SPURS boss Ange Postecoglou channeled his inner Gladiator as he defended his enthusiastic tactics.
Tottenham avoided a late wobble by beating Manchester United 4–3 in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
The under-fire boss was grilled by Sky Sports in the wake of Spurs' latest comedy of errors as they threatened to let a 3-0 lead slip away.
But he came out to defend his tactics, using the phrase, “Aren't you entertained?” – the immortal phrase from the film Gladiator and spoken by Maximus, played by fellow countryman Russell Crowe.
Speaking to Sky, Postecoglou said: “I know the studio (expert team) will probably collapse because of my lack of tactics.
“I think it's great that we're going out there and taking it to oppositions.
“Obviously we made it harder than it should have been.
“Aren't you entertained?”
Spurs were in cruise control thanks to two goals from Dominic Solanke and one from Dejan Kulusevski.
But back-up goalkeeper Fraser Forster pressed the self-destruct button as his two errors made for a nerve-wracking finale.
First United substitute Joshua Zirkzee tapped in after Forster's pass out from behind was intercepted before Amad Diallo blocked his ball to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes to go.
Postecoglou's men were on the verge of collapse at this point, but captain Son Heung-min scored straight from a corner with two minutes to go, despite protests from Altay Bayindir.
It ensured Jonny Evans' injury-time header was only a consolation as Spurs, without ten players, marched through to set up a semi-final against Liverpool and take a big step towards winning a first trophy since 2008.
Postecoglou said: “We played so well and controlled the game well.
“It's the way our season went a bit, we hurt ourselves a bit and then we had to do our best to get our footing again.
“It should have been a lot more comfortable than it ended up being, but having said that, I still can't escape the fact that this group of players is doing an incredible job right now to get us through this.
“We are in the semi-finals of a cup competition so I think this is something that reflects this progress for us. We now have the chance, both home and away, to reach a final and we have earned that chance. ”
Ruben Amorim suffered the third defeat of his Man United tenure, but had no problem with Tottenham's fourth goal.
“I never talk about referees and I won't start now,” Amorim insisted.
“The boys did a great job recovering and we were so close to the draw, so close and it could make the difference because we still have time to win the game, but then the fourth goal was very difficult for us. “
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