Johan Lange responds to Ange Postecoglou claim that Tottenham don’t act like a big club

Johan Lange has reacted to Ange Postecoglou’s claim about the way Tottenham operate in the transfer window and has revealed what the club’s ambitions are.

Ange Postecoglou said something very interesting in his recent appearance on The Overlap that resonated with Tottenham fans.

Postecoglou claimed that Spurs do not act like a big club in the transfer window and do not live up to their ‘to do dare is to do’ motto.

The former Tottenham boss mentioned the top managers who have failed to produce successful sides at N17, pointing to the club’s lack of expenditure as the main reason.

Johan Lange defends Tottenham’s January business

The Dane refused to get drawn into Postecoglou’s words, but he insisted that Tottenham’s inactivity in January is not indicative of a lack of ambition.

Lange insisted it was a lack of player availability mid-season that prevented the Lilywhites from bringing more signings through the door.

When asked about Postecoglou’s comments, he said: “I’m not going to sit here and start commenting on an ex-club employee’s comments. I think Vinai in his notes earlier this year made it known in the matchday programme that we, as a club, need to grow our wage bill to be competitive. We were also linked, I think Thomas commented on players in January, and it was definitely not because of a lack of ambition or effort from our side that those players are not here today.”

When told Tottenham fans may want to see proof in actions rather than words, Lange responded: “Yeah. One hundred per cent, that is the only thing. Of course, it’s actions, that is the only thing, but when you are in any transaction it does take three parties. It takes a player to agree and we are not in control if a player makes a career choice to join another club, then that is unfortunately outside our control,” said the former Aston Villa man.

“Just 10% of all transfers happen in January and 90% in the summer. I personally believe the new European format changed the dynamic a little bit around the window because I remember my first year here before the new format, you had four teams in a group. A lot of teams would be out of the reckoning by October or something like that and then they would play their next competitive game around this time.

“Now we are playing a different format it means every point counts. You go into matchday eight, but almost every team in Europe had something to play for whether that was better seeding or top eight. You are playing through December and not in the beginning of January but the last part of January. You are playing two very competitive matches with the fact that not only us but a lot of teams have what they would say is too many injuries.”

Lange says Spurs want to build a squad capable of competing on multiple fronts

The Tottenham Hotspur sporting director insisted that the level of signings the club wanted to make were not on the market last month, and also pointed to their already bloated squad, which has forced them to leave players out of the Champions League.

The Dane insisted that there is a clear vision at N17 to build a competitive team that can challenge at the highest level.

Johan Lange continued: “In January, very few players who could make a difference for us now or in the future were available. Then it’s back to the point even though the squad is too short we still have players we are unable to register for the last 16. So to bring in players that cannot help us now or we don’t believe have potential for the future, that unfortunately for me doesn’t make sense.

“If you analyse all the transfers in January everyone can see there were very few players available. That is reality and then looking towards the summer the message has been clear from the owners of the club, Vinai has been on record saying this. I have been saying this as well and very happy to repeat it that the sole focus of this club is to create on pitch success.

“It is to be competitive across different tournaments and, very importantly, an ingredient in doing that is if you have a squad capable of competing in multiple fronts and we are not there yet but that is the clear vision.”

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