Ange Postecoglou issues firm response to Jamie Redknapp after pundit slams Tottenham

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Evening Standard

·6. Februar 2025

Ange Postecoglou issues firm response to Jamie Redknapp after pundit slams Tottenham

Redknapp slammed Spurs for their lack of fight in a 4-0 defeat at Anfield

Ange Postecoglou insisted pundit criticism “doesn’t bother me” after Tottenham fell to a tame Carabao Cup semi-final exit.

Spurs did manage a shot on target on the night in a 4-0 defeat, with captain Heung-min Son striking the crossbar at 3-0 down in the closest they came to troubling the hosts.

Former Spurs and Liverpool player Jamie Redknapp, who was on punditry duty for Sky Sports, said he could not "remember a team going down in my lifetime with less of a fight", and Postecoglou was asked if the comment was fair.

"You’re asking me, ask Jamie," the Spurs head coach said. "He has obviously made the comment. I know people get really excited by things like that.

"People are on TV to give opinions and that’s what they do. That’s their job. My job is not to scan the TV or the commentary on our games.

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"My job is to manage this football club and whatever people think or don’t think is kind of irrelevant. It doesn’t really matter. It doesn’t really put any sort of emphasis on who we are and what we are trying to do. At the end of the day everybody is allowed to have an opinion.

"Everyone is allowed to express that opinion. My view is I don’t really need to respond to that or be affected by that because I don’t care.

"Whether it’s Jamie Redknapp or anyone else. I don’t care. It doesn’t worry me. It doesn’t bother me."

Spurs have no time to lick their wounds, with Sunday's FA Cup fourth-round tie at Aston Villa now even more important to their hopes of salvaging the season.

"Ultimately it's an opportunity for further learning and for us to atone for that by making amends with a strong performance on Sunday," Postecoglou said.

Redknapp was critical of the Spurs players but also Postecoglou, as he pointed to the fact Djed Spence started at left-back but then had a spell on the right wing in the second-half.

The pundit said: “I can't remember in my lifetime a team go down with less of a fight than Tottenham did today. Not having any shot on target in a semi-final second leg when trying to change the course of your history.

“I felt sorry for their young players. Djed Spence played 14 different positions tonight. I've never seen anything like it.

“The experienced players need to make sure they set the right tempo. They didn't do that one bit. There's been some lows but that today, looking at that scoreline, is just horrendous.”