Tottenham Hotspur are enduring a difficult end to the season, having lost their last four Premier League games in a row.
Spurs hit the ground running in Ange Postecoglou’s maiden campaign and were potential dark horses for the title at one point.
Although Tottenham’s form tailed off somewhat, they were still in the picture for a top-four finish up until about mid-April.
However, since then, Spurs’ form collapsed, and now they’re having to look over their shoulder to salvage a Europa League spot.
Alarm bells are starting to ring at Tottenham and criticism of Postecoglou is increasing, but there have also been calls for Spurs to give their manager time.
BBC Sport pundit Pat Nevin is in the latter camp, writing an in-depth piece about why Tottenham should stick with Postecoglou.
What has Pat Nevin said about Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou?
Nevin wrote on the BBC Football Extra newsletter, via the BBC Sport website: “If Arsenal’s team look like a well-oiled engine, Spurs’ crankshaft has clearly recently fallen off.
“Everything is being picked apart now with Ange Postecoglou’s regime.
“The tactics, the recent awful run, Ange’s ever angrier ripostes to interviewers and his unusual take on the importance of set pieces. Questions about his future are growing.
”I reckon this is a mistake. Yes there has been a dip, it is Spurs after all, but he hasn’t had time to build a full squad that reflects his style. He has been brutally honest about this in the past week.
”Remember, they are still ahead of where they were last season and they haven’t had Harry Kane’s goals, which is astounding.
“They have been among the most exciting entertaining teams in the league to watch, which is absolutely core to the DNA of every Tottenham fan.
“They want and expect style and skill, not the dour precision tactics that they would argue Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho tried to provide.
”Spurs should stick by Ange and his radical methods. Radical changes don’t work overnight, even if they have been fast tracked by the Aussie.
”Apart from anything else he has been an amazing breath of fresh air, with his interviews and attitudes. The Premier League needs his doses of reality now and again.”
Tottenham must – and probably will – stick with Ange Postecoglou
It wasn’t that long ago that Jurgen Klopp was under intense criticism at Liverpool, up until the moment they won the Champions League in 2019 and then proceeded to win pretty much everything there was to win in next couple of years.
Likewise, Mikel Arteta needed a long time to clean house at Arsenal, and though he hasn’t won a Premier League just yet, the fact the Gunners have been in the thick of the title race shows that progress has been made.
Postecoglou did amazingly well to get Tottenham into the upper echelons of the Premier League table so early on in his reign, but the fact their form is tailing off shows they’ve still got a lot of work to do.
However, Spurs and Postecoglou need to do this work together. Now more than even, clubs, players and coaches need time to build a team capable of challenging consistently at the top.
The key thing is, Postecoglou has clearly instilled a great style and work ethic in the Tottenham team, and it’s just a case of building on it over the coming seasons.
