‘Stunk the place out’: Ange Postecoglou one step from a lie
Ange Postecoglou is alarmingly close to being proven a liar after another embarrassing, comical defeat which has left him on the edge.
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Ange Postecoglou is one step away from being proven a liar.
The Australian manager’s Tottenham had another night to forget on Friday when they beaten 1-0 by AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.
It leaves the former Socceroos coach needing to overcome a one-goal disadvantage heading into the second leg of their Europa League Round of 16 tie.
The Europa League has suddenly become Spurs’ top priority with the club’s Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup campaigns all derailed in ugly fashion.
The year of misery continued for Postecoglou on Friday morning with another lifeless display.
The Sun reports Spurs were lucky to walk away with only one goal conceded.
The Sun’s Tom Barclay said the London club “stunk the place out”.
It was Lucas Bergvall who stunk the most, scoring a comical early own-goal that proved to be the difference.
Former Spurs player Troy Parrott gave Postecoglou plenty of headaches and it was Parrott’s knockdown which Bergvall managed to hook into his own net on 18 minutes.
Spurs must now battle to turn this tie around in the second leg at home on Friday (AEDT) or risk another season without any silverware.
That scenario would pile pressure on boss Postecoglou given his injury-hit side have plunged to 13th in the Premier League table.
The team is a long-way from the team Postecoglou said they would look like in September when he famously said: “I don’t usually win things, I always win things in my second year. Nothing’s changed. I’ve said it now. I don’t say things unless I believe them.”
To make matters worse, returning England striker Dominic Solanke came off injured late on - despite being introduced as a sub just 19 minutes earlier.
It was the team’s lifeless display that has caused the most concern among football commentators.
They managed just one shot on target for the entire match.
Former Tottenham manager Glenn Hoddle said Postecoglou would be happy with the result given how poor the team played.
“They were lacklustre in their performance. But that’s a better result for Tottenham than it is for AZ,” Hoddle said on the BBC.
“To play so mediocre and come home with just a one-goal deficit, they’ll be happy with that. Not the performance, but the result.”
Sky Sports analyst Jamie O’Hara said Tottenham lacked creativity.
“It feels like Tottenham are going out of the competition with a whimper,” he said.
“Tottenham have shown nothing. There’s been no creativity.”
Originally published as ‘Stunk the place out’: Ange Postecoglou one step from a lie
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