Tottenham early team news v Southampton sets up reason for Levy to sack Postecoglou
Ange Postecoglou has been under pressure at Tottenham for quite some time now and a defeat against Chelsea on Thursday only added to that.
Continuing to compete in the Europa League seems to be giving the Australian some breathing space for now but supporters in north London are less than impressed.
After Postecoglou was seen gesturing at his own supporters during the defeat at Stamford Bridge, Daniel Levy was told to sack the manager straight away.
Nonetheless, the boss remains in place as his side prepares to host Southampton on Sunday (6 April).
Tottenham early team news emerges
It has been suggested that Postecoglou’s future will rest on success in the Europa League with the first leg of the quarter-final on Thursday (10 April).
However, hosting rock-bottom of the league Southampton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is surely a game where anything less than three points is unacceptable.
On paper, Spurs are the favourite despite their poor season but coming into this game without a Premier League win in four matches, doesn’t make for great reading.
| Tottenham’s last four Premier League games | |
| Chelsea (A) | 1-0 |
| Fulham (A) | 2-0 |
| Bournemouth (H) | 2-2 |
| Manchester City (H) | 0-1 |
Southampton, on the other hand, managed to take a point off Crystal Palace last time out meaning the Lilywhites cannot afford to underestimate their opponents.
With a big game in the week though, the Evening Standard has reported (6 April) that Postecoglou is planning on making a number of changes to his team to take on Southampton.
Micky van de Ven, James Maddison and Son Hueng-min are all set to be rested, while one of Pedro Porro, Djed Spence and Destiny Udogie will also miss out.
Postecoglou setting up his own sack
Understandably, Postecoglou is looking at Thursday’s Europa League clash as the focal point for the week, but the importance of this game cannot be understated either.
Given the squad has just returned from the international break, resting any players seems a bit of a stretch and although you would hope that Spurs wouldn’t need their strongest squad members to beat Southampton, recent results suggest that they may.
Although it was only a 1-0 victory for Chelsea on Thursday, Postecoglou’s men were probably lucky to come away less unscathed.
Therefore, it does feel like this could backfire against the boss and should Tottenham not get a result against Southampton, that surely sets up a perfect excuse for Levy to make the call to fire his manager.
Whether the chief would feel it’s an appropriate move to take before a quarter-final is yet to be seen but it has been reported that Levy has been considering successors and even a trophy win could not be enough to save the Australian.
With that in mind, Postecoglou’s early team selection could well be his downfall with the possibility of a loss against Southampton surely the final nail in the coffin.