Tottenham ‘going to get hurt’ as new Ange Postecoglou sack verdict shared
Stiliyan Petrov wants Tottenham to stick with under-fire manager Ange Postecoglou but says his side are “going to get hurt” if he fails to adapt defensively.
Petrov took a similar path as a player to the one Postecoglou has taken as a manager, with Petrov swapping Celtic for Aston Villa and the latter leaving the Bhoys after being appointed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, Spurs are having a dismal time of things in the Premier League and sit 15th in the table, just eight points above the bottom three with their relegation odds having been slashed as a result.
Speaking live on talkSPORT (22 January, 13:39pm), Petrov can see why Postecoglou is struggling and says a lack of adaptability is hurting Spurs
He said: “I’m not surprised at all [that he is struggling].
“I’ve switched from Scotland to England and I know the difference, the demands, the speed of the game, the mentality of the game and with Celtic Ange had the luxury of having probably the best team in the country. They were dominating most of the game, they had the defending which in the Premier League is a bit different.
“Ange Postecoglou implements a very, very tricky style of play but also very risky because it does leave his team open and when you have an opposition with the skills, the physicality and speed, you’re going to get hurt. And it doesn’t really help when you have your key players to do the right job and meet the right demands.
“So I’m not actually surprised and I hope Tottenham stick with him because he does work really well, he can put a team together if he is given the time because he does have a different view about football and that works in a different dynamic and a different way.”
Ange Postecoglou needs to improve things at Tottenham
You can see why the manager has struggled to adapt to the top flight. Although he has got his side playing some excellent football at times, this has also left the Lilywhites exposed far too many times which has cost them countless results now.
As Petrov points out, in Scotland Postecoglou had the most dominant side and less competition to face that would seriously pose a threat to their aims in a campaign.
However, in the Premier League, this is not the case and there are too many talented sides to be able to deploy the same method across each game.
While injuries have played their part, if the Australian wants to keep his job in North London, he is going to have to start being more open to change in order to ensure success first and foremost with the style of play to follow.
Daniel Levy is sticking by his appointment for now but there will need to be some convincing if he is going to see this through until the end of the campaign.
In other Tottenham news, Michael Dawson’s mind was blown by how “unacceptable” this Spurs player’s performance was against Everton.
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