‘Why can’t it be next year?’ – Postecoglou makes claim about Spurs catching Man City
Ange Postecoglou has acknowledged that while Manchester City are still far ahead of Tottenham at the moment, he insisted that the gap can be closed...
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Ange Postecoglou has acknowledged that while Manchester City are still far ahead of Tottenham at the moment, he insisted that the gap can be closed down much sooner than many people think.
While there was quite a bit of optimism around Spurs at the start of the season, the team’s struggles over the last couple of months have exposed some clear weaknesses.
The difficulty of the job is now clear to Postecoglou, who admitted earlier this month that some significant changes would have to be made to the squad for his side to compete for major honours (Guardian).
When asked how long it will take for Tottenham to catch up with Manchester City, the Spurs head coach has now told Football.London: “It’s hard to say, we’re talking 20-odd points. It’s a fair chunk, not just three positions in the table. You’re looking at the points tally and there’s a significant gap, and not just for us but that’s us at the beginning of the process. That’s us at the base camp in terms of creating a foundation.
“I think if you put time frames on it you’re either putting too much pressure on yourself to achieve something that’s difficult or you’re limiting yourself if you say it’s five years down the line when why should it be five years down the line. Why can’t it be next year?
“It’s not about bridging the gap, it’s about improving in yourself. If we can be a better team next year than this year logically you’d say we’ll get closer. How much closer depends on how much better we are. Putting time frames on it is not going to help us.”
Tottenham have work to do to be considered title challengers in the future
While the likes of City have two world-class options for each position, Postecoglou acknowledged that it would take time for Tottenham to have a squad that can compete for major honours on multiple fronts.
When asked about the need to have a bigger squad, the 58-year-old responded: “I think you have to [have that]. If you look at the top teams, that’s part of the process. We haven’t had any European football this year, so if you’ve got European football as well it’s impossible to try to maintain a level of performance in the Premier League and play in multiple competitions unless you have a strong squad.
“That’s probably the biggest challenge because that can’t be done in one, two or three windows, unless you’ve already got a real strong base to start with. It takes time, players evolve, some move out, because by the time you hit the sweet spot where you’re ready for success, even some of the ones who are key now may not be there.
“It’s a constant reinforcement of your squad and trying to fill those gaps in. We’ve had two windows to start the process. It’s going to take us multiple windows to get to that point. If we get our windows right and I think we’ve been really good so far… I think the business we’ve done so far has been excellent, but we’re going to have to be that good all the time pretty much if we’re going to bridge that gap.”
Postecoglou also pointed to City’s impressive recruitment decisions over recent years, citing their signing of Josko Gvardiol as the kind of move that Tottenham would have to make in the market.
The Australian added: “If you are starting with fantastic footballers, it’s a pretty good place to start. I’ve always felt that if you get the right kind of player with the right kind of mentality… everyone sees it a different light, it’s like a work of art, mate, we all have our different opinions of why it’s good or why it’s not good.
“He’s (Gvardiol) been outstanding, but you could see he was an outstanding footballer both for his national team and in his club football. The beauty of being where City are at the moment, you don’t have to force those things. They can happen organically. He wasn’t thrown in and told you’re going to play this way. You’ve seen him evolve and they can do that because they’ve got the squad.
“Whereas, for teams like us that are just beginning the process, we’re going ‘Guys get out there and sink or swim’, almost. Whether that’s van de Ven or Destiny, Porro or Pape or Brennan Johnson, we can’t blood these guys over half a season and allow them to get to grips with our game and the Premier League. That’s where it becomes a bit more challenging. When you’ve got a solid squad, you can bring guys in and allow them to find their space a little bit more organically.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Our recruitment was fantastic last summer, with the likes of Vicario, Maddison and Van de Ven proving to be significant upgrades on what we had. If we can sign another three of four players of similar quality this summer, we will most certainly be a major force next season.
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