By Adrian Kajumba
Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham reeling in third-placed Manchester City should be considered as realistic a possibility as Manchester United catching his side in the Champions League battle.
Postecoglu is not a manager fixated on final league positions and more interested in the bigger picture of the progress he sees from his side.
But he insisted that if fifth-placed Spurs being pegged back by sixth-in-the-table United is a talking point, so too should be the idea that his men can trouble the champions.
“Can you see us challenging Manchester City?,’ he said, when asked if United are still top four rivals. “No? Well they're only eight points ahead of us. If there's eight points [gap], you either think we can catch Man City who are eight points ahead of us or you think Man United can catch us.
“What's important for me is that we want to finish the season strong and keep building on the foundation of being a team that hopefully in 12 months' time people are looking at us differently and talking about us differently.”
Postecoglu has certainly made Spurs a team renowned for their comebacks after yet another against Luton on Saturday. Only Liverpool (26) have won more points from losing positions than Spurs (22) this season.
Postecoglu, whose side were booed off at half-time when they trailed Luton, said: “If you go back right to the very start, all of my teams had that trademark of being able to turn around results or winning games late.
“When you’re so committed to playing a certain way, the score almost becomes irrelevant. Whether we’re winning or losing we don’t change our approach.
“That makes it easier for the players to look for the solutions in the way we play rather than something that is not a constant in our gameplan. That helps them because there is always a sense of a little anxiety or desperation particularly when it’s getting late in games and you feel it in the stadium and the supporters because they all want to win."
Postecoglu exuding calm on the sidelines no doubt helps too. He said: “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!”
Meanwhile, Postecoglu leapt to the defence of Tuesday night's opposite number David Moyes, who continues to have his doubters despite his success at West Ham. He said: “He has done a brilliant job at West Ham and anyone that thinks otherwise …
“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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