Postecoglou ‘cannot hide behind’ injuries and stubborn tactics anymore – Sam Allardyce

Former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce and former Liverpool defender Phil Thompson have given a scathing indictment of Ange Postecoglou’s tactics and have asserted that the Australian’s days at Spurs are numbered if he does not adapt.

Pressure once again starts to mount on Ange Postecoglou

Unsurprisingly, questions have once again been raised about Postecoglou‘s future at Tottenham after the Lilywhites were knocked out of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

While some reports over the last 48 hours have claimed that Spurs are not considering getting rid of the Australian with immediate effect, others have claimed that the Lilywhites have already formulated a shortlist to take over from the 59-year-old if results do not improve immediately.

Postecoglou came out fighting after his side’s defeat against Villa on Sunday, insisting that Tottenham will be a formidable outfit when some of their key players return to action and adding that the club will set their sights on Europa League glory this season.

Sam Allardyce says stubborn Postecoglou could pay big price

Sam Allardyce, who certainly knows a thing or two about the pressures of managing in the Premier League, believes that it is Postecoglou‘s stubborn tactics that are letting Tottenham down.

He suggested that the Aussie coach cannot hide behind the excuses of injuries any further and needs to find a way to get results.

The former England boss said on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast: “Managers have gone a lot quicker than Ange, and not done as bad as his results, and sadly you can only hide behind injuries for so long, irrespective of how much it’s affecting the team and how difficult it is to get through that period.

“You’ve got to find a way to get results, and I think that as the game is today, his inability to change – and to provide a way of playing to win – is much more important than the style of play, and he doesn’t seem to accept that.

“Many coaches seem to be hellbent on one style only. There comes a time when that has to be put to one side to do the right thing for the team, to win a game of football, until you can get back to what you really want to do.”

Ange Postecoglou must adapt or die at Tottenham

Phil Thompson seconded that opinion, suggesting that Postecoglou had to abandon his principles and do what it takes to ensure that Spurs get points on the board.

He added: “Gerrard Houllier always said to me, you have to be able to adapt, you have to adapt or die.

“It’s the way it is with football, and these managers, even the ones at the very bottom of the league and they’ll still play their same way and they’ll come on after losing the seventh game on the trot and saying, ‘no I’ll stick to my principles’ and you’re going no, you’ve got to change. I respect what you’re doing but your team is suffering.

“I didn’t see what Spurs were trying to do to Liverpool last week. I couldn’t see whether they were trying to sit deep and suck us in the way you would do. They stayed in the game until the 34th minute, but there were times when they were getting drawn out.

“This thing is, having his back four push right up, I get it. But there are times when if you’ve got so many injuries you have to adapt, and it would have been better saying to his players, ‘this is what we’re going to do in a couple of days training and we all do that together, we frustrate Liverpool’. I didn’t see any of that right from the first seconds.”

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