Reuters

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker

April 22 (Reuters) - There was not much for Ange Postecoglou to be happy about during Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 defeat by Nottingham Forest on Monday but perhaps the Australian would have cracked a smile knowing the VAR system was out of action for several minutes.

Postecoglou has long been a vocal critic of VAR and said in early April that the review system was "killing the game" after a Spurs goal was disallowed during a 1-0 loss to Chelsea.

Sign up here.

Thankfully for officials on Monday, no major incidents took place during the eight minutes VAR was unavailable due to what the Premier League said was a fire alarm at the Stockley Park facility in West London where the match footage is monitored.

A similar incident occurred in November when Manchester United's match at Ipswich Town continued without VAR because of a reported fire alarm at the same facility.

Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford

LONDON, April 9 (Reuters) - Embattled Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou accused the club's critics of a negative agenda on Wednesday as he prepared for a pivotal game of his second season in charge.

The Australian has come in for fierce criticism this season with Tottenham languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League, but they could still find Europa League redemption.

Sign up here.

Tottenham host Eintracht Frankfurt in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday with many suggesting Postecoglou's future at the club could depend on whether or not he can salvage a poor season by winning the trophy.

The London club prepared for the crucial clash with a 3-1 league victory over bottom club Southampton at the weekend but even after that win, Postecoglou was grilled about Brennan Johnson being denied a hat-trick.

Johnson was keen to take a late penalty with the score 2-1 but it was instead given to Mathys Tel.

"We scored, we won. Delighted. It's incredible. It's the one bit. Literally turning gold into crap when it's Tottenham. If we're 2-1 up and we get a penalty late on, I want our best penalty taker to take it," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"I just think we're in that position now where even the good stuff we do is going to be turned into a glass half-empty rhetoric. The one slight against this club is that it hasn't been a winner. The winners' mentality in the last minute is to score. We scored and somehow, in this alternate universe, everything Tottenham does is negative."

Bundesliga side Frankfurt won the Europa League in 2022, beating Rangers in the final on penalties, and they represent a tough obstacle for Tottenham over two legs.

Tottenham fans have not had much to shout about this season, but Postecoglou hopes the home crowd can help create a raucous atmosphere in their 60,000-seat arena on Thursday, similar to the one Arsenal fans produced against Real Madrid on Tuesday.

"It's hugely important," Postecoglou said. "With every European game, you are watching last night or watching tonight, the atmosphere makes a big impact.

"It's a big part of European football. A lot of teams that have success in Europe are on the back of a really strong home atmosphere. We hope it's the same for us tomorrow."

Tottenham have not won a trophy since the League Cup in 2008 and have not reached a European quarter-final since 2019 when they reached the Champions League final and lost to Liverpool.

Postecoglou said even if he does end that trophy drought, it might not be good enough for some people.

"I just think you can't win the argument of convincing people. Even if we win (the Europa League), I am gone anyway. That's just the general sentiment of the people," he said.

"If you try to use that as a motivation, you are not going to win anyway. It's got to be something more in it for us. For us, what's most important is that we have been through a tough time but we are still in a position to make an impact."

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker

The south-coast club, who earned promotion to the top-flight last season, have 10 points after 31 games to sit rock bottom and 22 points from the safety zone.

Sign up here.

Relegation has been on the cards for some time as a dire Southampton fell to their 25th league defeat this season.

But they still need two more points to avoid the ignominy of finishing as the worst team in Premier League history - a label that has stuck to the 2007-08 Derby County side who finished the campaign with 11 points.

"We want to get as many points as we can until the end of the season," Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale told Sky Sports.

"No one wants that record... but we will do what we can to get more points on the board."

Manager Ivan Juric, who took over in December and has overseen only two wins in all competitions, is desperate to ensure he does not go into the history books for the wrong reasons.

"We have to avoid that record, do our best. It cannot happen," the Croatian said.

"We know that we are in a bad situation and today was a certain thing. I cannot say anything bad about the players, it was a really tough year for everyone."

INEVITABLE RELEGATION

Southampton captain Jan Bednarek gave an honest assessment of the team.

"Today is just official but we knew for a few weeks that relegation was coming," he said.

"Hopefully, we can perform better in the last seven games. We want to get more points, I don't think 10 is enough."

Their run of games does not get any easier with Aston Villa, Manchester City and Arsenal to visit St Mary's Stadium before the end of the season.

Despite their abject performances, the travelling support were in full voice at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, with the players and coach staying back on the pitch to acknowledge the fans.

"It's a difficult day, a tough day. But I see the fans, how they love their players and their team. It's something incredible," Juric added.

"This experience has to serve to create something stronger than this."

Ramsdale, who has suffered relegation before with Bournemouth and Sheffield United, said some Saints players were experiencing it for the first time.

"There will be a lot of emotions from them over the next few days. The lads who have been here before, we have to try and pick the young boys up," he said.

"This group did incredible things last season. Nobody will want to jump ship with seven games to go. We are tight and we have just got to pull each other through now."

LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Southampton suffered the earliest-ever relegation in Premier League history when they lost 3-1 at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, confirming their demotion to the second tier despite having seven games left in the season.

Southampton had needed a victory to stay alive in their fight for survival after 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers moved up to 32 points with Saturday's comeback win at Ipswich Town.

Sign up here.

The south-coast club, who earned promotion to the top flight only last season, have 10 points after 31 games to sit rock bottom and 22 points from the safety zone.

"We knew it was probably going to be inevitable at some point, we haven't been good enough all season... It is a sad day and one that this group of players will learn from," Southampton keeper Aaron Ramsdale told Sky Sports.

"We need wins, points, performances. It has to come to a point where the fans are happy and singing... We have to build some momentum going into the Championship season."

Southampton nearly took the lead 12 minutes in when Tyler Dibling's cross found Kamaldeen Sulemana at the far post but his shot was blocked as it rebounded off the woodwork.

If there was any hope of Saints taking a shock lead, Spurs put that notion to bed a minute later when they went down the other end where Djed Spence's cut-back found Brennan Johnson and he fired his shot into the roof of the net.

FIVE-MINUTE WAIT

Lucas Bergvall thought he had made it 2-0 with a stroke of luck from a set-piece when he stuck out his leg for a loose ball which ended up in the bottom corner, but VAR chalked off the goal for offside after a check that took nearly five minutes.

But Johnson doubled their lead minutes later when James Maddison headed the ball into the box where the Welsh forward slipped the ball past Ramsdale.

Ramsdale, however, denied Spurs several times, saving efforts from Spence and Dominic Solanke to limit the damage but Southampton did not have any luck at the other end until the 90th minute.

A cross from Sulemana found Mateus Fernandes, who expertly chested down the ball before fizzing a shot past Guglielmo Vicario to make it 2-1.

But there would be no late comeback after Welington brought down Johnson in the box, allowing Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel to step up and convert the penalty to score his first Premier League goal as Spurs sealed the three points.

The victory moved Spurs to 13th in the standings on 37 points, level with Manchester United who were hosting Manchester City later on Sunday.

"The first half was really good, really pleased. We were a bit sloppy with the ball in the second half," Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said.

"Stuff to improve on but it is a victory with three goals, so (that is a) positive. We looked threatening every time we went forward in the first half."

Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Clare Fallon

April 4 (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said Sunday’s home game against bottom side Southampton could be the springboard needed for their Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt four days later.

Spurs battered Saints 5-0 in the reverse fixture in December, but their inconsistency has had them slip up against lower-ranked sides, including a 3-2 defeat by Everton and a 2-1 home loss to Leicester City in January.

Sign up here.

With Spurs languishing in 14th in the Premier League standings and European qualification through the league looking unlikely, the Europa League has taken on added importance for the London club.

Winning the Europa League could also help under-pressure Postecoglou's relationship with Spurs supporters, some of whom booed his substitution decisions during their 1-0 loss at Chelsea on Thursday.

"Irrespective of people's feelings right now I don't think there will be a Tottenham supporter out there who doesn't want to win the Europa League. The home game in the Europa League is going to be important," the Australian told reporters on Friday.

"I thought our build-up play (at Stamford Bridge) was really good but final third play could have been cleaner and clinical. Wilson (Odobert) and Dom (Dominic Solanke) have missed a chunk of the season.

"I saw enough to build on that and Sunday is a good opportunity to do that and get to the levels we need for the Europa."

Postecoglou added that his side are in good shape physically, and that defender Micky van de Ven - who was cramping after playing 88 minutes for the first time since returning from injury - should be fine to play on Sunday.

"We need to gain some momentum. We will make a couple of changes but not too many," Postecoglou said when asked if he would rotate the squad against Frankfurt.

The Australian conceded it was a mistake to cup his ear to Spurs fans after Pape Sarr's goal, later disallowed by VAR, having earlier downplayed suggestions he was showing frustration towards the supporters.

"My mistake was celebrating a goal, VAR defeated me, I won't be doing that again," he added.

Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge

Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker

LONDON, April 3 (Reuters) - Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said he could have blown his side's chances of hanging on for a 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday by making defensive changes for the dying moments, only to realise that a full 12 minutes had been added on.

"We created chances enough in the first half, and then, to be honest, it has been my mistake because I did the change before I saw the extra time," a relieved-looking Maresca told reporters.

Sign up here.

"When I saw 12 minutes, I saw that probably was too early to make that kind of change. But fortunately, we won the game, and we are happy."

With the clock ticking down, and Chelsea ahead through Enzo Fernandez's 50th-minute header, Maresca replaced attacker Cole Palmer and Fernandez with defender Tosin Adarabioyo and midfield anchor Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, packing his back line.

The change allowed Spurs to pour forward in their search for an equaliser during the long period of stoppage time, which came after two long VAR checks in the second half which ruled out goals for both sides.

Maresca was full of praise for the way his players soaked up the pressure to seal the win which gave Chelsea some fresh momentum in their hunt for a top four finish and a place in next season's Champions League.

"If you want to become a team, I think you need also to learn and to play in the way we played in the last 10 minutes: win a game in a dirty way," the Italian said.

Maresca said the return of Senegal striker Nicolas Jackson from injury had given his side more shape, thanks to his incessant pressing of the Spurs defence. "For sure, with Nico we are a different team," the manager added.

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou said poor defending was to blame for Chelsea's goal and he was critical of how VAR ruled out what he thought was an equaliser when substitute Pape Sarr beat Robert Sanchez with a low drive, only for it to be ruled out for a foul by Sarr moments earlier.

The Australian downplayed suggestions from reporters that he had shown frustration at Spurs fans - some of whom had booed his substitution decisions - by cupping his ear to them when Sarr found the back of the net.

"It's incredible how things get interpreted. We'd just scored. I wanted to hear them cheer. We've been through a tough time and I thought it was a cracking goal. I wanted them to get really excited," he said.

"It doesn't bother me. It's not the first time that they've booed my substitutions. That's fine. They're allowed to do that," said Postecoglou, whose side sit a lowly 14th in the league standings.