Postecoglou’s time could be up as Tottenham continue to struggle

Tottenham Hotspur Arena (Winston Tjia via Unsplash)

By Jack Meney

It’s been a tough season so far for Tottenham fans as the North London team has been far from consistent in the Premier League. Although they have delivered many exciting games and moments, the ability to capture the three points has often escaped them. The recent 3-2 loss to struggling Everton have left fans wondering, what are the next steps for the club?

Some have put this bad form down to the injury crisis that has been apparent this season, but others would blame the manager Ange Postecoglou. Prolific players like Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Vicario and Bentancur were all out before the Everton game, causing many issues. Postecoglou then said in his post-match interview that the situation recently worsened during mid-week training with key players Solanke, Johnson and Bissouma all picking up knocks.

Ange Postecoglou looking defeated during Everton game (Matt McNulty via Gettyimages)

An injury list as intensive as Tottenham’s would put any manager in a tough position but the way that the Spurs manager has dealt with this has been criticised. Throughout his managerial career, the Australian has been recognised and praised for his entertaining, offensive style of football. The criticism from fans and pundits has come from the fact that Postecoglou has not changed the way he has told his team to play, despite consistently leaking a large amount of goals.

Since Spurs’ 4-0 win over Manchester City at the end of November, Postecoglou’s side has played 10 Premier League games, losing 7, drawing 3, and only winning 1. During those games, they have conceded 22 goals. Despite this, he has been determined to set his team up in the exact same attacking nature, constantly leaving his team vulnerable at the back. It is this stubborn characteristic that has had fans calling for the sacking of their manager as they want to see change.

Supporters have been left frustrated by their team’s defensive display as the team has not struggled to score goals. This has led to exciting games but although fans might be entertained, they are unhappy with the fact that the club sit 15th in the table, only eight points off the relegation zone.

Tottenham players after the Everton game (Michael Regan via Gettyimages)

It seems that the club’s owners, the ENIC group, have confidence in the Aussie and will be patient with him. This breaks away from the trend they have set with their previous gaffers, with Nuno Espirito Santos, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte all given minimal time to find success.

The general conception seems to be that these bad results should not be normalised for a team like Tottenham, who are a traditional ‘big six’ team, and Postecoglou should lose his job. Former West Ham United player, Dean Ashton, disagrees with this though. On Sky Sports, he said: “If you’re a Tottenham fan and you want Postecoglou gone, then I think you’re mad!” If Spurs were to sack their current manager, the big question would be who would come in next?

It can be argued that the North London side haven’t had a gaffer that has truly succeeded since the Argentine, Mauricio Pochettino. When selecting their next boss, they would need to think carefully to make sure the correct appointment is made.

Some of the names that have been mentioned for the job are Bournemouth manager Adoni Iroala, former Borussia Dortmund manager Edin Terzic and Marco Silva, who is currently at fellow Premier League side Fulham. Other names that might be a bit more optimistic include current French boss Didier Deschamps and the record-breaking Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso.

Current favourite for the Spurs job Andoni Iraola (Robin Jones - AFC Bournemouth via Gettyimaes)

It will be interesting to see how things unfold over the next month for Spurs as they have the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final to play against Liverpool, as well as multiple league games. Postecoglou was adamant at the start of the season that he “always wins a trophy in his second season” so the owners might want to see if this is true, but fans would argue that they don’t have time to wait.