Ange Postecoglou has been sent a message by a former Tottenham Hotspur star after his recent comments about the club
Former Tottenham Hotspur star Rafael Van der Vaart has explained why he disagrees with Ange Postecoglou’s ‘big club’ claim about the club. Postecoglou recently appeared on the Stick to Football podcast, where he spoke about his time in north London.
Spurs parted company with Postecoglou last summer, just after the club had won the Europa League. Thomas Frank went on to replace Postecoglou before going on to leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and has been replaced by Igor Tudor.
As part of his appearance on the Stick to Football podcast, Postecoglou has explained why he believes Tottenham are not a “big club”, based on the two years he spent as the club’s manager.
Postecoglou said: "I still felt like, you know, Tottenham as a club was saying, 'We're one of the big boys.'
"And the reality is, I don't think they are in terms of my experience over those last two years, of how they act. And you know, when Arsenal need players, they'll spend a hundred million on Declan Rice. I don't see Tottenham doing that."
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He added: "It's a real curiosity in terms of understanding what are they trying to build? Obviously, they've built an unbelievable stadium, unbelievable training facilities. But when you look at the expenditure, particularly, you know, their wages structure, they're not a big club. I saw that because when we were trying to sign players, we weren't in the market for those players.
"Not a big club in terms of the wages that they pay. You know, I was looking at Pedro Neto and [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Antoine] Semenyo at the time, Marc Guehi, because I said; 'If we're going to go from fifth to there, that's what other big clubs would do in that moment.'"
Van der Vaart, who made 77 appearances across a two-year spell at Tottenham during his playing career, disagrees with Postecoglou’s remarks.
“I think in general that the spending on transfers and wages is crazy in modern football, especially for players who I think are average,” Van de Vaart told Sky Bet.
“So, Ange suggesting that Tottenham should pay and spend more money, I totally disagree because you cannot spend crazy money on a player who won’t make you a considerably better team.
“Everybody liked Tottenham - White Hart Lane, they had good players, spent money but nothing crazy, and this is the DNA of Spurs, and they need to get this back and build something for the future. They need stability and then in a few years they can maybe win something. You can’t just bring in a manager, spend £200m and win the Premier League – it doesn’t work like that.
“Of course, Spurs are a big club – look at the stadium, the history, and a lot of big players still want to play for Tottenham. I’m romantic about football, when I came to White Hart Lane it was like a family and the old training ground was great, but now everything is new and the soul of the club I hope is still there – you can never forget this as it’s the most important thing.
“When I was at Tottenham, we were together with the fans, and it was always one team but now you can feel the irritation everywhere.”
Van der Vaart has also given his opinion on Tottenham appointing Tudor as their new manager until the end of the season.
Spurs will face Arsenal in the North London Derby on Sunday in what will be Tudor’s first match in charge, and Van der Vaart has explained what he wants to see from the team under the new management.
“Honestly, I don’t know much about Igor Tudor, I knew him a little bit as a player, but as a coach, he’s not had the biggest success from what I understand,” Van de Vaart said.
“We must give him a chance and let’s see what he can do. Of course, I hope he will do well, but you never have any guarantees.
“The most important thing as a coach is to get the players to fight for you. He has to be a likeable guy but also needs quality and to show his training skills.
“For me, the most important thing is not to say that ‘We’re going to win this or this.’ Tottenham is not a club with so many titles, but the pressure is always there to play nice football and to enjoy the game.
“From my experience, our fans normally would prefer a 4-4 draw over an ugly 1-0 win in a Carabao Cup game – this mentality I hope is coming back under Igor Tudor.”