Ange Postecoglou dismissed any criticism of Tottenham's ultra-attacking approach after their 4-3 EFL Cup quarter-final win over Manchester United, asking: “Aren't you entertained?”
Tottenham finished on the right in a seven-goal thriller against Ruben Amorim's United, with Son Heung-min scoring what proved to be the winner straight from a corner.
Spurs were already 3-0 ahead when Dominic Solanke struck twice either side of a Dejan Kulusevski goal, but two glaring errors from stand-in goalkeeper Fraser Forster allowed United to get back into the match at 3-2 .
It was the ninth time this season that Spurs have scored three or more goals in a match, but their enthusiastic approach has led some pundits to describe them as naive.
In all competitions this season, Tottenham have scored 55 goals and conceded 31 in 25 games. Of all the clubs from Europe's top five leagues, only matches involving Chelsea (99), Barcelona (98), Stuttgart (89) and Bayern Munich (88) have scored more goals than those involving Spurs (86 ).
After Thursday's game, Postecoglou was asked by Sky Sports whether Tottenham's near capitulation detracted from the victory, but he only had positive words for his team.
“I liked it all mate, aren't you entertained? Would you rather have a messy 1-0? I like that we just go out and take it to the teams,” Postecoglou said.
“Even when we are away so often, these guys try to maintain the football we want to play.
“I really liked the way we played tonight and obviously those moments overshadowed it a bit and didn't help us gain traction, but the boys showed great character.”
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, in his role as pundit for Sky Sports, responded to the win by describing Tottenham as the Premier League's most entertaining team.
When asked if that meant anything, Postecoglou replied: “That also applies to me, because I love football. I like to watch teams that want to have fun.
“If you balance it with the situation we're in now, with ten first-team players, and we're not going out there to get 1-0 wins… We're going there. , I'm trying to tell you entertain!
“I don't understand how that's bad. As an astute tactician, it won't get me credit at the bank, but so be it!'
The captain with a special moment!#CarabaoCup | @SpursOfficial pic.twitter.com/84uq22pFrj https://t.co/PW1y1KCUPk
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) December 19, 2024
Forster's two errors came within seven minutes of the second half. The experienced goalkeeper came on for the injured Guglielmo Vicario and passed straight to Bruno Fernandes in the build-up to United's first goal, before spotting Amad Diallo's loose pass into the net for their second goal.
“We definitely made it harder than it should have been,” Postecoglou continued.
“We were in control and played very well. It looked like we were going to control the game, but then we just had those two moments.
“The first one hit Fraser, then the second one came as a result. We had to scramble and show some fight, but we got a fourth.”
Comments