Postecoglou emphasises entertainment in defence of unpredictable Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur (2) 2 v Roma (1) 2

By Kaz Mochlinski at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium

Europa League

MD5

Talking Points

Ange Postecoglou was completely unequivocal about his footballing philosophy after Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-2 Europa League draw with Roma, which was thrilling for neutral spectators but torture at times for Spurs’ fans as their side twice squandered a lead.

“Why can’t it just be entertaining, mate?” insisted the Australian afterwards. “Isn’t that why we all come? Would you really prefer us to kind of sketch out a couple of nil-all draws and a 1-0 win and we get through?

“I’d much rather we’re exciting to watch. And maybe it is edge of the seat stuff, and sometimes you don’t get the reward like we could have tonight.

“But I think if you want those other kind of games, mate, there’s plenty in world football you could watch every weekend. I’d like to think when you tune in to us, you’ll get entertained.”

In accurately demonstrating their head coach’s exhilarating approach, Spurs had 24 shots on goal, while allowing Roma to take 18 efforts against them. With both teams repeatedly hitting the woodwork too, there was no lack of goalmouth action.

Claudio Ranieri is still settling into his Roman return, after coming out of retirement to become the Italian capital club’s third manager of the season. But he professed to savouring the spectacle just as much as he enjoyed an important result for his side.

“I said to Postecoglou he has a fantastic team. I love his football. Always try to win, always. It was good. But we never gave up and always believed in the draw.”

The stalemate is for now unhelpful to either Spurs or Roma, as both dropped down the latest Europa League table in the new format brought in by UEFA for European club competitions from this season.

For Tottenham, it means falling outside the top eight automatic qualifiers for the knock-out stages - with three matches left to be played in the extended group phase. They were notably overtaken by Rangers, who they will face next in Glasgow in a fortnight’s time.

However, Postecoglou tried to present a positive perspective, despite admitting that he was “frustrated with the way the game ended. Obviously we should have killed it off a lot earlier.

“We really should have killed it off in the first half with the chances we had. At 2-1 you’re always kind of keeping the opposition in the game. It’s disappointing we weren’t able to see the game out. But ultimately we’re still in a decent position.”

Guglielmo Vicario is the latest Spurs player to be ruled out for an extended period by injury, unfortunately for the club’s publications department after the Italian goalkeeper had been selected to feature on the cover of the Roma match programme.

“It is what it is” counselled Postecoglou. “We’ve been in this situation for quite a while. We are fairly thin in terms of squad depth at the moment. We had four kids on the bench tonight, so we couldn’t even fill the quota.

“But it is what it is. We’ve been dealing with this for quite a while. I still think we certainly had enough of the game and enough really sort of clearcut chances to win the game.

“It’s challenging with obviously the absences we have at the moment in terms of the squad. But I think tonight our football was still good. We just lacked a little bit that clinical edge to finish the game off.

“Overall this whole European competition for us had some challenges within the first five games, but we’re in a strong position and that’s the main thing. There are three games to go and we’re in a pretty decent position.

“You try and win every game you can, and see where that takes you. I think it will probably be clearer after maybe the next round. But it’s all pretty tight from what I understand. And that’s what you expect.”

On his captain, Son Heung-min, being boosted by opening the scoring from the penalty spot, Postecoglou commented “I don’t know if he’s lacking confidence. Sonny’s had a disrupted year for us, so that doesn’t help.

“He had some good chances tonight to get the goal. He’s getting in those areas, look he’s got the quality to take those chances. We know that he’s done that consistently for almost a decade.

“Like I said, he’s had a disrupted season as well, sort of in and out. But you can see he’s getting back to sort of full fitness now, which is the main thing for us.

“We’re quite thin in those wide areas, so he’s playing and we’ve got to sort of make sure we’re kind of careful with him, Brennan, Timo. That’s the only wingers we’ve got left. That’s all we’ll have for the foreseeable future.

“But I thought tonight like I said it wasn’t just Sonny. There were quite a few good chances. We hit the post three times as well. Had a couple cleared off the line.

“I still felt on a couple of occasions a little more composure would have finished the game off. It’s disappointing that we weren’t able to capitalise on the football we played to get the three points.”

Inevitably, after letting in two goals from set-pieces, one from a free-kick and another from a corner which was only half-cleared, Postecoglou was questioned about his continuing refusal to address the issue.

“I don’t know what to say to that” was his surprising response. “I think that’s the third goal we’ve conceded from a set-piece this year in 20 games. I get it. I don’t know what to say. Let’s move on.”

There does not seem to be much prospect of Postecoglou adapting his attitude imminently. So Spurs set-pieces will remain under close scrutiny. And the entertainment is likely to be equally high.

Otherwise, with Tottenham, everything else is entirely unpredictable.