Ange Postecoglou responds to Ben White targeting Guglielmo Vicario during Tottenham defeat to Arsenal

Ange Postecoglou has downplayed the seriousness of Ben White’s handling of Guglielmo Vicario’s gloves during Tottenham’s defeat by Arsenal in the north London derby
Just before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s own goal gave Arsenal the lead on Sunday, White was seen trying to remove the Velcro on Vicario’s gloves as Bukayo Saka prepared to take a corner
White then targeted Vicario to score Arsenal’s third goal before half-time as he rounded the Tottenham goalkeeper before Kai Havertz met Declan Rice’s corner with a free header
‘It’s a strategy
You can label it but it’s a strategy
I don’t care much about those things, I never have,” Postecoglou told
“I don’t judge, but I really don’t care
If people think that’s going to give them an advantage or whatever, I’m not worried about that
I’m just trying to focus on building teams that can win
When asked if he felt Vicario was distracted by White, Postecoglou replied: ‘You know what
If it’s not that then it will be something else
Who cares
I know it’s good theater
Whether he tries to take off his gloves, tickles his armpits or whatever, I don’t care
I try to make sure my players don’t worry about those things, don’t focus on those things
‘It doesn’t matter and if you want to go down that avenue, what do you do
Turn around and punch him and knock him unconscious or say, “Please don’t touch me
” What does it do
Seriously, we’re not in the schoolyard
That was never where my attention was
‘To be honest, if I saw one of my players doing that, I would say: ‘man, seriously, take the ball and play football’
That’s not to say it’s not an unusable strategy, but I don’t care
It has no impact on me
Spurs have now requested clarification from Professional Game Match Officials Limited [PGMOL] regarding the rules regarding goalkeeper obstruction ‘You are allowed to contact them [PGMOL]
It is not a hidden society
I’m sure all clubs do that
We are asking for clarification in case something has changed,” Postecoglou said
‘You never know
We just want to better understand the practical perspective regarding goalkeeper intervention
‘I’m old, man, but I always thought goalies were a protected species
Maybe it’s changed now and I missed the memo
Asked if Spurs had received any explanation from PGMOL, Postecoglou replied: ‘No, not really
‘