TEAM NEWS: Lo Celso to miss Spurs vs. Sheffield Utd., Ange discusses post-City reaction (2024)

Ange Postecoglou gave what was probably his most highly anticipated press conference since his unveiling as Tottenham Hotspur manager this morning where he discussed the fallout from Spurs’ 0-2 home loss to City on Tuesday, and previewed the must-draw season-ending match against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Sunday.

But first, the team news. Big Ange confirmed only one new injury to add to what is already a sizable list of hurt Tottenham players — Giovani Lo Celso will miss the last match of the season with a knock to the knee he picked up somewhere in the match or in training. Otherwise, Postecoglou will have the same group of players available at Bramall Lane as he had against City.

The team news, however, was not the main highlight of the press conference. Instead, this was the first opportunity for Postecoglou to expand upon his tense press conference comments about fan reactions after the loss to Manchester City on Tuesday. Ange cut a frustrated, angry figure after the 2-0 loss, calling the foundations of the club “fragile” and seemingly taking a dig at supporters who were prioritizing Arsenal’s misfortune over their own team’s success.

Buckle up, because Ange had a LOT to say.

Ange’s comments when asked (because of course he was asked) were clarifying, and about what we expected — he admitted he miscalculated in his reaction after the match, and genuinely believed the fans would treat the City match as a normal, routine home game.

“I’d like to think I didn’t change my stance. I was asked after the game about the atmosphere and I said I think it was normal and I also didn’t say I expected fans to behave differently. I still stand by that, and I also stand by my right to have a different opinion. I don’t think that’s right. It’s just the way I feel. You support your team to win all the time but that’s my view.

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“I guess I got it wrong. Plainly, I’m in the minority when it comes to that so that’s a lesson. I don’t think I expressed any real disappointment in terms of asking or pleading for them to do something against their will so I accept that.

“We’ve gotta hope we’re never in that situation again but if we are then we would approach it differently. Because I didn’t take it seriously, I really genuinely believed that when we got to the stadium it would just be a normal game. And it wasn’t and people feel really strongly and I have just got to accept it.”

Admitting the miscalculation is one thing, but Ange also highlighted what turned out to be a pretty stark difference in this one unique circ*mstance between some Tottenham fans and his own personal mindset. He didn’t dig the fans out, but he did say that he just doesn’t get the mental calculus that led some fans to root against their own club.

“Supporters are there to sort of back their club and they do their bit. They have certainly done their bit for us this year. I mean the amount of games we’ve won late at the stadium this year has been extraordinary. That’s the crowd and anyone that’s been in the team, the supporters have played a bit part of that.

“Now like I said, the last game I don’t understand and I hold my hands up, I got it wrong. I sat here the day before and I mocked the whole thing because I really didn’t believe that was the case [that fans would prioritize Arsenal misfortune over Spurs winning]. But if that’s how people feel... and again I can’t because I am not a Spurs supporter. They are and this is their football club. They are the custodians, not me.

“All I can say is offer my opinion of what you need to be successful and for me you can’t be successful if your motivations change depending on the contest. You have got to win all the [time]. If you are playing your brother, you have got to fight to the death. He’s still your brother, but you’ve got to fight to the death to win.

“That’s just been me my whole career. It wasn’t just a Spurs supporter thing. Everyone I heard was saying the same thing and that they understand how they feel. The same way they understand how they feel, well I don’t understand because I am totally different. I just can’t think of anything worse than not going all in on victory every time we’re out there, but that’s me.”

Ange also admitted anxiety about his own perception and whether people would question his integrity had Spurs been beaten soundly on Tuesday (calling it the “worst managerial experience” of his career), but said he is hard-wired to always try and win football matches in any circ*mstance.

“I will try to explain it this way, that is probably the worst experience I’ve had as a football manager in a game because once I realised that I got it wrong in terms of what the atmosphere was going to be like and what people felt, I got a real anxiety within me of what happens if Man City, who are the best team in the world and who were disposing teams quite easily in the lead up, four at Brighton, wherever they played they scored 15/16 goals in the last four games, what if we play as well as they can but they beat us 5-0.

“I got in cold sweats thinking about people questioning my integrity and the people I work with. Even watching the game back, there was a comment somebody mentioned to me in commentary saying ‘Tottenham are having a real go here.’ You are laughing about it, but that is 26 years of my life. If nothing else people should know about me, I love this game. I’m very principled. I would hate to think, as Manchester City could have done to us, we are on the end of a heavy defeat and people would be questioning whether I prepared the team. And before people say that’s not going to happen, we know on social media that would have happened. 100 per cent. And I would be up here trying to defend myself.

“Once you started defending yourself you know happens, you’re defending something. That’s why I was animated on the night. I didn’t enjoy the night because I needed the boys to...and credit to them aside from anything else our football was outstanding on the night. That was important, not just to me and the players but for our football because again it would have cast aspersions on us as a football club when people are measuring us saying, well I don’t think anyone will say that we didn’t make Man City earn that win the other night. And it could have gone a very different way without anything changing from us, just by Man City being Man City.”

This is pretty much exactly what I expected Postecoglou to say. He expresses anxiety about the way he would look in the circ*mstance if Spurs had gotten pumped — would people question his commitment? — and then reacted to the incredibly unique situation Spurs were in for this match and to the fact that fans might not hold the same hyper-fixation on winning that he does.

It’s understandable. Football managers are not football fans. Fandom is squishy, malleable, complicated, and irrational, with every fan approaching the way they conduct their fandom differently and with different priorities that don’t always make rational sense. Managers and players just want to win every match and push through every challenge in their way. When situations like this happen, that puts the fans and the club in conflict. Of course it does!

Postecoglou has caught a fair amount of flack from media and fans in general for his comments and to be sure that criticism is a valid viewpoint. People are free to be upset with what he said in the context of which he said it, but I do think understanding his mindset as a head coach makes his reaction more understandable.

Ange also clarified his comments about the clubs’ “foundations.” At the time the comments were made, it was interpreted as being a dig at the fans for not sharing Postecoglou’s opinions on winning in that circ*mstance. Postecoglou tried to clarify his comments, saying instead that he was upset because the team had lost several recent matches and seemed to be drifting away from the tactical principles he has been trying to instill over the course of the season.

“Part of the issue for us this year has been what I spoke about after the game, in more specific terms we’ve had a real lack of discipline around our football. Earlier in the year it was mainly red cards and yellow cards that cost us really badly, towards the end of the year it’s been a real lack of discipline in sticking to our football principles. There’s been too many times when we’ve let ourselves down in that and we’ve paid a price.

“The goal they scored was a little snapshot of that with Rodrigo giving the ball away and then because of that he wanted to make amends but he’s already on a yellow card so can’t bring the guy down. So we’re paying for two bits of ill discipline against a team that’s very disciplined and then they just go and do what they do. They have their moment and they score their goal.

“I thought as painful as it was, it was a good moment for us to really crystallise after the game. Again, I was obviously not very happy after the game because we’d lost again but when you asked me about foundations, I couldn’t sit there and be disingenuous and say that our foundations were strong when we’d lost five out of six games, big games.

...

“Like I said, when I look at these five losses, they’ve all had those elements of us playing some unbelievable football, but some enormous lapses in concentration and discipline. So, that tells me that going back to my original point, the foundations aren’t really strong yet and that’s what I’ve got to concentrate on. Before we start moving on beyond that, I’ve got to get that embedded into the group and us as a club. So, yes that’s the challenge.”

Later, Ange also addressed the viral video from the match of him confronting a Spurs fan sitting behind the Tottenham bench. Contrary to the initial reporting around the incident, the fan was not yelling at Ange to throw the match, but was upset after Spurs conceded and was directing abusive language at the Spurs’ coaching staff. Ange wasn’t having it, though he understands why the fan was upset.

“I think if you’re going to sit behind the bench, especially in a home game, you got to be respectful because you’re in earshot of the most important people. He wasn’t happy we just conceded a goal, so I turned around to find out what his problem was and he used language that he shouldn’t and he was abusive and if I hear that I don’t care who it is I will deal with it.

“But he is more than welcome to come back next time and take his seat up and express his opinions. If he swears, if he is abusive, he will cop the same treatment from me again. But at the same time you also feel ‘Well mate I cop it at opposition grounds every week give me a break at my home ground.’”

This has been a draining week. Not just for the bloggers and the journalists and the fans who read about Tottenham Hotspur, but for Ange Postecoglou and the team as well. It’s a major inflection point at the end of a long season that has been significantly disrupted by injuries and has definitely had its ups and downs. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of this particular point — Tottenham can end the season on a high note with a win over a relegated (and historically poor) Sheffield United and clinch fifth place along with Europa League competition next season. Along with that hope is the sincere hope that everyone can put this match and the once-in-a-generation scheduling circ*mstances that made it so significant firmly in the rear view mirror.