Glenn Hoddle has blasted Ange Postecoglou for the manner he set his team up during Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-1 defeat to Chelsea and how he treated Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Inside an hour, Tottenham were down to nine men with Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie sent off during an incredible London derby – Glenn Hoddle, Michael Owen and Joe Cole argued about Romero’s red card.
Not only were Spurs down to nine men, but Micky van de Ven and James Maddison also got injured in the first half, which just made matters worse – Fans have been told that van de Ven could be out for ‘months’.
Despite all that, Ange Postecoglou didn’t let off and he stuck by his tactics of playing a high line, which left the obvious open space behind the defence.
But Glenn Hoddle thinks the Tottenham players would have been questioning their manager in the dressing room by asking ‘do we really have to play like that?’ and how he ‘felt sorry’ for Eric Dier and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, as he told Premier League Productions (06/11/23 at 10:25 pm).
The Spurs legend wasn’t happy and couldn’t understand why his former side stuck by those tactics because of the situation they were in.
Tottenham’s high line against Chelsea
“They will be questioning him, you know,” said Hoddle. “In that dressing and in the shower chatting going ‘do we really have to play like that?’
“Look, Ange has done a fantastic job, don’t get me wrong. But you have to condense the space. Plus, it’s not the normal back four. You have got Hojbjerg going back in the second half as a centre-back and you have got Dier who hasn’t kicked a ball all season. I felt sorry for them.
“They are asked to be on the halfway line and sprint back in and cope with any type of balls. Time and time again. It just didn’t make sense to me.”
Ange Postecoglou sticks to his way
It wasn’t so long ago that Spurs had Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte in the dugout. Not in a million years would those two have played in such a manner.
Whilst Conte and Mourinho had the CV to boast about, the simple fact of the matter is that the Spurs fans were half a sleep watching their style of play.
Yet, here Spurs now have the complete opposite in Postecoglou, who is putting his foot on the accelerator and keeping it there, even if half the car is on fire.
Surely it’s something the fans are enjoying and want to see more of because, in the long run, it has proven to be a success.
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