Postecoglou accused of ‘committing arrestable offence’ ahead of Tottenham v Man City
Ange Postecoglou has named his starting lineup as Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester City in the Premier League on Wednesday – with supporters unhappy at one decision in particular.
The Australian has made three changes from the Tottenham side which thumped Ipswich Town 4-1 at Portman Road last time out, with Pedro Porro, Wilson Odobert and James Maddison all starting.
Spurs are finally in a rich vein of form ahead of taking on the out-of-sorts champions at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, allowing Postecoglou to rotate as he welcomes more players back from injury.
The three players to drop out against Manchester City are Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski and captain Son Heung-Min, but that’s not filled some Tottenham fans with the greatest degree of confidence.
Tottenham fans react to Djed Spence axing – ‘Are you serious?’
Tottenham named their starting XI with a post on X, with Spence, Kulusevski and Son all named on the bench alongside the likes of Yves Bissouma, Pape Sarr and Timo Werner.
While some fans welcomed the resting of Kulusevski and Son – both of whom have racked up plenty of minutes this term – the in-form Spence dropping out of the side left others questioning Postecoglou.
One supporter said “Spence dropped – are you serious????”, following Spurs’ announcement of the matchday squad, with another questioning whether the potential England call-up was carrying a knock.
Postecoglou’s decision to start the out-of-form Porro ahead of Spence – and against City winger Jeremy Doku – drew plenty of further ire from Spurs fans, arguing he’d do a much better job of containing him.
Further comments of the same vein followed, with one fan saying he was “gutted” for Spence and that Postecoglou should be treating the 24-year-old better after Spence’s recent displays of strong form.
Another supporter predicted how the match would pan out without Spence, saying: “Spence on to replace Porro as they chase a -three-goal deficit, all four of City’s goals coming from the left side.”
That sentiment didn’t let up amongst other members of the fanbase, with one saying that starting without Spence felt like an “automatic loss”, with another calling Postecoglou’s selection a “shocker”.
The same supporter went a step further, calling Postecoglou’s decision to bench Spence for Porro an “arrestable offence”, and saying they had “no idea” what the Australian’s thought process was.
Spence dropped are you serious?????
— BD🖖🏼 (@thfcbd_) February 26, 2025
Are Kulu and Spence injured??
— The Brentford Hive (@BrentfordHive) February 26, 2025
Surely Spence is better than Porro
— Sam (@joelellie_) February 26, 2025
After what happened to Arnold, would have prefer seeing Spence facing Doku😂
— SIDA🌱 🐓🐖🐐 (@Sidaacuta_) February 26, 2025
Johnson won’t track back to help Porro.
Very true. Gutted for Spence bro should have been starting and instead he treats him like this.
— APATOSAURUS APPRECIATION (@Apatosauru85980) February 26, 2025
‘72 minutes in – change for Tottenham. Spence on to replace Porro as they chase a 3 goal deficit, all 4 of City’s goals coming from the left side’
— John Murray (@jamuzzle) February 26, 2025
No Spence feels like an automatic loss ngl.
— APATOSAURUS APPRECIATION (@Apatosauru85980) February 26, 2025
That Spurs XI is a shocker. Unless there is knocks/illness I have no idea what his selection process is for this one 🤣 Spence benched for Porro is an arrestable offence @THFC
— Jack Ovenden (@chandogg4) February 26, 2025
Tottenham face tough task v Manchester City
Although Tottenham are currently on their best sequence of victories so far this season, only a few weeks ago they were in complete freefall with just one win from 11 Premier League fixtures.
| Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | GD | Points |
| Tottenham | 26 | 10 | 3 | 16 | +15 | 33 |
| Manchester City | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | +15 | 44 |
A 4-0 demolition job at the Etihad Stadium in November proved to be the highpoint before their horror run began the very next game, and Postecoglou will be keen to avoid falling into a similar rut.
City certainly aren’t their all-conquering old selves at the moment and the Lilywhites’ tails will be up, but they’ll need to make sure not to get complacent against a side still in Champions League contention.