Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou slapped down by Tim Sherwood

With Tottenham riding a four-match losing streak, manager Ange Postecoglou has faced more stinging criticism from a former coach.

Tim Sherwood and Ange Postecoglou. Photos: Getty Images

Ange Postecoglou has come underfire once more for his Premier League tactics.

In his first season as Tottenham boss, Postecoglou was lauded for his attacking approach early on as the Spurs made a fast start to the 2023/24 campaign.

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But it has become something of a tired cliche that the 58-year-old’s honeymoon in English football is over, with the north London club slipping to fifth in the table and battling for a coveted Champions League place for finishing in the top four.

Spurs are seven points behind Aston Villa for fourth, with one game in hand and only three matches left in the season.

It’s still an improvement for a club that’s battled for silverware for decades and is coming off an eighth-place result 12 months ago.

But former Tottenham and Villa manager Tim Sherwood, 55, is the latest pundit to stick the boot into “Big Ange”, criticising a number of elements of his management style.

Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs are riding a four-match losing streak in the EPL. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Postecoglou worked his way from the Socceroos and the A-League to Japan and Scotland before landing a Premier League role.

Speaking on The Kelly and Wrighty Show on Optus Sport, Sherwood didn’t hold back assessing the Australian.

“He talks too much to the press, he’s too honest,” said Sherwood, who was sacked by Spurs and Villa in Premier League manager stints that both lasted less than 12 months.

“He’s talking about the set-pieces, talking about the high-line, ‘this is how we’re going to play’, have they got found out? It looks like they have a little bit.

“When he’s talking there about set-pieces not being important, it is important and there’s no reason to say it’s not important.

“This is the Premier League, this is the most competitive league in the world. You’re going to get found out.

“It’s not Scotland, with respect, it’s not Japan, it’s not Australia.”

Tim Sherwood and Ange Postecoglou. Photos: Getty Images

One of the biggest criticisms of Postecoglou’s attacking approach arose against Chelsea back in November, when he failed to alter his team’s style despite having two men sent off in a heavy 4-1 defeat.

“It is just who we are,” he said at the time. “It is who we are and who we will be for as long as I am here.”

Sherwood zeroed in on that performance when critiquing the first-year Spurs manager.

“Now I think he’s a good manager, I think he has the correct ideas,” the former England midfielder said.

“He will argue he hasn’t got the correct personnel. Well, if you haven’t got the right personnel, you need to change the way you play.

“You know (left back Destiny) Udogie is not there, you can’t play Ben Davies the same way you want to play Udogie.

Tottenham Hotspur's Italian defender Destiny Udogie (right). (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP)

“I think you need to turn the page over a little bit and I think he will, he will learn from it.

“But I think he needs to stop talking to the press. Why should he tell everyone the way he wants to play and that (he’s) not going to veer from it?

“This is the way I want to play, this is my philosophy and it will always be my philosophy, even when we go down to nine men against Chelsea we’re going to continue playing the same way. He showed his hand back then.”

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright was more complimentary of Postecoglou’s approach in his first season in the Premier League.

The squad at Postecolou’s disposal was largely inherited, but Wright questioned whether the club’s hierarchy will back him with the money needed to bring in fresh players in the off-season.

Tim Sherwood’s two shots at EPL management both ended in less than a year. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)

“I quite like him, it’s refreshing, the honesty, and at the start we obviously didn’t know him,” Wright said.

“You’re thinking he’s sticking to the way he plays because he’s hopefully going to get the players he wants to execute it.

“Maybe … he’s thinking once we get better players we will stick to this.

“Now the question is, will they give him the time to buy those players? Especially if he’s going to double down, ‘I’m not going to change the way I play, I’m not bothered by set-pieces’.

“Do you then give him the money?”

Spurs are on a worrying four-game losing streak, featuring defeats to Newcastle, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, with Postecoglou losing his cool in that loss to the Blues on May 3.

If he wants to quieten the current criticism, Postecoglou is facing a must-win clash on Sunday (AEST) when Spurs host relegation-battling Burnley.