Graeme Souness has delivered a scathing critique of Ange Postecoglou, accusing the former Celtic manager of being both ‘naive’ and ‘lucky’ during his tenure at Tottenham Hotspur.
Postecoglou has faced a challenging start to his second season at Spurs, with just three wins from seven games.
The ex-Hoops manager, who led Celtic to a Treble before joining the North London club, initially impressed by steering Tottenham to a fifth-place finish in his debut season and earning widespread praise for his attacking style of football.
However, Rangers legend Souness believes the Australian’s tactical approach has been exposed in the Premier League. He specifically highlighted the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea last season, where Spurs ended the match with two players sent off.
According to Souness, this result demonstrated Postecoglou’s tactical naivety.
Speaking on William Hill’s Three Up Front podcast, Souness said:
“When I think of Ange Postecoglou, I go back to that game against Chelsea where they got two players sent off and he still had them playing right up to the halfway line.
“The only time you can do that is when you’ve got 11 players on the pitch and the ball is constantly under pressure. The minute someone can get their head up, you’re in trouble. They could have conceded four or five more goals that game – I thought that was naïve.
“It’s naïve to talk like that and say that the more open the game is, the better it is. If they’d lost that game seven or eight goals to two, you’ve lost the players as a manager. He wasn’t brave that day, they got lucky.”
Souness also criticised Postecoglou for not bringing in his own staff when he took charge at Tottenham, suggesting it was a fundamental mistake to trust the existing backroom team.
He remarked: “He’s walked into Tottenham without bringing any of his own staff, is he so naïve as to think he can trust any of the coaching staff he’s inherited not to go to the chairman with their tittle-tattle? I would not take a job and think I can just walk into it – it’s madness – you need to go in with people you trust because being a manager is lonely.”
The Spurs collapse against Brighton, where they squandered a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2, further fuelled Souness’ concerns about Postecoglou’s leadership and his squad’s mentality.
He questioned whether there were any true leaders within the Spurs dressing room, stating:
“The Tottenham players should have known better. You learn it at school – when you’re 2-0 up the next goal is vital. If you concede, the momentum is suddenly with the opposition but if you go to 3-0 up, the game is over.
“I don’t know if Spurs have any leaders. When they go into the dressing room at half-time, the chat should be, ‘we can’t concede the next goal, this game is far from over’ – that’s what Ange Postecoglou should be telling them.”
Souness concluded by laying the blame for Tottenham’s failings firmly at Postecoglou’s feet:
“Spurs just ended up capitulating which is why Postecoglou was so deflated after the game, he thought he had some warriors in that team and was proven otherwise.”