Ange Postecoglou has been accused of causing Spurs‘ injury crisis with his style of play.
Pressure is continuing to mount on the former Celtic boss, who watched his side fall to defeat against relegation threatened Everton a week after being taken to extra time in an FA Cup clash with minnows Tamworth. Spurs have been beset by a host of injuries throughout the season to key players, especially defensively, but Postecoglou’s swashbuckling style of play is now under the microscope as a reason for that.
Speaking on Sky Sports, pundit and former England international Stephen Warnock said: “There has got to be a bit of an understanding of their injuries. With a fully fit squad, they are a very good team, however if you’re going to continue playing this way, then you’re going to continue to get injuries. And that’s the problem.”
Asked if the injuries were self-inflicted, the former Liverpool full-back continued: “100 percent they are, they’ve got to be with the style of play. If you look at the runs that Romero, van de Ven, Udogie make in recovery to get back into position then that is a lot of work. It’s very difficult to continue doing that. The hardest thing to do is run back towards your own goal without the ball, mentally that is tiring within itself.
“I just think, from the way Spurs play, they either need four top, top quality centre-backs who they can rotate to continue to play that way. Then they need two quality full-backs to again rotate. If you’re going to play that system then you need to rotate.
“My other thing as well is that I think Lucas Bergvall is a magnificent player who is going to be outstanding, but they have put far too much pressure on his shoulders. I understand why he’s doing it, Bissouma doesn’t want to run, he doesn’t want to track back, he hasn’t got the discipline to do it. But he (Postecoglou) is causing himself a lot of problems with the injuries.”
Speaking after the Everton loss, a downbeat Ange said: “I have no issue with the way the club is going about it (the transfer window) they are working hard trying to find solutions for us and these players need help for sure. It’s really tricky, we’re not the only ones in the market for players – but the club is working hard to try and find a solution for it. My belief doesn’t waver, the situation we’re in will dissipate. I certainly believe that it will in terms of player availability.”