Ange Postecoglou said he will not stop asking Fraser Forster to play from the back despite the stand-in goalkeeper's two howls in Tottenham's 4-3 win over Manchester United.
Forster's mistakes, both with the ball at his feet, threatened to throw away all Tottenham's good work to give themselves a three-goal cushion in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, before Heung-Min Son's late fourth saw them cross the line to settle down. in the semi-final against Liverpool.
Both errors were booed from the home stand, with Spurs fans fearing another collapse this season having already thrown away two goals against Brighton and Chelsea and conceded a lead in each of their last three home games.
Forster has previously shown he is far less comfortable playing from the back than Spurs' regular No.1 Guglielmo Vicario, but Postecoglou has been steadfast in asking him to continue in his fearless style.
When asked about his thoughts as he watched Forster's seven-minute nightmare unfold, Postecoglou said: 'It's fair to say there have been a few of those nightmares in 26 years. [goalkeeping errors].
“But I've always thought the pros far outweigh the cons. Those moments are rare, but when they happen they stand out. Today there were two, and the first had consequences for Fraser for the next term.”
“He's disappointed, but he was excellent for us. Before that he didn't have much to do, and in the first half I thought he found some great solutions with his feet, but obviously the first one is probably his trust has eroded. He lost one little faith and then the second one makes it worse.
“He's a big boy, he's another one who stood up for us. I can't say enough about this group of players. We had 10 players unavailable tonight, we had one day less rest than Man Utd, and we can do that not.” to rotate the squad as other clubs can. We don't have the numbers, but we're not just getting through matches, we're still maintaining the brand of football [we were]. This period will show us tremendous growth.”
Mistakes can cost Tottenham success, Ange admits
While typically unapologetic about his unchanging style, Postecoglou did sound a word of caution that 'making things difficult' could cost Tottenham the success they crave to end a 16-year run since they were in last won a trophy in 2008.
“I love football and watching teams go out to entertain,” he told Sky Sports. “It's clear we want to be successful and we won't be successful if we make it as difficult as we did tonight.
“I like the whole game. Aren't you entertained? I know the studio is probably going to collapse because of my lack of tactics.
“We're not going out to get 1-0 wins, we're trying to keep people entertained. I don't understand how that's a bad thing.
“It's part of football, mistakes will happen. From the context of how we play as a team, we don't need to change anything. As an astute tactician, it doesn't get me any credit from the bank, but so be it.”
Amorim: Right to leave Rashford out regardless of the result
Meanwhile, Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim backed his decision to leave Marcus Rashford out of the matchday squad again.
The forward was absent from Spurs after missing Sunday's Manchester derby amid speculation over his future. Rashford was dropped at the weekend, with Amorim citing a range of factors, and he stopped traveling with his teammates after coming out on Tuesday, declaring he was open to a “new challenge” away from United.
Asked if it was a mistake to leave Rashford out, Amorim said: “If I feel I am doing the right thing for the team, it has never been a mistake. We have to make a selection. It was not a mistake because I I think 'In my way of looking at it, I'm doing the best for the team.”
On his side's performance, Amorim was positive, pointing to a poor eight-minute spell at the start of the second half, during which Spurs scored twice, as the moment they lost the match.
“We controlled possession. We weren't the best team all game, but in most parts I think we were the best team. We weren't connected for eight minutes and it was difficult to recover from that, but the boys did well.” great job recovering. We were so close to the draw, but the fourth goal was very difficult for us.
“We had no connection for eight minutes and that cost us the match.”
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