Carragher: Spurs could make ’emotional rather than logical decision’, like Man Utd, to keep Postecoglou
Jamie Carragher thinks Tottenham could face a similar decision that Man Utd had to confront with Erik ten Hag if Ange Postecoglou wins the Europa League.
The north Londoners have massively flopped in the Premier League this season with Postecoglou’s side currently 15th as they head into the final six games.
Spurs have already lost 17 of their 32 Premier League matches this campaign and would potentially have been relegation trouble in other seasons gone by.
There have been rumours that Postecoglou could face the sack once the season is done or even as soon as Tottenham exit the Europa League.
Their 1-0 win at Eintract Frankfurt put them through to the semi-finals of the Europa League and now Carragher reckons Tottenham could come across a similar situation that Man Utd found with Ten Hag.
Man Utd decided to keep Ten Hag – who won the FA Cup last term – on before sacking him a couple of months into the new season and Carragher wrote in his Daily Telegraph column: “Now Postecoglou has to make it count.
“It may yet become a ‘Champions League or bust’ shoot-out with Ruben Amorim if it is an all English Europa League final, but there is no doubt which manager’s position is most perilous. Amorim is sure to get a chance to rebuild United over the summer whatever happens. Postecoglou is still not safe.
“That will surely change if Spurs go on to win their first major trophy for seventeen years. In that situation, Daniel Levy and his board will have the same massive dilemma as Manchester United when Erik ten Hag won the FA Cup a year ago.
“After Ten Hag defeated Manchester City at Wembley, the United board made an emotional rather than logical decision. They were rightly criticised. All the evidence pointed to the downturn over the previous eight months continuing.
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“If Postecoglou wins the Europa League, Levy will also have to choose between his head and heart. The case for keeping Postecoglou will be more compelling because, unlike United, Spurs do not have a long history of winning big prizes.
“In such circumstances, the manner of any victory will also win back support in a way Ten Hag should not have had after a gutsy, but underdog win against a superior team in City.
“The reason Postecoglou has made it so deep into this season is his attacking football fits the Spurs tradition. When it clicked at the start of his reign, the fans loved what they were seeing.
“There is bound to be some rewriting of history when Postecoglou faces Nuno Espirito Santo on Monday, who has excelled since being sacked after a brief spell in north London. Nuno has done brilliantly at Forest, but it was a completely different job with a totally different level of expectation when he took over there, leading a side where the first task was to stay up and in a stadium where effective, defensive, counter-attacking football was a massive improvement on what had been seen at the City Ground for years.
“Spurs fans have made it clear what style they want. Deep down, they want Postecoglou to turn it around.
“Backing for him has dwindled as the months have passed and the league position kept getting worse – especially when there was a perception he was taking on an element of his own fanbase.
“A few more triumphant European nights will get the doubters back on side. That’s how quickly a messy situation can resolve itself.”
