Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou admitted that he was “lost for words” after his preferred style of play was repeatedly questioned following Sunday’s 6-3 drubbing at home to Liverpool.
The Spurs boss watched his side ship six goals for the first time since the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was opened as Liverpool ran riot in north London. Arne Slot’s table toppers raced into a 5-1 lead by the hour-mark before goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke reduced the deficit. Luis Diaz, who had opened the scoring, concluded the festive thriller with a final strike to make it 6-3.
In his post-match interview, Postecoglou was asked by Sky Sports reporter Patrick Davidson whether his front-foot style of play contributed to Tottenham’s downfall on Sunday. The visibly baffled Australian refused to follow that line of questioning, puffing out his cheeks and sighing: “I’m lost for words.”
Postecoglou put Tottenham’s defeat down to the injury issues which have robbed him of his first-choice goalkeeper, Guglielmo Vicario, and three starting defenders; Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie.
When the Spurs boss was again asked about the success of his adventurous style of play in his post-match press conference, Postecoglou snapped: “I’m just going to stop answering these questions. If people can’t see the obvious I’m not going to point it out. Make of it what you want, yes we’re conceding goals.
“If you want to discount the fact we’re missing a goalkeeper, two centre-backs and left-back and that hasn’t coincided with what we’re doing… I don’t know what to say anymore. I think people make up their mind in their own way. They either think what I’m doing is good or bad, and that’s fine.
“It’s fairly significant, if you took out Liverpool‘s goalkeeper, two centre-backs and a left-back – or any team other than Liverpool, they’d find it tough going as well.”
Postecoglou’s Spurs have slipped into the bottom half of the Premier League table. Despite boasting more goals than any other side in the division (39), Tottenham trail Brighton and are just one point above crisis-stricken Manchester United.
“People aren’t throwing platitudes at me so that’s fair enough,” Postecoglou frostily noted post-game. “Again from my perspective, all I can do is navigate us through a difficult period and try and make sure we do get to a position where hopefully we have a healthier squad and some key players back where we’re in a position where we can improve our position in the table.
“If you’re saying that tenth means I’m not doing a good job and I’m maybe somehow should be uncomfortable, well that’s for others to judge.”
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