It’s been a bumpy road for Ange Postecoglou with Tottenham Hotspur facing a results crisis brought about by a slew of injuries to key players. Failure to stop the rot could see the burly Aussie relieved of his duties.
Postecoglou spoke journalists on Sunday during the post-match interviews following a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup. It was yet another in a series of damaging defeats for a side that is without a host of first-team players.
Right now Spurs are without 11 key players in the form of Richarlison, Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, James Maddison, Dominic Solanke,Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie, Guglielmo Vicario, Radu Dragusin, Timo Werner and Wilson Odobert. To get their mojo back the 59-year-old manager decided to give the remnants of his squad two days off to reset and recharge.
As the pressure continues to rise, Postecoglou believes there is a “driven agenda “to get him sacked but insists no other team could have coped with the injuries he has had to deal with. “I am not talking about me. People can judge me. They can say I have done a bad job, I am not up to it or whatever and that’s fine” he said.
Heading into this weekend, Tottenham host Manchester United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday in a Premier League tie. The North Londoners occupy 14th place with 27 points. They’ve lost five out of their last eight in all competitions and desperately need a spark to pull them out of this rut.
There does appear to be some light at the end of the tunnel with Maddison, van de Ven, Udogie, Vicario, Werner and Johnson set for imminent returns.
Postecoglu will hope that the returning players will be fit for the weekend’s encounter. Another defeat- especially a damaging one against a United side also going through a low ebb – could spell the end for the Australian.
And while it remains highly unlikely, Spurs are only 10 points above the drop zone. Several more league defeats on the spin could pull them into a relegation battle.
