goals.

Postecoglou’s renegade attacking tactics were one of the big talking points to emerge from the match with some branding the performance “insane”.

They are beginning to earn their growing reputation as the most exciting team in the league.

5.33xG away at Old Trafford, Angelos Postecoglou you are insane https://t.co/nulPCX2oTHpic.twitter.com/9AH7fhG4j1

— 🇸🇪 (@axelthfc) September 29, 2024

Tottenham's attacking numbers in the Premier League this season:

â—‰ Most xG
â—‰ Most touches in opp. box
â—‰ Most shots on target
â—Ž 2nd most shots
â—Ž 3rd most goals

Ange ball™️ pic.twitter.com/iWweIEwFsW

— The Spurs Watch (@TheSpursWatch) September 29, 2024

Spurs have climbed back up to eighth on the table after back to back wins.

The London club made a flying start when Brennan Johnson tapped in from Micky Van de Ven’s storming run after three minutes.

Tottenham should have added to their lead long before United were reduced to 10 men when captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card on 42 minutes.

Dejan Kulusevski finally doubled the visitors advantage two minutes into the second half before Dominic Solanke rounded off the scoring.

Ten Hag began the season under scrutiny after surviving an internal review at the end of last season.

Big Ange takes over Old Trafford. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images.

A shock FA Cup final victory over Manchester City was widely credited with saving the former Ajax coach’s job after finishing eighth in the Premier League last season.

A third defeat in United’s first six league games of the new campaign leaves the Red Devils down in 12th and time surely running out for their beleaguered boss.

United face daunting trips to Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa on league duty next weekend before a two-week international break that clubs often use to implement managerial change.

“I think we will get better and we need some time,” said Ten Hag.

“We are all on one page, in the same boat, together, ownership, leadership group, staff and players.”

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou was himself under pressure just over a week ago. But Spurs have won four games in 12 days and turned in arguably their best performance of the Australian’s reign.

“Outstanding,” said Postecoglou. “I thought we showed real belief and conviction.

“We were aggressive with and without the ball. A fantastic all-round performance.”

Tottenham were without injured captain Son Heung-min and missed the South Korean’s clinical finishing as they tried to kill the game off.

It didn’t matter to Postecoglou.

“Today was a joy to watch,” he said.

Three. Nil. Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images.

“I’m involved in the game, but at times sitting back and enjoying the quality of our football, the hard work we showed when we didn’t have the ball and the effort by the lads.

“It was us having a conviction in who we are as a team. You come to a place like Old Trafford and there’s always inclination to ease off a bit, but we want to be a team that goes at the opposition irrespective of where the game is played and who the opposition is.

“I thought to a man and the way we started today, there was a real intent in our play.”

Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville called his club’s performance “disgusting” — but was all praise for Spurs.

“Tottenham have been really good and have got the scoreline their performance deserved,” he said on Sky Sports.

“A really good day for Ange Postecoglou, who has had a few questions asked of him in recent weeks.”

He went on to say: “I love watching them. I have loved Ange Postecoglou since he came to England. He has had a rough patch, it has not been as good as he would have liked, but he is a massive asset to the Premier League.

“The style of football, his personality - he hasn’t had the backing of some of the other top clubs in Europe. He has been backed, but not to the level of others. But they are always a good watch. They won this game today, they dominated and absolutely deserved it.”

Former Everton midfielder Leon Osman said on the BBC: “We spoke before the game about the significance of winning this fixture.

“Spurs look like they are a team who are challenging for the top four, while United look all over the place, a team which looks in disarray.”

— with AFP

Originally published as ‘Insane’: Ange Postecoglou blows Premier League away