Tottenham’s manager, Ange Postecoglou (59), expressed understanding for Manchester United’s coach Ruben Amorim following a narrow 1-0 victory over the Red Devils on Sunday.
The match featured two clubs currently struggling this season, with James Maddison’s solitary goal propelling Spurs above United into 12th place in the Premier League.
As a result of the defeat, Amorim’s team falls to 15th, and the Portuguese coach faces mounting concerns as Amad Diallo and Lisandro Martinez have been ruled out for the remainder of the season.
United’s roster was further depleted by the absences of Manuel Ugarte, Christian Eriksen, Kobbie Mainoo, and Luke Shaw for their trip to north London, forcing Amorim to select eight teenagers for his bench of just nine.
Postecoglou’s second season at Tottenham has been plagued by injuries.
With Micky van de Ven, Cristian Romero, and Dominic Solanke all sidelined again, the return of Maddison and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was crucial in securing their first league win at home since November.
“I could see today that Ruben had to put together a team, with players out of position and young ones on the bench,” stated Postecoglou.
“Welcome to my world — and that’s just for one match. Now try doing that for two months at any club.”
The issue of significant injuries has been prevalent throughout the Premier League season.
Defending champions Manchester City have suffered a sharp decline without their Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, while Arsenal are attempting to challenge for the title with no recognised strikers available.
Postecoglou has faced criticism regarding his training approach and high-intensity style of play, which some link to Spurs’ injury crisis.
Nonetheless, the Australian insists that more teams will encounter similar struggles as the congested fixture schedule puts additional strain on already fatigued squads.
“We won’t be the only ones affected. I’ve been predicting this for a while,” Postecoglou remarked.
“Soon enough, a few will find themselves in my shoes, and it becomes clear that it isn’t solely a reflection of the individuals involved but also the situations we’ve been dealt.”
Since taking over in November, Amorim has only managed to secure four victories from 14 Premier League appearances.
As has been a repeated theme, Amorim’s side struggled with finishing, with Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee failing to convert critical opportunities to level the match after Maddison’s 13th-minute goal.
United’s current tally of 28 goals in 25 games is among the worst in the Premier League, sitting fifth from the bottom.
“In the end, they scored, and we didn’t. That was the key difference in the match,” Amorim reflected.
“We created numerous chances, but they managed to find the net, while we did not.”
Defender Matthijs de Ligt acknowledged that the team needs to exhibit “more hunger” to score and recognised that confidence is also a significant concern.
“I believe the urgency, the desire to score, is something we are missing,” the Dutch international explained.
“It’s not just the attackers; it involves the midfielders and defenders too. It’s a collective issue, and we absolutely must improve.”
“You could say our confidence has taken a real hit, especially in the Premier League. Once confidence wanes, success tends to follow suit.”
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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