{"id":294856,"date":"2023-11-11T22:12:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-11T22:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=294856"},"modified":"2023-11-11T22:12:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T22:12:25","slug":"dont-worry-about-it-ange-postecoglou-brushes-off-series-of-spurs-setbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/soccer\/dont-worry-about-it-ange-postecoglou-brushes-off-series-of-spurs-setbacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t worry about it \u2013 Ange Postecoglou brushes off series of Spurs setbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham have already passed plenty of tests this season \u2013 but he will not let the absence of nine first-team players at Wolves offer up an excuse for a dropoff in performance.<\/p>\n
Spurs suffered their first defeat of the Premier League campaign on Monday in a chaotic 4-1 home loss to Chelsea, which could have further consequences in the long term.<\/p>\n
Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero were sent off during the London derby, while Micky van de Ven (hamstring) and James Maddison (ankle) suffered serious injuries that will rule them out until January.<\/p>\n
Postecoglou, however, is no stranger to a challenge given Harry Kane\u2019s departure on the eve of the new campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first test? Losing the greatest ever player in this competition the day before the start of the season? Nah, piece of cake,\u201d Postecoglou pointed out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe lost players to almost season-ending injuries. Nah, don\u2019t worry about it. Mate, there are tests all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my whole career, I figured out there are only two states of being as a manager: under siege, or it\u2019s coming. I\u2019m well aware that every day nothing runs smooth. There\u2019s always challenges out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just try and make sure I don\u2019t change my state of being. It is what it is.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try and focus on what\u2019s important. We\u2019re still building a team and an environment where people want to win. It\u2019s not going to change from week to week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fairly extreme even for a person of my experience to lose five players in one game, but that doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s any worse than anything we faced so far and it\u2019s being a bit disrespectful to this group of players to say that everything has gone their way because it hasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom day one there\u2019s been a real resilience and character in the group and they\u2019re going to have to show it again.<\/p>\n
The first test? Losing the greatest ever player in this competition the day before the start of the season? Nah, piece of cake<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had plenty of reasons not to be where we are, plenty of excuses in terms of the disruptions we\u2019ve had already and some of the challenges we\u2019ve had to face.<\/p>\n
\u201cFair to say we won\u2019t be using any kind of reason for us not to perform at our best tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two of Postecoglou\u2019s key decisions at Molineux and over the next couple of months will be trying to fill the void left by both Van de Ven and Maddison.<\/p>\n
Van de Ven\u2019s injury on Monday resulted in Tottenham adopting an extremely high line and while Guglielmo Vicario impressed in the sweeper-keeper role, pundits questioned the tactic.<\/p>\n
But Postecoglou said: \u201cI don\u2019t try and lose games purposefully, trust me. I\u2019m very much for trying to win a game of football. I get it\u2019s slightly unconventional, that I kind of understand, but you don\u2019t get from Australia to the Premier League by being conventional.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd trust me, this isn\u2019t the first time people have questioned my madness. It\u2019s got me to where I am and I continue to do it because I believe we can win that way, not because of any other reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Eric Dier made his first appearance of the season off the bench on Monday but is set for a regular role with Van de Ven injured until January and Romero suspended until next month.<\/p>\n
Postecoglou added: \u201cEric has been part of this football club for a very long time.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day he\u2019s another one who has trained hard. He hasn\u2019t had a lot of opportunities, but that\u2019s because we\u2019ve been pretty settled in terms of our back four and we haven\u2019t had the need to put him in there.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s always been ready to be called up. Now he gets the opportunity. I thought he did well the other night.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he handled it really well. His experience will be important for us, particularly with Micky\u2019s absence and Romero being out for three games.\u201d<\/p>\n
Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sign up to Miguel Delaney\u2019s Reading the Game newsletter sent straight to your inbox for free Sign up to Miguel\u2019s Delaney\u2019s free weekly newsletter Thanks […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":294855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n