Spurs Latest: Reflection after Manchester United win eases pressure on Ange Postecoglou

National World - LocalTV

Tottenham Hotspur secured a crucial 1-0 victory over Manchester United, but how does manager Ange Postecoglou feel about the result? With ongoing protests against chairman Daniel Levy, is this win enough to ease the pressure or is there still underlying tension at the club? The win was vital, but this current crop faces more challenges to guide Spurs through a turbulent period. We'll discuss what the result means for the squad, the fans, and Postecoglou's future at the helm as more big fixtures are looming and they must aim to build some momentum.

Transcript

00:00James, looking at Spurs and obviously the sort of state of play after the Manchester

00:07United home win, looking at that game and going into the game was quite a lot of pressure

00:12if you look at the league positions of both sides. Both sides have incredibly struggled

00:16this season. In terms of two up, two down, let's start with the positives. There was

00:22a lot of pressure going into the game, especially with Spurs' terrible home form as well to

00:27make sure that they got a good performance more than anything and then the result came

00:32and that sort of settled it. So, in terms of two positives, what's the sort of something

00:38you can look at and think, yeah, that was something that Spurs fans can take away from

00:42this game?

00:43Yeah, I mean, I think we have to start with the returning players as the sort of first

00:48up of the week. Having Vicario back in goal and Maddison back in that midfield, it made

00:54a huge difference, didn't it? Just having the seniority, a little bit of leadership,

00:58certainly from Vicario, that's been sadly lacking, as I've mentioned on numerous times

01:03this season. We really have lacked that sort of on-field leadership and just having Vicario

01:09back between the sticks on the Manchester United game made a huge difference. I mean,

01:13he made some big, big saves. You could argue Manchester United were the better side for

01:19long spells in that match, actually. They probably created some of the more clear-cut

01:22chances, but he was superb as the sort of last line of defence. There's no slight on

01:27Kinski. I think he's done pretty well since he's been sort of thrown in, but obviously

01:30he's a young player playing his trade. He's only 21 years old coming over to the Premier

01:34League. It was a huge ask for him and, bar the odd mistake, he really did sort of step

01:39up in tough circumstances with a makeshift back four in front of him. But, you know,

01:45you just saw the presence that Vicario brings. It's really good to have him back and then

01:48obviously Matt Maddison. I mean, he's not been away for very long, but the numbers speak

01:53for themselves this year. He rarely finishes a game and he's often not started, but when

01:57he has played, he has made a difference. That was his ninth Premier League goal of the season,

02:03a bit of a purchase finish, and for long spells when spurs were at their best in the game,

02:08he really did dictate that tempo. He dropped deep. He was finding lovely little pockets

02:12of space, a couple of really nice balls over the top to put Son in through on that left-hand

02:17side and just really, really good to have him back. We see he gave a little bit of stick

02:22to Roy Keane at the end with the shush and the dart celebration. He'd had a little bit

02:26of stick in the week. So, nice to sort of hit back at the critics. I mean, no doubt

02:31Matt Maddison's a talented player. As I say, the numbers speak for themselves this year.

02:35He's involved in the most things that spurs do very well. I think what we need now is

02:40a little bit more consistency from him because he's got the ability, he's got the talent

02:44to be right up there with the best playmakers in the league. I do think, again, the base

02:49of that midfield struggled at times and I think Rodrigo Bentancur's having a tough spell.

02:55I do think his performance is a little bit of a negative and a slight worry, as is the

03:01performances at the minute of Dejan Kulesevski. I mean, he's arguably been Spurs' best player

03:06this year, but he's been flogged to death. You can tell he's fatigued. He just looks

03:11a little bit short at the moment. He looks a little bit devoid of pace. He maybe takes

03:16the extra touch. I think that's nine games now without any goals or assists. So, as I

03:22say, lots of mitigating factors. He's played an awful lot of football, but maybe now with

03:27the injured players coming back, it's time to give him a rest and just take him out and

03:30get him recharged because, as I say, he's a crucial player, but he was probably slightly

03:35disappointed in that win over Manchester United.

03:38And here's what Spurs boss Ange-Poste Koglou had to say.

03:41Yes, look, I think the important thing is we did win today. It was an important game

03:47for us, an important week for us. We needed to put on a performance today that gets us

03:55the result and I thought we did that and that coupled with the fact that we got some significant

04:01players back and they got through the game and got through unscathed and actually really

04:05contributed and important for us because, as I said, it sort of signals a little bit

04:13of an opportunity now for us to push on from here. Especially Brennan and Wilson, Vic,

04:20Mattis to a certain extent. It might take them one or two games to get up to speed but

04:25the fact we have them available, yes, it's an enormous boost for us.

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