Sport

Why Ange Postecoglou has not been proud of Roy Keane

Published

11 months ago

January 15, 2024

You could make the case that this was either a point gained or two dropped for Tottenham, who had the better of the possession and chances but twice had to come from behind to earn a draw at Old Trafford.

Goals from Richarlison and Rodrigo Bentancur cancelled out emphatic finishes by Rasmus Hojlund and Marcus Rashford to leave Spurs with momentum intact but in danger of losing ground with the top four ahead of their two-week winter break.

Ange Postecoglou, though, was in no doubt about his side’s performance and the Australian has never appeared prouder of his Tottenham squad.

“This group of players, just every time we’ve had to deal with adversity [we] have just done it in an outstanding manner,” he said.

A less generous interpretation of the visitors’ display is that most teams can dominate the ball against this dismal iteration of United, and Tottenham — the darlings of the media and the neutral, supposedly in the midst of a daring revolution under Postecoglou — only came away with a draw.

“‘Spurs were this, Spurs were that’ — they drew the game,” said Roy Keane in the Sky Sports’ studio. “It was 2-2… everyone relax.”

Admittedly, Spurs might have been sharper in the final third, but the scepticism of Keane and others ignores the scale of the challenges faced by Postecoglou and his squad on Sunday.

He was without 12 players: three away at international tournaments, including captain Heung-min Son; eight injured, among them James Maddison; and Dejan Kulusevski missing through illness, Postecoglou saying he had “copped the worst” of a bug which swept through the camp last week.

Only one outfield player on the Spurs bench, defender Emerson Royal, had started more than four League games for the club.

Though Postecoglou could call on his first-choice back-four for the first time since November 6, both Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven “put aside their own personal well-being” to start after hamstring injuries, while Spurs were without the midfield three who began the season so impressively and two of their best forwards.

This has been the way of things for Postecoglou for the best part of three months now, his squad options resembling a game of whack-a-mole. As soon as one player returns, someone else drops out.

Spurs, though, keep finding a way to remain competitive, even in the toughest of circumstances.

Their midfield three — Bentancur, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Oliver Skipp — was desperately short of creativity on paper but nonetheless impressed, creating openings for debutant Timo Werner, Richarlison and the out-of-form Brennan Johnson.

Bentancur fired Spurs level for the second time, strolling into the orbit of a flat-footed Jonny Evans and finishing well to cap an excellent performance.

Skipp, one of those who was ill last week, had his best game of the season, spraying passes and pressing well.

“The only reason we’re in the position we are is because we’ve had players who are prepared to put aside whatever adversity we’re going through and give everything they have,” Postecoglou said, when asked about the impact of his fringe players.

“There’s no manager on this planet who wouldn’t feel like they’re in the right place when they see the kind of effort these guys are putting in every week.”

In front of the watching Sir Jim Ratcliffe, whose 25 per cent takeover of United is set to be confirmed next month, Erik ten Hag’s side looked like a team living off moments rather than any coherent style or structure.

Ten Hag’s own project is a year ahead of Postecoglou’s, and yet Spurs appear the better coached side in spite of their absentees.

Postecoglou will always play his way, in spite of which players are available or even how many are on the pitch, while Ten Hag has insisted that he does not have the tools for his preferred brand of football, leaving United with no clear sense of identity or direction.

While United’s drift looks set to continue, Postecoglou’s side remain in the mix at the top end of the table, despite so much adversity, and can now look forward to welcoming back key players and some genuine squad depth going into the spring.