Tottenham told they should have given Ange Postecoglou the Rafa Benitez treatment
Harry Kewell says Daniel Levy made a mistake by sacking Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham should have followed Liverpool’s lead from 2005.
The debate on whether Spurs were right to part ways with the 59-year-old will continue to rage on, and it will be answered to a large extent by how the Lilywhites do under Thomas Frank during the upcoming campaign.
While the former Tottenham boss did deliver the club’s first trophy in 17 years, Spurs pointed out that Postecoglou picked up just 78 points from his last 66 Premier League games in charge.
Despite that appalling league record, many Spurs fans felt that Postecoglou deserved a chance to build on his Europa League success, but Levy and the Tottenham board decided otherwise.
Ange Postecoglou was faced with an impossible task at Tottenham
Kewell has now claimed that he is at a loss to make sense of Tottenham’s decision to sack his compatriot, explaining that the challenge of juggling Europe and the Premier League is far from easy.
The 46-year-old, who currently manages Posecoglou’s former club, Yokohama F. Marinos, suggested that Tottenham’s injuries meant that the 59-year-old had to choose which competition to prioritise.
Kewell told talkSPORT: “I don’t even get the Ange sacking. I don’t think people realise how difficult it is to perform in the Premier League and perform in a European Cup competition as well.
“I think people forget when we won the 2005 Champions League, our league form was terrible. We didn’t drop as low as 17th, but we were going out there and playing Juventus and other great teams and dominating them, and then on Saturday we weren’t clicking.
“It takes a special team and a big squad. You rarely see teams win in the Premier League and the Champions League, because it’s nearly impossible to do. He had a horrific season with injuries, he had to [decide] which tournament to win.
“Don’t get me wrong, you don’t want to finish 17th in the Premier League, but the way you see him perform in Europe, he won them a title and delivered. He won a trophy in his second year, that’s what he’d been saying, and it takes time.”
Kewell suggests Daniel Levy wanted to avoid the nightmare scenario
The Leeds United legend posited that the Spurs hierarchy may have feared a potentially bad start to next season if they had stuck with Postecoglou, which would have put the club in an even worse position.
However, he pointed out that the former Tottenham head coach had delivered on his remit of winning silverware.
Kewell added: “I do understand that to get another manager and let him work with a team because let’s say they kept with Ange and after six games the performance isn’t there and they get rid of him. It’s hard for another manager to take the reins, they’ve got to wait another year.
“So I can see why Spurs have done it, but what the fans always wanted was trophies, they wanted to win, and nowadays you get promoted, you’re under pressure, you win trophies, you get the sack. It’s just tough.”
- READ MORE: Hugo Lloris reacts to Ange Postecoglou sacking at Tottenham – ‘We all have to be thankful’
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