Ange defends playing style despite Spurs tumble

Ange Postecoglou said his Tottenham team will stick to their attacking principles despite a damaging run of results that has caused a tumble down the Premier League table.

Spurs were early pacesetters in the English top flight but have lost four of their past five games and have slipped to fifth, nine points behind leaders Arsenal.

Worryingly, they have taken the lead in every one of those matches, including Thursday’s 2-1 home defeat by West Ham, but have failed to win any of them — last week they drew 3-3 draw at Manchester City.

But Postecoglou, in his first season in charge, said he would stick to his philosophy as he prepares to welcome Newcastle to London on Sunday.

“Nothing really changes, we stay the course,” he told SpursPlay. “We want to set a standard in terms of the type of football we want to play and we’re not going to waver on that.

“Obviously we’re going through a tough time in terms of results at the moment, there’s areas of our game we need to keep working on and improving and that only comes from what we do on the training track and information we give the players.

“And I’m sure the players are as determined as anyone to turn things around in terms of the result process but at the same time not wavering from the football we want to play.”

Postecoglou said Newcastle, who like Spurs have been badly hit by injuries this season, would be fired up after their 3-0 defeat at Everton on Thursday.

“They’ll be coming here pretty determined to turn it around and it’s going to be a tough challenge for us,” he said.

The Australian said his team must impose themselves on Newcastle, who are seventh in the league, and make the most of the chances they create.

“If we are dominant in periods we need to take advantage of that,” he said, adding that the fans deserved a win.

“The support has been outstanding but we’ve got to give back,” he said. “I think they are seeing the efforts we are making but we need to give them a reward for the support they’ve given us so far.”

Spurs captain Son Heung-min was substituted in the final minutes against West Ham after suffering a blow to his back.

“No update yet,” said Postecoglou. “We’ll see how he is because he was a bit sore after the game.”

jw/jc

AFP

(NAMPA / AFP)