One question Ange Postecoglou is well and truly sick of answering
Ange Postecoglou’s face said it all after he was asked the same question twice in the space of 24 hours, and his answers were as good as it gets.
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Ange Postecoglou has launched an impassioned defence of his attacking approach, saying he is “not interested” in pragmatism after Tottenham’s 2-2 Europa League draw with Roma — the latest episode in an inconsistent season.
Spurs were 2-1 up heading into added time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Friday (AEDT) but veteran defender Mats Hummels snatched a late equaliser for Claudio Ranieri’s team.
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It came just days after Spurs hammered Premier League champions Manchester City 4-0 at the Etihad.
Spurs are sixth in the English top flight ahead of Monday morning’s match against mid-table Fulham, with six wins and five defeats so far this season.
The top eight teams will qualify for the Europa League round of 16. Teams ranked ninth to 24th will contest the knockout phase playoffs to reach the round of 16. Tottenham currently sit ninth in the Europa League standings.
After the draw with Roma, a reporter asked Postecoglou: “It was great entertainment again. Is the priority over the last three games going to be winning ahead of artistic merit making sure you finish above that dotted line?”
Postecoglou sighed and replied with a smile: “No. Why can’t it just be entertaining mate? Isn’t that why we all come? Would you really prefer us to sketch out a couple of nil-all draws and a 1-0 win and we get through?
“I’d much rather we’re exciting to watch. Maybe it is edge of the seat stuff and sometimes you don’t get the reward like we could have tonight.
“If you want those kind of games mate there’s plenty in world football you can watch every weekend. I like to think if you tune into us you’ll get entertained.”
Australian coach Postecoglou said he would stick to his attacking principles despite his team’s slip-ups.
“There’s plenty of room for pragmatism in all walks of life and in football as well,” he said barely a day later, after again being asked about his style of play ahead of the clash with Fulham.
“But I’m just not interested in it.
“I don’t know why I need to change my approach to be like everyone else wants me to be. I’ll continue to push this team to be a little bit different, play football in a different way.
“Maybe when I’m long gone you’ll all pine for my entertainment, and you’ll have had your fill of pragmatism.
“But look, if we were pragmatic I’d say at 2-0 up at City away, we’d have probably settled for 2-0 and we wouldn’t have got the victory we did and made it a special moment for our club.”
Postecoglou said his approach was geared towards long-term success for the club, who have not won silverware since 2008.
“At the moment what do we have? We don’t have a hell of a lot,” he said.
“We haven’t achieved anything yet, we haven’t had success, we haven’t done all those things we want to do.
“So if I start being pragmatic now then maybe we’ll never get there.
“Last night we weren’t at our highest level but I thought for 20 minutes we were as exciting as we’ve been since I’ve been here … we were exciting to watch. And that’s what I want.”
He hinted at potential signings in the January transfer window, saying he had spoken with technical director Johan Lange.
“Last year, we ended up doing a little bit of business which I think helped us but nothing is concrete now because January is always tricky and a lot will be dependent on where we are squad-wise,” he said.
Originally published as One question Ange Postecoglou is well and truly sick of answering
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