Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has surprised Gabriel Agbonlahor after what he’s recently been told.
Spurs have enjoyed a largely positive first season under their Australian manager with Champions League football now in their own hands.
After Tuesday night’s draw against West Ham, Tottenham find themselves two points adrift of Aston Villa with a game in hand on Unai Emery’s side.
The Tottenham players seem to have taken well to life under the 58-year-old with some really impressive individual performances this term.
However, the TalkSPORT pundit has admitted what he’s been told by someone who’s played under Ange Postecoglou did surprise him.
What Gabriel Agbonlahor has been told about Ange Postecoglou
Coming into the 2023/24 campaign, there may not have been many who would have put Spurs in the running for a top four spot.
Tottenham’s pursuit of a place in next season’s Champions League could see them only requiring a fifth place finish with West Ham’s recent exploits in the Europa League.
There was an awful lot of change behind the scenes at Tottenham over the summer with the arrival of Postecoglou and the departure of Harry Kane.
Yet this looks like a side which is well ahead of the likes of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United despite being together for half of the time.
Postecoglou has seemingly enamoured himself with the Spurs squad who has bought in to philosophy and it is showing on the pitch.
But Agbonlahor has admitted he’s been told Postecoglou is not a manager who is overly friendly with his players.
He said: “You know what I’ve heard from someone that’s worked under Ange, is that he’s very good with his tactics and stuff on the training pitch, but he’s not a man-manager.
“He’s not friendly with the players and pally. And I’ve noticed that in recent games in bringing favourites off. Some managers would be like, ‘Maddison? He’s playing until he’s injured. He’s staying on’.”
Is James Maddison carrying an injury?
The example Agbonlahor used was Postecoglou’s management of James Maddison who started off the season in sensational fashion.
The England international got his hands on the first Player of the Month award back in August.
But he has endured his struggles in recent months and hasn’t quite looked the player he was during the early stages of the season.
Injury sustained in the defeat against Chelsea saw the 26-year-old sidelined for a number of months, but his return has been a slow one.
Having been withdrawn against Luton Town after 68 minutes on the weekend, Maddison was replaced after 70 against the Irons.
A decision which Jamie O’Hara has looked back on as “strange” given Maddison was having an influence on the game at the London Stadium.
This decision sparked questions after the game against West Ham about the fitness of the midfielder, but Postecoglou hit straight back.
He said: “He’s not carrying a knock. If he was carrying a knock he wouldn’t be playing. He’s fine, yeah.”
“I thought Madders was really good, especially when he got in their final third. I thought he played some really clever passes that we just didn’t capitalise on.”
With Spurs back in action on the weekend against Nottingham Forest, it will be interesting to see whether Maddison does start again or whether Postecoglou looks to make a change.