Former Spurs winger Andros Townsend is adamant that Ange Postecoglou deserves time to turn things around and explains why Tottenham supporters are prepared to ride through the storm at the moment.
With Tottenham languishing in the bottom half of the Premier League table at the moment, Postecoglou is now a man under immense pressure, and the club might soon have no choice but to call time on this project.
Reports over recent days have indicated that the Spurs hierarchy are not looking for a new head coach now, but there is an acceptance that results would have to change quickly if the Australian is to continue in his role.
Based on the responses on social media, it would seem that the Tottenham fan base is divided on Postecoglou, with many fans acknowledging that the 59-year-old has been hamstrung by an injury crisis and willing to give him the time to turn things around.
Townsend believes that an attacking brand of football is what Tottenham supporters crave more than anything else, which is why they should be more patient with Postecoglou than many of his predecessors.
The former Tottenham winger suggested that despite the club’s poor run of results this season, there are still many positive signs to take from the team’s performances.
Townsend said (via The Mirror): “The way Spurs were before under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, no disrespect, but supporters were crying out for attacking football.
“I’m a Spurs fan, I’ve got loads of Spurs fans that are friends and the one thing they say is we don’t care if we lose, we just want to be entertained. That’s one thing that Postecoglou will do, he will entertain the fans and they play great football.
“The consistency is not there but I think the consistency in how they dominate games and how they throw men forward and how attacking they are is there – it’s just the consistency with results.
“I think in the Bournemouth game there were three or four goals disallowed by VAR and they dominated Ipswich so I think sometimes the performances are there they just need the results now to follow. For me, Postecoglou has to stay.”
Postecoglou has come under a lot of criticism for his hyper-attacking set-up, with many pundits suggesting that he has to tweak his system and opt for balance if he is to succeed in the Premier League.
However, Townsend believes that Tottenham’s defensive struggles are down to a historical problem embedded in the club’s DNA.
When asked about Spurs’ defensive record, the 33-year-old added: “I think it’s the way they play even dating back to when I was there many moons ago. We always used to struggle against the sides at the bottom of the table and beat the sides around the top, it was strange. Now they’re so open and so aggressive.
“If they’re dominating a game, they will throw bodies forward until they get their goal and if they’re pressing with seven or eight players and a team breaks through the press – like Ipswich did for one of their goals – they’re going to concede.
“When you’ve got your first-choice centre-halves injured in Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven and you’ve got makeshift players doing a shift for the team, it’s always going to be difficult.”
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