Inside Futbol

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Rangers manager Philippe Clement is ‘really interested’ in how his team handle Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League later this week.

The Gers have had up and down performances under Clement this season, falling well off the title pace, and the Belgian’s position as boss has been questioned as a result.

Displays in Europe have been a regular bright spot however and Rangers’ last Europa League outing saw them thrash French side Nice 4-1.

Clement’s men have also won their last three Scottish Premiership games on the bounce without conceding a goal and now he is relishing the challenge of playing Tottenham.

Spurs have lost seven times in the Premier League already this season, but Clement sees the game as a big test and is ‘really interested’ in how Rangers do.

“Spurs is going to be a really big test. This team never played at this level against that type of opponent”, Clement said to BBC Scotland.

“I’m really interested in how we will react, how we will make our decisions on the pitch, because it needs to be faster than in the league games.

“The team can only grow getting experience like that.

“We’re in a really good place in that way, but we need to prove it on Thursday against one of the better teams in the Premier League, so it’s one of the better teams in the world with a really big difference in budget of course.

“That’s the level my players want to play and I want to play and I want to see them play also to challenge that type of team.”

On the same day Rangers beat Ross County 3-0, Spurs threw away a two-goal lead against Chelsea to lose 4-3 and the pressure will be on Ange Postecoglou for his side to quickly respond.

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Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou believes his side have shown that when they have enough players to call upon they can beat anyone.

Postecoglou saw his Spurs team surrender a 2-0 lead over rivals Chelsea to go down to a 4-3 defeat the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

The result means that Tottenham have now lost seven of their 15 Premier League games this season and a worrying trend of letting leads slip has developed.

Postecoglou is under pressure from the Spurs fans and he admits that losing seven games is not good, however insists that there is ample time for the side to turn things around.

The Australian believes Tottenham have shown this season that when they have players fit they are able to beat any side in the league.

“Seven defeats in 15 is not great, no disguising that, but there’s still plenty of games to go and we have shown this year that when we’ve got some bodies out there we can beat anyone”, Postecoglou told talkSPORT.

“We have just got to keep grinding away until we’ll get some back.”

Tottenham make the trip to Ibrox to play Rangers in the Europa League in midweek and then head to Southampton in the Premier League next weekend.

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Jamie O’Hara has dubbed Tottenham Hotspur ‘a disgrace’ after they let a 2-0 lead over Chelsea slip to go down to a 4-3 defeat on home turf and called for Ange Postecoglou to go.

Spurs were looking to respond to a loss at Bournemouth and started the Premier League game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium strongly.

Goals from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski within the first eleven minutes left Chelsea reeling and gave the hosts a commanding early advantage.

It would not last though and Jadon Sancho pulled one back for Chelsea with a superb solo strike in the 17th minute, while a Cole Palmer penalty just after the hour mark drew the Blues level.

Enzo Fernandez then fired Chelsea ahead, while another Palmer penalty made it 4-2. Spurs got a late goal through Heung-Min Son, but it was little more than a consolation.

Another collapse by Postecoglou’s team was greeted with anger from former Spurs star O’Hara, who says that the side have ‘zero clue’ how to win games.

He called for Postecoglou to go and labelled Spurs ‘a disgrace’.

“I’m done with this garbage we are a disgrace, 2-0 up and get battered we have zero clue of how to win games it’s just sh*t or bust”, O’Hara wrote on X.

“I’m sorry it can’t go on like this, time to go.”

Spurs have now lost more games than they have won this season, tasting defeat on seven occasions out of the 15 league matches they have played.

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Fixture: Tottenham Hotspur vs Chelsea

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 16:30 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his team to welcome London rivals Chelsea to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the Premier League this afternoon.

Pressure is once again growing on Postecoglou given Spurs’ inconsistent performances and results, which have left them in the bottom half of the league table.

Spurs were beaten at Bournemouth in midweek and have lost six of their 14 league matches so far, a total which is the same as strugglers Crystal Palace and Everton.

Visitors Chelsea arrive in north London sitting third in the league and threatening to put together a real tilt at Champions League football and, potentially, the title; the Blues won 4-1 on their last visit to Spurs.

Spurs have Fraser Forster in goal, while in defence Postecoglou selects Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Destiny Udogie.

Midfield sees Postecoglou select Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr, while Dejan Kulusevski, Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke and Heung-Min Son lead the attacking threat.

Postecoglou has a bench full of options if needed at any point and they include Timo Werner and Radu Dragusin.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Chelsea

Forster, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevski, Johnson, Solanke, Son

Substitutes: Austin, Spence, Dragusin, Reguilon, Gray, Bergvall, Maddison, Werner, Lankshear

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Former striker Jan Aage Fjortoft thinks that the Premier League has several great managers, but Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou is not one of them.

Postecoglou joined Spurs from Scottish giants Celtic in the summer of 2023 and guided Tottenham to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League, sparking renewed hope of Spurs pushing onwards and upwards this season.

However, this term Postecoglou has drawn criticism for his Tottenham’s performances and he has been the centre of discussion due to his refusal to show flexibility in his tactics.

Spurs lost 1-0 to Bournemouth on Thursday and Fjortoft, who was not impressed by Tottenham’s performance, pointed out that Postecoglou can not come up with anything when his initial plan fails.

He thinks in terms of tactics the Premier League has several great managers, but indicated that Postecoglou, due to not having any backup plans to help his team when they need it, is not one of them.

“One of the worrying things also for Postecoglou is that when you see the Premier League now, there are so many great managers, great managers on tactics, great managers who have a plan A, plan B, and plan C”, Fjortoft said on ESPN.

“Iraola at Bournemouth and Silva at Fulham, two just involved today.

“You can see they have a plan and when you see plan A is not working for Tottenham; it seems Postecoglou cannot do anything.

“I am not saying he can’t, but he can’t because that is what we see and that must be very worrying for Tottenham fans as well because you see the Premier League now has so many great managers and at the moment Postecoglou is not up there.”

Tottenham are winless in their last three games and next they will face their London rivals Chelsea at home on Sunday.

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Former Premier League midfielder Craig Burley believes that Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has no clue about where Spurs’ bad performances are coming from.

On Thursday, Tottenham Hotspur took on Bournemouth away from home and suffered a 1-0 defeat due to a 17th-minute goal scored by Dean Huijsen for the Cherries.

Spurs have now won only one game out of their last six fixtures, with their sole win coming from their 4-0 triumph against Manchester City late in November.

Tottenham’s inconsistent performances this season have been criticised by former players and Burley believes that Postecoglou has no answer to where the bad performances are coming from for his team.

Burley thinks that Postecoglou having no clue how to solve their struggles is worrisome and pointed out that Tottenham’s away form has been shocking this season.

“If you look at the camera shots of Ange Postecoglou during the game, he can’t figure it out and this is a worry for him”, Burley said on ESPN.

“He doesn’t know why they can wallop Man City 4-0 away from home, albeit City have been struggling, how they can be 2-0 up at Brighton and throw it away.

“How they can lose at Palace, how they can lose this game and then at other times they look as if they are fantastic to watch and could rip teams apart?

“He does not have an answer to where the bad performances are coming from and that is a problem.

“Teams are starting to figure them out.

“Their away form is pretty shocking, to be honest, or certainly bad; it’s mid-table at best.”

Spurs are set to host Chelsea at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday and it remains to be seen whether Postecoglou’s side will be able to bounce back at the weekend.

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Fixture: Bournemouth vs Tottenham Hotspur

Competition: Premier League

Kick-off: 20:15 UK time

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has picked his team to lock horns with Bournemouth in the Premier League at Dean Court as they try to return to winning ways.

Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Fulham in their last outing, being unable to build on a superb 4-0 win over Manchester City.

Tottenham, who sit in eighth place in the Premier League, would be able to move to within three points of fourth placed Manchester City with a win tonight.

They face a Bournemouth team who have shown they can handle the big boys, especially on home turf, with both Arsenal and Manchester City beaten at Dean Court this season already.

Fraser Forster lines up in goal for Tottenham tonight, while at the back Postecoglou picks Archie Gray, Radu Dragusin, Ben Davies and Destiny Udogie.

The engine room sees Spurs go with Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma, while James Maddison also plays. Dejan Kulusevski and Brennan Johnson will be looking to support Dominic Solanke.

If Postecoglou needs to try to influence the game through his substitutions then he has options available that include Heung-Min Son and Pedro Porro.

Tottenham Hotspur Team vs Bournemouth

Forster, Gray, Dragusin, Davies, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Maddison, Kulusevski, Solanke, Johnson

Substitutes: Austin, Porro, Spence, Reguilon, Bergvall, Olusesi, Werner, Son, Lankshear

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Tottenham Hotspur out-on-loan goalkeeper Josh Keeley has revealed that Leyton Orient fans were singing his name at the weekend and stressed that he is enjoying his loan spell.

Spurs sanctioned a season-long loan spell for Keeley to Leyton Orient after tying him down with a new contract in the summer.

At the weekend, the goalkeeper emerged as the saviour for Leyton Orient after scoring an injury-time equaliser against Oldham Athletic in their FA Cup fixture, which they later went on to win in extra time.

Keeley revealed that the Leyton Orient faithful were singing his name after his goal and added that the fans were asking him to go up for every corner after his equaliser.

The Tottenham star added that he loves his new team-mates and is enjoying his loan spell with the League One outfit.

When asked whether he is enjoying his time at his new club, Keeley told Leyton Orient TV: “Yes, I am absolutely loving it.

“I absolutely love all the boys.

“The fans and all singing my name today and in every corner, they asked me to go up after.

“I was laughing, but yes, I am loving it; I can’t complain.”

Keeley will be looking to kick on at Leyton Orient and the club might try to sign the Tottenham star on a permanent basis in the coming months.

Richard Keys has advised Tottenham Hotspur fans to give Ange Postecoglou time and support as he believes that the 59-year-old is their best chance of producing ‘push and run’ football and maybe getting a trophy to show for it.

Tottenham have played all-out football this season and have the league’s highest goal tally to show for it, with 28 goals scored.

However, Postecoglou’s style of play has not necessarily produced the best possible outcome and Spurs currently find themselves languishing seventh in the table, 14 points adrift of leaders Liverpool.

Keys though has come to love Postecoglou’s attacking style of football and believes that having already given so many high-profile managers opportunities, the Tottenham fans need to stick with him until he runs out of steam.

“Yes, Spurs can be frustrating at the same time as being entertaining, but they’re good value”, Keys wrote on his blog.

“Tottenham have tried everything during the PL years and nothing has worked so why not give Postecoglou backing until he runs out of steam?

“Would Spurs fans prefer Mourinho? I’m an admirer, but they weren’t. Would they prefer to have Conte back? Nunes? No. Of course not.

“My advice is give Postecoglou time and support.

“He’s the best chance I’ve seen of someone producing ‘push and run’ football at Spurs again – and maybe, just maybe he’ll win a trophy to go with it.”

After beating defending Premier League champions Manchester City 4-0, the London-based side were held to a 1-1 draw by Marco Silva’s Fulham in their last match.

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Former Premier League defender Steve Nicol is of the view that Tottenham Hotspur only know one way to win games and added that they will win no trophies with their way of football.

Tottenham are struggling this season to maintain consistency in their form, as at the weekend they drew 1-1 against Fulham.

Spurs failed to capitalise on Brennan Johnson’s opener in the 54th minute as Tom Cairney equalised for the visitors; he was later sent off, meaning Spurs faced ten men for the last seven minutes.

Nicol pointed out that Liverpool have shown this season that there are different ways to find wins, but says that Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham only know one way.

The ex-defender also stated that the Spurs boss needs every player in his team to play at 100 per cent and work their socks off, which Nicol believes is a way of football that will not bring any trophies to Tottenham.

“They [Liverpool] have shown there are different ways that they can skin a cat; unfortunately for Tottenham, they only have that one way”, Nicol said on ESPN.

“We have tried to give Postecoglou a lot of time to get past that initial ten games when they were sitting top of the league because of the way they played, but they have not changed the way they play.

“Unfortunately, unless every one of them is busting their gut, the veins are coming out of their neck when the game starts and they are getting after everybody and running 100 miles per hour, unless they do that, they are not beating anybody.

“That can’t be right.

“You can’t win anything by hoping that you turn up and everybody is 100 per cent at it.”

Tottenham have not won back-to-back league games since September and Postecoglou now faces a tough task to find the consistency to get them to finish in the top four.