Last summer, Tottenham fans were crying out for a manager who plays on the front foot after enduring several years of negative football under the likes of Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte.
Postecoglou has certainly delivered that, making Spurs one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the division, with the Australian implementing the style while also delivering decent results.
However, over the last few weeks, there are some signs that opposition sides have figured out the weaknesses in Tottenham’s system, with the Lilywhites looking short of ideas while also appearing defensively suspect.
Some have thus suggested that Postecoglou perhaps needs to be a little more pragmatic but Sutton dismissed those concerns, urging Tottenham fans to remember what they were witnessing under the likes of Conte and Mourinho.
When asked if failing to qualify for the Champions League would be a failure for Postecoglou, the former Celtic striker told The Mail’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast: “Failure? Failure is outrageous. Where did Tottenham finish last season? So how are we viewing progress?
“The thing with Tottenham – I’m not angry about it, I’m not aggravated about it – but are people quick to forget what he took over, who he lost, where Tottenham finished last season, the brand of football which they were playing, and then all of a sudden people have become used to this brand of football.
“They’re conceding goals on the counter, they’re leaving themselves wide open, but this is what it is. And this is how Postecoglou plays. And putting all the things into the equation, I think Tottenham fans are really happy about where they are.
“But there’s no doubt, and I thought this would happen next season, that there will be Tottenham fans who are saying, ‘well, we’ve got to see games out better, we need to be more defensive-minded.’
“That was always going to come and there’s an inevitability about it. But what do you want? Do you want your boring Contes? Do you want your boring Mourinhos or do you want your Postecoglou who’s just going to go for it?
The vast majority of Spurs fans always expected this season to be a transitional one and are fully on board with Postecoglou’s methods. Social media tends to amplify extreme voices, with the silent majority often not being heard.
Leave a Reply