Ange Postecoglou hints at who could replace Heung-min Son vs Man City
Tottenham Hotspur will once again face their cup nemesis, Manchester City, in the Carabao Cup tomorrow. Speaking to the press ahead of the game, Ange Postecoglou discussed who could occupy that left-wing position.
Spurs and Man City have history
While it would be going too far to call Spurs and City rivals, there has certainly been a degree of healthy competition between the two teams in recent years.
Guardiola famously was unable to score, let alone win, at the Tottenham Stadium until last season, when his team finally broke that curse.
In doing so, City also ended Tottenham’s hopes of putting together a meaningful run in the FA Cup, dumping Ange postecoglou’s side out in the fourth round of the competition.
The Blues are also the last team to defeat Spurs in a cup final, securing a 1-0 win in the carabo cup final of 2021, shortly after Jose Mourinho’s unceremonious exit from the club.
Things could be a little different this time around, though, with City boss Guardiola already insisting he will field a weakened team as he cannot afford to take the Carabao Cup seriously this season.
Postecoglou comments on Man City strength
Still, Postecoglou will not be expecting an easy ride against City tomorrow. In his press conference today the Spurs boss hinted at who could fill in at left-wing, with Heung-min Son out for another game.
He said: “I think Richy has obviously played a lot of his football on the left and he’s definitely an option there for us and an option through the middle as well. He’s getting some good match minutes now so hopefully next couple of weeks we’ve still got a good game schedule.
“Like I said, he’s only just getting his season started so the more we can expose him without overburdening him in the early stages he’ll be able to contribute even more.
Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has hinted at changes to his side for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup tie against Manchester City but insisted he would never prioritise one game over another.
There’s Hope We are going to win
I promise i am not a failure
I realize our mistakes and we will correct it
Don’t blame anyone thats football for you
I know the weak player and i will rule them out
Pep Guardiola, the Manchester City head coach, has suggested he could use “academy players” in the fourth-round clash in north London if he considers it “a risk” to play the first-team.
Postecoglou made eight changes for the last-gasp win over Coventry in the previous round, and expects to be without captain Heung-min Son again, as well as fellow winger Wilson Odobert, who has suffered a “serious” setback in training.
Asked if he would continue his policy of rotation in the Carabao Cup, Postecoglou said: “We’ll do similarly to what we’ve done in all our mid-weeks games, Europe included, [which] is try to pick a team we think will win the game and take into account we did play Sunday.
Obviously City played on Saturday so we’ve got to make sure the players we put out there tomorrow are able to compete physically with what’s going to be on the other side of the pitch from us.
The good thing is just about the whole squad’s had some kind of football so that means whatever changes we make the players coming in are at a good physical level.”
Spurs crashed out in the second-round of last season’s competition after Postecoglou made nine changes for a defeat on penalties at London rivals Fulham.
Spurs have not won a trophy for 14 years and many supporters are would like the club to prioritise the Carabao Cup, which City have won in six of the previous ten seasons.
Told that some fans view Wednesday’s game as more important than the subsequent fixtures against Aston Villa in the Premier League and Galatasaray in the Europa League, Postecoglou said he would never try to win “brownie points” with supporters by taking one game more seriously than another.
I’m not a supporter of this club, I’m the manager of this football club & I’d hate to think that any supporter of this football club thinks that I try harder in one game than another,” he said. “Supporters can feel what they like, which is the most important game.
“But it would be the biggest injustice for me as a manager if I said, ‘We’re going to try harder tomorrow than we do at the weekend or we did last weekend’.
It doesn’t work that way.
“You need to separate supporters of a football club with people who have the responsibility of representing it. Our responsibility lies with trying to be the best we can be everyday for our supporters, for everyone who’s part of this football club. It’s not about trying to gain brownie points. That’s not what our role is.”
