Ange defends ‘outstanding’ Moyes against ‘short-term reflex’

News Desk
Ange Postecoglou and David Moyes
Ange Postecoglou and David Moyes

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou has leapt to the defence of “outstanding” West Ham boss David Moyes.

Spurs travel on Tuesday to a West Ham side reeling after throwing away a 3-1 lead to lose 4-3 at Newcastle last weekend.

Moyes guided West Ham to Europa Conference League success in June, the club’s first trophy in more than four decades, but constantly faces scrutiny over his position at the club.

Postecoglou said: “I think he’s an outstanding manager. I rate him so highly.

“He is one of the ones I have always rated highly. Longevity in the game means something, especially at this level.

“Whether it was at Everton or the difficult job he had at Man U, he went abroad and has never stopped coaching.

“I think he has done a brilliant job at West Ham and anyone that thinks otherwise… the team they are today, the players they’ve got there, they have some high-quality footballers in that team and I think they’re going to get better.

“I guess it’s a bit of today’s world we live in where there is always a short-term reflex to everything that happens, but I’ve got no doubt he is one of the outstanding managers in the game.”

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Tottenham visit West Ham fresh from their latest come-from-behind victory against Luton on Saturday.

It was a familiar tale for Spurs, who have also overturned deficits to beat Crystal Palace, Brighton and Brentford in 2024.

“I think it is something that’s been consistent throughout my coaching career,” Postecoglou insisted.

“Part of that is the actual game model itself. As simple as it sounds, when you’re so committed to playing a certain way the score almost becomes irrelevant.

“With a lot of teams. when they fall behind they have to either change their approach or find a different approach or when they’re winning, they maybe change their approach.

“With us, whether we’re winning or losing, we won’t change our approach.

“Invariably they’ll look at the scoreboard and see 86, 87 minutes and it can get really anxious, but we try and instil in them not to worry about that.”

Dejan Kulusevski revealed the calmness exuded by Postecoglou on the touchline helped during their stoppage-time win over Sheffield United in September.

Postecoglou pointed to a late substitution – replacing Son Heung-min with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – after they hit an 86th-minute winner against Luton as the key reason why he tries to stay present during matches.

He added: “If I want the players to be clear-headed in that moment, it won’t help if I am jumping around and screaming my head off.

“It’s not me anyway. It doesn’t mean I don’t internally feel the anxiety and all those kind of things, but I’ve learnt that over the course of my career and in those moments, I still may be needed.

“We scored and made a substitution straight away and put Pierre on.

“If I am running down the touchline just thinking we’ve scored and won, I’m not helping the team, but that doesn’t mean internally I’m not running. It would probably help me if I did it physically as well!”

The Spurs boss also reflected on Hojbjerg’s comments to Danish media this week about his unhappiness at only eight starts all season.

“He’s doing all he can,” Postecoglou admitted. “There are probably other players who are equally as unhappy that they haven’t been playing. That’s OK. I understand that, they’re human beings.

“What I look at is how are they training, what their attitude is like and when presented with their opportunity are they ready to contribute? Pierre certainly has been, but there are others in that boat as well.”