Gary Neville has delivered high praise towards Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou, believing Premier League champions Manchester City should consider the Aussie as Pep Guardiola’s successor.
With goals from Richarlison and Dejan Kulusevski on Saturday morning (AEDT) at City Ground, Spurs defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 to make it back-to-back victories for the first time since October.
After Yves Bissouma was sent off for a high lunge, Tottenham was forced to play the remaining 20 minutes with just 10 men.
on Ryan Yates, but they held on in spite of Neco Williams’ tardy post.
Postecoglou’s team is currently fifth in the standings, behind City, who are yet to face Crystal Palace this weekend, by only one goal.
“I LOVE watching Tottenham Hotspur play” @Gnev2praises Ange Postecoglou for his effect on the Spurs this season and his impact on the picture.Twitter: https://jgXx59zru7
— December 15, 2023, Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL)
Neville, who was a part of the Sky Sports Premier League coverage, discussed Postecoglou’s influence after the game and called it “staggering.”
“What he’s done in such a short period of time is quite staggering,” Neville said.
“He’s put something in place that’s breathtaking to watch but actually, is quite complex when you watch it from a football point of view.”
The former England international went on to say that he believes the former Socceroos boss would be an ideal candidate to replace Guardiola, whose contract expires in the summer of 2025.
“Spurs fans won’t like this but he is amazing, and if you’re Manchester City losing Pep Guardiola in a year or two, you’d be looking at Ange Postecoglou now thinking ‘wow that’s exactly what we want to see’,” Neville said.
“But for the time being Spurs have just got to enjoy this because it’s brilliant to watch.
“What they can do is take advantage of one of the finest football brands I’ve seen in the ten years since I stopped playing the game. I enjoy seeing the Tottenham Hotspur team play.
This comes after Neville said Postecoglou was replicating Guardiola’s playbook by deploying inverted full-backs early in the season and that his approach was “naive.”
Postecoglou, meanwhile, was pleased with his team’s poise in winning.
“The guys have my sincere admiration; this is not an easy place to be.” We played excellent defense and managed to score two goals.
Congrats for your win at the City Ground picture tonight.Twitter: https://ZeMp8Yi7fp
— December 15, 2023, Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial)
He told Sky Sports Premier League: “It’s a tough game here, you have to earn whatever you get. They’re obviously pretty desperate for points and the crowd get behind them.
“Every time they get a throw-in, it feels like they’re launching it into the box and you’ve given up a goal.” Numerous issues that we typically don’t have to deal with were there. Simply amazing character.
“Obviously, it was difficult for us to reduce to 10 men. We had some terrific football too, so it was a little bit of everything.
“We were pretty calm and collected for the most part; Vic was good when we needed him, and the back four of Ben Davies, Romero, and myself were outstanding.”
We just didn’t camp out there because we always had an escape and we always appeared scary. So really happy.
However, Postecoglou remained concerned about Tottenham’s lack of discipline as Bissouma was sent off for the second time this season and his 70th-minute dismissal was Tottenham’s fourth red card of the season.
“I haven’t seen it, but I’m assuming they slowed it down and saw it,” Postecoglou continued. It has been somewhat problematic. With those things, there is a narrow line.
The players don’t want to miss games, and they are aware of it. I believe that today was less of a vicious tackle and more of a desperate one.
“You can’t keep doing it like that because ultimately we’ll pay a price, and we did against Chelsea. We’ve had to cope with it a few times this year.
“We talk about it all the time, but there’s a fine line between their commitment to our mission and staying within bounds.”
Forest boss Steve Cooper bemoaned the error that led to Tottenham’s second goal that left his side with a mountain to climb.
Under pressure from Heung-min Son, Turner’s attempted clearance went straight to Kulusevski, who rifled into the net to make it 2-0.
Cooper said: “The result is obviously the most important and will always write the narrative and we accept that.
“I think we sort of played the game we thought was the right one to play in terms of playing on a fairly closed pitch and not trying to give Spurs too much space to play in because we could see how dangerous they can be.
“The goal is, of course, that we’ve deviated from the plan, not doubled up, and allowed him inside.”
It’s the one occasion when they’ve included a genuine free cross and we haven’t checked the box. And that’s the level and the area where we struggle the most—we don’t make the most of the opportunities we get in and around the opponent’s box.
“Then, of course, we emerged victorious and had a strong start to the second half. However, scoring the second goal is impossible at any level, much less in the Premier League.
“Well, that stopped the momentum, but overall, I’m happy with the performance.”
