Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou lifted a famous line from the movie Gladiator following the impromptu win over Manchester United when he asked: “Aren’t you having fun?”
It was Postecoglou’s way of answering questions about his approach, after Spurs threatened to concede a 3-0 lead in Thursday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final before winning 4-3.
The problem is that Postecoglou’s idea of entertainment works both ways – as he and Spurs found out to their cost as they were brutally punished by Liverpool in front of their supporters.
Liverpool certainly entertained Spurs in a 6-3 victory that was nowhere near an accurate reflection of their quality. It showed why Arne Slott’s side control the title race by four points over Chelsea at Christmas, with a game in hand, while Spurs are 11th, eight points behind fourth.
Entertainment is never a problem with Spurs under Postecoglou. But pleasure is accompanied by sporting agony when they meet a Liverpool team with superior attacking quality.
There have now been 30 goals in Spurs’ last five games. It’s entertaining all the same, but 10 of those have been scored against Postecoglou’s side in back-to-back home league defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool. In the latter case, the only question was how Liverpool scored only six goals while somehow conceding three.
Liverpool’s expected total goals were 4.6 to Spurs’ 1.2. Slot’s team, measured by Opta’s statistics, carved out nine big chances – a testament to their dominance as well as the defensive frailty Postecoglou shows little sign of handling with extra flair.
It would be remiss of Postecoglou and Spurs not to mention that they are missing first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario as well as centre-backs Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. These are big misses for a team that plays in such an open style, especially Van de Ven, whose pace is vital to Postecoglou’s favored top line.
Spurs have a large number of players, meaning Postecoglou fielded an unchanged side from the one that faced Manchester United on Thursday.
There are no such problems for Liverpool, however, who have now won 12 and drawn three of their 16 league games this season. They also have the highest goal difference of 21.
