Ange Postecoglou sent Celtic message after Tottenham loss

Ange Postecoglou’s fantastic start to life in the Premier League has met with a few stumbles lately. The former Celtic manager saw his team lose 4-1 at the hands of Chelsea in a game in which two of his players were sent off while there were injuries as well. And this weekend, they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Wolves.

Unexpectedly, quite a few people are writing off their title chances already. And with injuries to key players, it is perhaps understandable.

At the same time, there are some who are starting to question his tactics as well. Of course, this will be nothing new for Postecoglou, who has faced similar questions everywhere he has been and yet consistently won.

The game between Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea was under the microscope. And it is worth pointing out that Postecoglou’s side continued to play their football, even when down to nine men. That made the match close for the most part but ultimately led to them conceding four.

Postecoglou sent Celtic message after Tottenham Hotspur’s loss to Chelsea

As reported by Football Scotland, Andy Gray said on beIN Sports:

"“They were 2-1 down. I was going to say still in the game, but they were as much as you can be with nine men. I get the two goals in stoppage time as even then you would go searching for one.“But I don’t understand why a manager of his experience… now it might have worked in the J League and the A League where he has worked before. It is not going to work in the Premier League.”"

And when Richard Keys pointed out that it had worked in Scotland, Gray said:

"“Scotland, that’s Celtic or Rangers, you know that. He might have got away with that against Kilmarnock or someone like that but he won’t get away with it in the Premier League.“I like what he’s done with Tottenham. He won’t get away with defending that high, that loosely, with 11 vs 11 never mind 11 vs nine. They’ll pick their pocket.”"

To be very honest, the job that Tottenham Hotspur did against Chelsea despite being down to nine men was remarkable. In fact, they might have been the better team for the most part.

Chelsea struggled to find a way past the home side before finally getting their second through Nicolas Jackson. And even then, the game was not over. Tottenham Hotspur thought they had equalised through Eric Dier only for it to be called offside and had another glorious chance to do so as well. But ultimately, the two red cards proved to be too much.

It is easy to call out Postecoglou’s tactics after they lose games. But one cannot forget that Tottenham Hotspur have massively over-delivered this season so far. Thus, whatever he is doing is clearly working.