Ange Postecoglou says that two of Tottenham’s biggest stars sensed that they needed to step up against Southampton and praised them for grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck.
Tottenham desperately needed a convincing performance and three points at St Mary’s, given the poor run of results they have been on recently, and that is exactly what the players delivered.
Despite going into the game with a several under-strength team, owing to the injuries and suspensions, the away side got on the front foot early on and were at their devastating best in attack, putting the game to bed by racing into a 4-0 lead within 25 minutes.
The Saints defence could not cope with the quality and interplay of the Spurs attackers, who had an enjoyable outing, eventually putting five past the bottom-placed side without response.
Postecoglou admitted that Spurs needed their senior stars to step up on Sunday, given the situation they were in. The Australian credited James Maddison and Heung-min Son for the mindset they carried into the game, admitting that they were the catalyst for the comfortable win.
When asked about Maddison’s and Son’s performance, Postecoglou told Football.London: “They were brilliant. I think they sensed they needed to tonight.
“We are just spread so thin that we’re asking young players and players who haven’t played a lot and others who have been playing all the time to go out there and still try to play to our identity, play the football we want to.
“I thought they both were the catalyst for that tonight, with both the football but also their mindset just going out there. We had to start strong today, we knew we would probably run out of gas at the end of the game considering the line-up we had out there, coming off Europe on Thursday night. I think the players sensed that and credit to them that they started the game in that way.”
While some might be wary of reading too much into a win over a struggling Southampton side, winning away in the Premier League is never easy.
The Tottenham forwards can take plenty of confidence from the display and one would hope that it was the sort of performance that would kick the likes of Son back into gear.
Postecoglou’s men desperately need their captain to start firing again after his lacklustre showings so far this season.
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