Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has dismissed talk of Spurs getting relegated before their recent return to form as “ridiculous” and “hysteria”.
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Postecoglou’s side have officially turned the corner after months of being ravaged by injuries, which led to them losing six out of seven league matches at once stage, with several of their big name stars returning to action and better results have come with them.
Tottenham’s 4-1 win away to relegation-threatened Ipswich Town on Saturday was their third straight Premier League victory, the first time they have achieved a hat-trick of wins in the league since the early days of Postecolgou’s tenure in December 2023.
Brennan Johnson scored a brace in his first start in more than a month due to a calf injury, while Djed Spence also hit the score sheet after a heavy knock kept him out for three games last month and Dejan Kulusevski, who has battled admirably all season, capped things off with the fourth and final goal.
The win pushed them to 12th on the table, on 33 points, somehow with the fourth best goal difference in the league.
Tottenham have won ten of their 26 matches, but are second only to league leaders Liverpool for goals scored this campaign, with 53.
Based on those numbers, it is clear to see why Postecoglou was displeased when asked post-match about the victory putting them 16 points clear of the drop zone, meanwhile they are 11 points out of the top four.
“It goes to show you how ridiculous a notion it was to start with,” Postecoglou said. “People saying we’re safe with 12 games to go, and people are actually talking about it. That’s the hysteria. And that’s all framed around putting pressure on me and the club. I get that, when you’re in that position you’ve got to accept that.
“For me, it was always about trying … We always had the [Aston] Villa FA Cup game as a marker for us. We’ve got to get to that space as best we could. We obviously didn’t get the outcomes we wanted during that time. But not through a lack of will or effort from the players.
“That was always my primary concern, to protect them and support them. Because they gave everything during that period. Now they’ve got some help, they’ve got some rest.
“Like I said, we’re not happy where we are in the league, obviously, it’s unacceptable. But we’ve got an opportunity to address that.”
To improve their position on the table, Tottenham will need to put in more performances like they did at Ipswich.
An undermanned defence has struggled massively for much of the season, but it was a far more assured performance from the back four of Destiny Udogie, loanee Kevin Danso, teenager Archie Gray and Spence with the support of first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario.
Postecoglou’s preferred centre back pairing of Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven were absent, but he was pleased to lean on some improved squad depth.
“I thought we did the hard things really well,” Postecoglou said. “A couple of times in the first half we lost a bit of concentration in terms of the second ball and duels.
“It was a disappointing goal we conceded, but aside from that I thought we handled that side of the game really well.
“I always felt we were a threat when we had the ball. Son Heung-min was unplayable in the first half and so good to get Brennan back in those areas where he’s always a threat.
“All four of our goals were quality goals. We had to do the hard things, but the fruits of that labour was that our front third play was super exciting and clinical,” he said.
“We’re certainly in a good space of using these two weeks as well as we could to re-energise the team and I think it has.
“We’ve still got some significant players out. We’ve got (Dominic) Solanke, Richarlison, (Cristian) Romero, (Micky) Van de Ven, Ben Davies, he’s out today. They’re all still to come back.”
Tottenham’s resurgence faces a stern test in the coming weeks, started by hosting Manchester City mid-week.
Spurs have had the wood on Pep Guardiola’s side this season, demolishing them 4-0 at the Etihad as well as knocking them out of the Carabao Cup.
But City have had a bounce back of their own, and they now sit fourth on the league table after winning three of their last four fixtures.
Also looming is the final pursuit of silverware for the season.
Spurs have been drawn to face Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, who they defeated 1-0 in the league phase, in the two-leg Round of 16 Europa League tie.
The first leg will take place on March 6, with return leg in London to be played the following week, and Postecoglou believes the lead-up is going to be crucial.
“I just feel like we’ve got a really good opportunity in these next 10 days to be well equipped for what’s ahead,” he said.
“What’s ahead is obviously Europe but also an opportunity to address our league position, which is obviously not good enough.”
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