TBR Football

Ange Postecoglou remains under pressure at Tottenham.

The Australian has overseen five defeats from the last eight games – two of which have seen Tottenham crash out of both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

Fabrizio Romano claims that Tottenham are sticking with Postecoglou – for now – although nobody within Hotspur Way is happy about the current situation, with Spurs also sitting 14th in the Premier League.

Naturally, other managers have been linked to Spurs amid this woeful run of results, with TBR Football aware that Tottenham like Thomas Frank and Andoni Iraola of Brentford and Bournemouth respectively.

Now, however – according to Inter Live in Italy – Daniel Levy is being pushed to replace Ange Postecoglou with Simone Inzaghi.

Fabio Paratici wants Daniel Levy to bring Simone Inzaghi to Tottenham as Ange Postecoglou replacement

The Italian news outlet now state that Paratici wants the Inter Milan boss to arrive in N17.

Inter Live claim that Paratici is currently working as an external consultant for Tottenham, despite his ongoing 30-month ban from football after Juventus were found guilty of false accounting.

The 52-year-old is said to be a huge admirer of Inzaghi and is urging Levy to hire the Italian in place of Postecoglou at the end of the season, while Inter Live also mention that Marco Silva of Fulham is admired within Tottenham.

Inzaghi – who has been likened to Jurgen Klopp – currently has Inter Milan sat second in Serie A, four points behind Antonio Conte’s Napoli, albeit with a game in hand.

Tottenham have been aware of Simone Inzaghi for years

Another Italian news outlet in Corriere dello Sport claimed back in 2021 that Tottenham considered Inzaghi as a replacement for Jose Mourinho while the Italian was still with Lazio.

The Piacenza-born tactician has since won the Serie A title with Inter Milan, along with two Coppa Italias and three Supercoppa Italiana, while also reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2023, so he would be an exciting choice to replace Postecoglou.

Unai Emery piled on the pressure Ange Postecoglou was already under at Tottenham Hotspur as his Aston Villa side defeated Spurs 2-1 in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.

Another high-profile defeat raises question marks about whether Ange Postecoglou is indeed the right candidate to lead the Lilywhites’ project — especially seeing how Emery is constantly leading Villa to new heights.

After all, Mathys Tel’s late goal and the final scoreline does not do justice to how dominant Aston Villa were against Tottenham.

Jamie O’Hara has demanded Ange Postecoglou’s sacking as the North Londoners’ season is well and truly going from bad to worse.

The frustration for Postecoglou must be that they are missing so many key players, who could have potentially helped Tottenham at the very least compete far better than they did against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and Villa.

Unai Emery is sure Tottenham will get back to their best once injured stars return

Against Aston Villa, Ange Postecoglou was missing up to 11 players through injury during his side’s latest loss to Aston Villa.

While Spurs’ results have been appalling for a while now, the 59-year-old also has a very challenging task on his hands, with Joe Hart telling Postecoglou to “stay strong”.

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery understands that is the case, predicting Tottenham to return to form once their injury situation improves.

Emery said via journalist Tom Barclay: “Of course, when they are going to recover players, they will perform again like they were doing.”

Ange Postecoglou predicted Tottenham’s results to improve by making the same claim as Unai Emery. Emery admitted he has “huge respect” for Tottenham while previewing the game as well.

Will Tottenham sack Ange Postecoglou if Spurs lose to Manchester United?

Spurs fans will certainly be hoping that the former Sevilla boss is proven right.

For the time being, Ange Postecoglou’s job at Tottenham is safe even if his side lose to Manchester United on the weekend which highlights the belief that the board still have in him.

Perhaps the higher-ups at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium are also empathetic of the injury situation that Postecoglou has been dealing with for months.

With Tottenham still being in contention to win the Europa League, perhaps there is also a belief in N17 that their season is still far from over.

Once several senior players do return to the side, whether they are still playing for Postecoglou will be made evident by their results.

Aston Villa have reached the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in a decade.

Goals from Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers ensured a late strike from Mathys Tel was ultimately meaningless, securing a 2-1 victory over Tottenham at Villa Park.

Unai Emery arguably should have seen his side score more against Spurs, especially in the opening 45 minutes, as the Villans rampaged through Tottenham’s non-existent midfield time after time.

Nevertheless, Aston Villa got the job done, and Ange Postecoglou made a glowing comment about the Villans in his press conference after full-time.

Ange Postecoglou calls Aston Villa “one of the best teams in the country”

While defending his Tottenham side and pointing out the immense volume of injuries within his squad, the Australian praised Aston Villa, calling Emery’s side one of the best teams in England.

Postecoglou said: “For two and a half months, this small group of players have given everything in multiple competitions. I think they’ve been outstanding. We had 11 first-team players missing today, started with a 21-year-old goalkeeper coming to one of the best teams in the country.”

There is no doubt about it.

Aston Villa are one of only three English sides guaranteed to be in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 – while they can boast one of the top coaches around in Emery as well.

Furthermore, talents such as Rogers, Marco Asensio – who impressed Alan Shearer – John McGinn, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins, Pau Torres and Emiliano Martinez are among the top players in England right now, so Postecoglou is spot on with his assessment.

Unai Emery can achieve something special at Villa Park this season

To see the likes of Rashford and Asensio step off the bench for Aston Villa was a real statement image, and they could well be the difference makers Emery needs to bring silverware to Villa Park this season.

We see no reason why the Villans can’t go all the way in the FA Cup with squad depth like this, while Aston Villa, who also have Axel Disasi, could be a dark horse in the UEFA Champions League too.

After all, Emery guided Villarreal to the semi-final in their first taste of the competition since 2011 back in 2022 with a much weaker squad, so anything is possible.

If he wasn’t already aware before he arrived at Tottenham Hotspur, new signing Mathys Tel will now be getting to grips with challenges that exist in N17.

Tel came in to make his first Tottenham start against Aston Villa in the FA Cup as a result of Richarlison’s injury, the latest player to succumb to a muscle issue at the club.

Ange Postecoglou didn’t have a single senior attacking player to call on whilst trailing against Villa away from home, a demonstration of just how bad the club’s injury crisis has become.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that January recruits Antonin Kinsky, Kevin Danso and Tel have all been starting immediately.

Spurs now have a week before they play next against Manchester United, and Postecoglou will hope to recover one or two more key figures before Sunday.

But even with those who may return, Tel has seemingly now won his starting spot on merit, scoring an excellent late goal against Villa.

Mathys Tel and Ange Postecoglou show love to Tottenham’s travelling fans

Gary Lineker was impressed by Tel, and the striker even continued to enhance his reputation among Tottenham supporters for what he did after Sunday’s defeat at Villa Park.

Journalist Nizaar Kinsella noted a moment on X at full-time when both Postecoglou and his new striker gave an extended period of acknowledgement towards the away fans who had travelled to the midlands.

Postecoglou and Tel were the last ones out on the pitch acknowledging the away fans, a nice touch by the pair following another disappointing defeat.

Sharing what he noticed, Kinsella wrote: “Ange Postecoglou was one of the last ones out on the pitch out of all the Spurs players and staff, when acknowledging the fans after the defeat at Villa, along with new signing Mathys Tel.”

Archie Gray keeps on delivering for Spurs

A classy gesture by both, who are clearly recognising the need to keep fans onside during an incredibly difficult period for the side.

That being said, Alan Shearer was impressed by how Archie Gray has stood up during this period for Spurs too, a youngster who ‘never hides’ despite the pressure.

Gray has rarely ever appeared for Tottenham in midfield, which remains as the 18-year-old’s preferred position.

But along with players like Djed Spence, Gray continues to perform anyway.

And perhaps with a lighter schedule of games to come, Spurs can start building a stronger eleven around these talents, one that Tel will definitely be a part of too.

Mathys Tel has sent a message to the Tottenham Hotspur support at Villa Park after scoring his first goal against Aston Villa.

However, the Frenchman’s strike proved to only be a consolation in the end as Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the FA Cup in the Midlands.

The North London club have now exited both domestic cups within the space of just a few days having also lost to Liverpool in the Carabao Cup.

Tel will not be best pleased with his start to life in North London but after the game, he did make sure the travelling fans at Villa Park did feel appreciated.

Mathys Tel’s nine-word message to Tottenham fans

Mathys Tel made sure to thank the travelling Tottenham fans for their support following the defeat to Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

After the trip to the Midlands, Tel took to Instagram to say: “Thank you to all the fans for the support.”

The 19-year-old made a point of going over to the supporters after the full-time whistle to apologise for the defeat.

Tottenham fans are keen for Tel to play centrally with the Bayern Munich loanee having started on the left and Son Heung-min up front.

Son’s role as captain has been questioned as he proved wasteful up front as he missed a glorious opportunity to square the game in the first-half, however, his effort from close range was straight at Emiliano Martinez.

Tel netted his first goal for the Lilywhites with a well-taken effort in stoppage time as he showed glimpses of what he is capable of in front of goal.

How good was Mathys Tel vs Aston Villa?

Tel was without doubt one of Tottenham’s bright points on a dark afternoon at Villa Park as the Frenchman played with a great deal of confidence.

With Ange Postecoglou’s side looking devoid of any confidence right now, having at least one player on the pitch who wants the ball is especially important right now.

The Frenchman was heavily involved for the Lilywhites as he managed 43 touches against Villa and was involved in 12 duels throughout the match.

As Tottenham Hotspur were eliminated from the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup by Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively, the noise surrounding Ange Postecoglou’s future is deafening.

Jamie O’Hara feels Postecoglou should be sacked as Spurs’ chances of winning silverware this season are remote and they are truly having a shambolic campaign.

But perhaps the real worry for Ange Postecoglou is that match-going Tottenham fans chanted Mauricio Pochettino’s name against Aston Villa; a sign that he is starting to lose the backing of some of the most loyal Lilywhites supporters around.

It is important to remember that former managers like Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho were told to pack their bags despite their respective Tottenham teams not being in such dire situations.

Ange Postecoglou will also be fully aware that he has been afforded plenty of time to turn Spurs’ season around already.

Ange Postecoglou will not be sacked if Tottenham lose vs Manchester United

Daniel Levy kept the faith in Postecoglou even after his side lost 2-1 to Leicester City, who came off an eight-game losing streak in the Premier League which indicates the support he still has in N17.

Ange Postecoglou was not set to be sacked despite Spurs’ humiliating 4-0 defeat against Liverpool in the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final as well.

As Tottenham have now also been defeated by Aston Villa, Fabrizio Romano has reiterated that a loss to Manchester United would also not mean Postecoglou is given his marching orders.

Romano stated in a newsletter for GiveMeSport: “At the moment, there are still no indications of changes at Spurs. Of course, no one is happy with the current situation, but no indication of imminent changes. Let’s see in the next few days and after the next games.”

The Australian will be happy that is the case, with Ange Postecoglou predicting Tottenham to start winning again once key players like Cristian Romero and James Maddison return from injury.

What Ange Postecoglou wants from Tottenham’s board amid increasing sack threat

Postecoglou is keen for more time at Tottenham so that he can work with new signings like Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso while their adverse injury situation improves.

Ange Postecoglou loves Tel’s mentality and the Frenchman’s goal against Aston Villa was a sign that he is the real deal.

But Daniel Levy’s patience will be tested if results do not improve.

Manchester United are similarly struggling to Tottenham and at home, Ange Postecoglou’s side should at the very least not lose the game.

After Richarlison’s injury against Liverpool, Ange Postecoglou handed new signing Mathys Tel his first start for Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup against Aston Villa.

Surprisingly, Tel started on the left for Tottenham, with Postecoglou preferring to place Son Heung-min through the middle.

The Frenchman has often played out wide for Bayern Munich, but it was thought that Tel was heading to north London to propel his career as a number nine.

Either way, it’s been a tough first week or so for both Tel and Kevin Danso at the club, who have already endured two defeats and exited two cup competitions.

Neither player should be surprised – they will have been made aware of the club’s situation by Postecoglou, but it’s still not ideal.

Mathys Tel impresses on his first start for Tottenham in the FA Cup

That being said, Tel was able to provide one reason to be positive for fans travelling back to N17 after Sunday’s defeat.

Tel netted his first goal of the season and his first for Tottenham in the 91st minute of the game, a clever finish and a goal that demonstrated the striker’s instinctive movement.

Following the game, all of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards praised the young striker on ‘The Rest Is Football’ podcast, impressed by what they saw from Tel on his first start.

Lineker began: “The other new man, I just want to mention, we’ve flipped back to Spurs briefly.

“I thought Tell showed a couple of nice bits. And that was an exquisite finish.”

Shearer replied: “Yeah, but that’s what I mean about, you don’t have to get to the byline all the time.

“You can put crosses in, you know, and that was a great cross that Kulusevski put in. And he did really well, Tell, to get on the end of it.

“And it was a really clever finish. So hopefully that’ll give him a bit of confidence and belief that he sort of belongs there and he can help Spurs get through this period.”

Richards added: “He’s got that quality though, hasn’t he? He’s got that quality. He’s still only young, he’s still learning, but I totally agree with Alan on that point.

“Good little movement and just finished off. Just give him a little bit of confidence as well, because like you said earlier on, Son is not really playing with the confidence we’ve seen of old, even in just taking so many touches.”

Pressure continues to mount on Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham

Of course, another defeat for Spurs has once again aimed criticism towards Postecoglou, even if the Tottenham manager considers that somewhat unfair.

Postecoglou launched a seriously passionate defence of his players after losing at Villa Park, a squad which has been run into the ground.

But perhaps the Spurs boss was somewhat missing the point to a degree – no is blaming the likes of Djed Spence and Archie Gray for the club’s struggles.

Instead, it’s Daniel Levy for his apparent lack of ambition and Postecoglou’s failure to adapt his side to a more pragmatic approach that is coming under fire.

Ramon Vega has launched a scathing assessment of Tottenham Hotspur’s board following the team’s defeat to Aston Villa.

Tottenham Hotspur crashed out of the FA Cup at the hands of Unai Emery’s team as Morgan Rogers and Jacob Ramsey’s goals won the game for the hosts, despite Mathys Tel’s late consolation.

Ange Postecgolou’s side have now exited two cups within the space of just three days having also lost to Liverpool 4-0 on Thursday in the Carabao Cup.

Vega is confident he knows what the biggest issue is at the North London club and has sent an angry message to Daniel Levy.

Ramon Vega fumes at Tottenham board after Aston Villa defeat

Ramon Vega has slammed the Tottenham board for the ‘negligence’ they have shown towards leaving Postecoglou’s squad short in several areas.

The former Tottenham defender claims that the team simply cannot cope with the lack of options and the sheer number of games they are being asked to play.

Spurs have had many injuries this season and have had to play multiple times a week almost every week since the start of October.

The Lilywhites were without eleven players for their trip to Villa Park, with key stars such as Micky van de Ven, Dominic Solanke, Cristian Romero and Guglielmo Vicario all unavailable.

After the game, Vega took to X to launch a tirade against the club’s owners: “There are too many games with crazy match fixtures, and on top of that, there is no depth in the squad to replace for all of these games.

“No wonder there is player fatigue and injuries. Crazy to believe such a club with apparently healthy finances the main deficit is the football part of it on the pitch.

“Either total negligence of the board in this matter or either useless in doing so.”

Ange Postecoglou hails the efforts of his Tottenham squad

Postecoglou has hailed the efforts of his small group of players who have stayed fit and played an incredible number of games amid limited chances to rotate.

Players like Dejan Kulusevski, Archie Gray, Pedro Porro and Heung-min Son have had little time to rest given the team’s injury crisis.

Speaking after the defeat to Villa, Postecoglou told the media: “For two and a half months this small group of players have given everything in multiple competitions. I think they’ve been outstanding.

“We had 11 first-team players missing today, we had 14 players including a 21-year-old goalkeeper who has just come to one of the best teams in the country.

“Followed by playing against the best team in the country on Thursday night, after playing in a Premier League game last Sunday, after playing a Europa game.

“Same group of players, no rotation – they’ve been doing this since the middle of November and I think they’ve just given everything they can.”

Not many of Tottenham Hotspur’s players stood tall and delivered in what was the biggest game of their season against Aston Villa as they eventually lost 2-1 in the Fourth Round of the FA Cup.

Mathys Tel restored a degree of pride for Tottenham as he scored a late consolation goal on his full debut for Spurs.

The Bayern Munich loanee’s strike would have given the visiting fans a reason to smile against Aston Villa.

Apart from Tel, Antonin Kinsky showed character against Unai Emery’s side after initially being at fault for Jacob Ramsey’s opening goal as he failed to parry a relatively tame strike that was straight down the middle.

Tottenham fans slated Kinsky’s error against Aston Villa as it did ultimately cost them on the night.

But in fairness to Kinsky, he also made plenty of saves to keep Ange Postecoglou and Co in the contest.

Antonin Kinsky named as Tottenham’s “best player” vs Aston Villa despite his error

Tottenham rate Kinsky very highly and despite his latest mishap, there is a gifted goalkeeper in the £12.5 million (Guardian) man.

Kinsky has been tipped to join Real Madrid one day, which goes to show how talented he is.

But there is no disputing that the 21-year-old’s error against Aston Villa was a costly one for Tottenham and Jamie O’Hara claimed that the fact that he was Spurs’ standout performer in their latest outing sums up how poor they are.

“Kinsky has thrown one in the net and is still our best player, that’s how bad we are, it’s got beyond embarrassing now.”

Dominic Solanke lauded Kinsky immediately after his debut in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool and it seemed like Johan Lange had signed a brilliant young prospect.

Michael Vorm reckons Kinsky is “promising” as well but as a goalkeeper, all eyes will be on the Czech shotstopper every time he makes a mistake like he did against Aston Villa.

Guglielmo Vicario could regain Tottenham number one spot unless Antonin Kinsky improves

Kinsky was brought in to challenge Guglielmo Vicario, with the former Slavia Prague wonderkid viewed as a goalkeeper who could potentially even displace the Italian if he steps up to the plate.

Journalist Ben Jacobs revealed last month: “All the other ones you mentioned are effectively down the pecking order. [Brandon] Austin was excellent, arguably the man of the match against Newcastle, but he was very much forced into that spotlight.”

“What you will probably find once he settles is that with [Guglielmo] Vicario out, Kinsky gets some relatively imminent Premier League game time. So I expect him to be thrown straight into the deep end. To your point about his mentality, the feeling from Tottenham is he’s very strong-willed, he’s very vocal, he’s a good leader, he’ll fit in well in the dressing room.”

“So it should be a top signing and a steal at £12.5 million and as I say, Tottenham’s perspective is kind of, Vicario is the number one, but is he? Vicario is the number one when he’s fit, but could this kid challenge? So it’s not a case of one and two, it’s a case of, yeah, Vicario is probably the short term number one, but Tottenham really believe that Kinsky has the long term potential to either challenge or supplant him.”

However, Kinsky has looked far too suspect, such as failing to collect the ball for Jamie Vardy’s goal against Leicester City, letting Cody Gakpo’s near-post strike bypass him in the Carabao Cup and putting in a nervy display during the North London Derby as well.

In the space of just four days, Tottenham Hotspur have now bowed out of two cup competitions in two seriously poor performances by Ange Postecoglou’s side.

Just like they did at Anfield, Tottenham failed to show the necessary quality to get past tough opposition, and a 2-1 scoreline was probably quite flattering in the end.

Of course, Mathys Tel scoring late on was a huge positive for Spurs, a forward who will take a lot of confidence from the strike, and aim to do similar when Tottenham go again against Manchester United next weekend.

Right now, it appears as if Postecoglou will be in charge for that game – Daniel Levy is thought to be sticking by his manager amidst a serious injury crisis.

Postecoglou said himself that Tottenham were without 11 first team players against Villa, explaining why the former Celtic boss does deserve sympathy.

Jamie O’Hara thinks Ange Postecoglou is now ‘out of his depth’

That being said, it would be hard to disagree with those who wanted Spurs to change their manager right now, even if Levy is also being discussed as a big part of the problem.

And following Sunday’s defeat, former Tottenham player Jamie O’Hara took to X to state his belief that Postecoglou should now be sacked.

O’Hara said that Postecoglou was now ‘out of his depth’, comparing him to Unai Emery in the opposing dugout in the process.

Tottenham lost without any real sign of fight once again, and O’Hara said to was akin to watching an academy side, when the result isn’t always the priority.

He said: “It’s time to go now Ange is out of his depth, Emery is on a different planet compared to him and his players bopped us off the park should of been 5, we’re like reserve team playing in academy games that don’t matter, it’s crazy.”

Daniel Levy can’t sack Ange Postecoglou now

Of course, there’s two sides of the coin when it comes to assessing Postecoglou’s merits to stay as Tottenham manager.

On the one hand, some fans feel as if Levy has failed to ambitious back his manager, who is being hamstrung by an underwhelming squad which has also been decimated with injuries.

But it also has to be recognised that Emery was playing with any centre-backs once Ezri Konsa went off against Spurs – each side has injury issues of their own.

And it has to be a concern that Tottenham had no presence in midfield before Postecoglou made a change at half-time.

Put simply, there’s no easy answer – but sacking Postecoglou would only add fuel to a very complicated fire in N17, one that should be remedied by players returning from injury.