Postecoglou ready to take on Pep

MANCHESTER, England (AP):

After a record-breaking start as Tottenham manager, Ange Postecoglou is experiencing the other side to life in a job that has proved too much for some of the biggest names in football.

A three-game losing streak has seen Spurs fall from first to fifth in the Premier League, while a growing injury list means it could get worse for Postecoglou’s team as the congested Christmas schedule approaches.

But ahead of Sunday’s game at the home of defending champions Manchester City, the Australian coach is adamant he will stick to the formula that has made Tottenham the surprise packages in England’s top flight this season.

“You look at the top teams and there’s one common trait amongst them – they’ve all got a plan, they invest in that plan, and they stick to it,” Postecoglou said. “They don’t shy away from that at the first difficulty. Whether it is City or Arsenal or Liverpool, all the teams that have dominated in recent years, they’ve got a plan and they stick to it. You have to.”

It is a measure of just how good Spurs’ early-season form was that even after three straight losses they are only four points off league leaders Arsenal.

A win at Etihad Stadium on Sunday would see the Londoners move level on points with City.

BIG CLUB

“For me these are the important times because this will show what kind of football team we want to be,” Postecoglou said. “You can sort of shy away, say we have injuries, we’re playing Man City away, but you’re either going to be a club that tries to knock off the big clubs or you are a big club. You are one or the other.”

The former Australia and Celtic coach has won a lot of admirers for his blunt-talking approach and attacking style of play. He also won the Premier League manager of the month award for the first three months of the season as Tottenham charged ahead.

No other manager had achieved that feat in the first three months of a campaign – or the first three awards available to them in a job.

Not even Guardiola, who has led City to five league titles in six years.

Postecoglou’s impact on Spurs has been noted by City’s manager.

They faced each other once before when City played Yokohama F. Marinos in a preseason friendly in 2019. Postecoglou was coaching the Japanese team at the time.

City won 3-1, but it prompted Guardiola to say “wow, there are things I like.”

“We won, all respect to Yokohama, but we had better players,” Guardiola said. “But I realized for the first time I met him, and have followed him when he was at Celtic winning trophies and now in the short time he’s been (at Spurs).”

When he was hired by Tottenham in June, Postecoglou became the club’s fourth permanent manager since the departure of Mauricio Pochettino in 2019. In that time, serial winners like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte both came and went after short-lived spells.

Postecoglou refuses to compromise his style.

“Whatever you believe in, whatever you really strongly believe in, you as a person, only gets tested in the toughest of times. It doesn’t get tested when things are going well,” he said.

Guardiola is expecting nothing other than a typical attacking performance from Postecoglou’s team on Sunday.

“I encourage our fans to come to the stadium because we will have fun,” he said.