‘Strange’ – Robinson blames Ange for what he did to throw away Tottenham win vs Everton
Ange Postecoglou’s substitutions late in the game as Tottenham were holding on against Everton left Paul Robinson baffled as two points were dropped.
On February 3, Jarrad Branthwaite’s header in the 94th minute broke Spurs’ resistance after the manager had gone back to a defensive formation to try to hang onto a 2-1 lead courtesy of two fantastic Richarlison goals.
However, BBC Sport analyst Robinson called the decision to start “lightweight” Bryan Gil in such a situation “strange,” and he also said that adding January signing Radu Dragusin to a back five was asking for trouble.
Postecoglou has done a lot right since he arrived from Celtic in the summer but the former Spurs keeper feels he caused his own problems in dropping two points at the death at Goodison Park.
He exclusively told Tottenham News: “I think in the second half when Spurs got deeper and deeper you look at the manager’s substitutions, Pape Sarr came on for [Rodrigo] Bentancur, [Oliver] Skipp came on for [Timo] Werner, Gil and Dragusin were the two that, for me, weren’t needed.
“Gil came on and he’s lightweight, he doesn’t look like he’s Premier League-ready, and to put him into a game like that where you’re hanging on for the last 10 minutes, I thought that was a strange decision.
“And then to bring Dragusin on for [Pierre-Emile] Hojbjerg and play a back five. He went in alongside [Cristian] Romero, [Micky] Van de Ven, [Destiny] Udogie, and [Pedro] Porro are positioned on either side.
With Sarr and Skipp in front of that back five with Gil and [Dejan] Kulusevski flanking that and attempting to defend as well, they simply welcomed pressure to build.
“His late-game substitutions merely encouraged Everton to come onto Tottenham, where they attempted to establish set plays with their might.
“From a neutral vantage point, you could see that goal coming from inside Goodison Park, and to be honest, Everton deserved it.”
Gil and Dragusin missteps blamed as Everton peg back Tottenham
Gil has hardly covered himself in glory when called upon this term and was one of the few that Spurs could have afforded to let go in the face of January exit links, so turning to him in embattled circumstances was certainly a risk.
Even in the moments when it hasn’t worked, as the thrilling loss to Chelsea, Postecoglou has earned many well-earned accolades for his leadership at Tottenham this season. However, he suffered at Goodison Park.
After a challenging trip to Merseyside, the Australian will need to see his team recover against Brighton the following weekend.
In other Tottenham news, the team’s success has been praised as “absolutely fantastic” when compared to Manchester United’s struggles.
