Tottenham Hotspur almost threw away their League Cup semifinal berth in bizarre fashion against Manchester United on Thursday but manager Ange Postecoglou bristled at suggestions he should tone down his side's entertaining style.
Leading 3-0 at home against a lacklustre United side after 54 minutes, the tie should have been done and dusted.
Yet Tottenham contrived to gift United two goals – both the result of horrible mistakes by keeper Fraser Forster – and breathed a huge sigh of relief as they edged a 4-3 victory with Dominic Solanke twice on target, Dejan Kulusevski scoring once and Son Heung-min netting directly from a corner.
For a while it looked as though Tottenham could repeat what happened in their last home game against Chelsea when they led 2-0 but ended up collapsing to a 4-3 loss.
"Are you not entertained? I know the studio is probably going in a meltdown over my lack of tactics" 😅
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) December 19, 2024
Ange Postecoglou reacts after a Carabao Cup classic against Man United 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/cnR8aOXHw7
Had that happened, the pressure would have piled up on Postecoglou, who steadfastly sticks to his attacking principles whatever the circumstances, even to the extent of asking reserve keeper Forster, a player not comfortable playing out from the back, to play short passes.
The Australian appeared ready for the line of questioning when interviewed after the match by Sky Sports.
"I like the whole game. Are you not entertained? I know the studio is probably having a meltdown over my lack of tactics," Postecoglou quipped. "I really liked how we played tonight, obviously those moments tainted it a bit and that has happened this season before and it doesn't help our consistency, but the mentality of the boys... I love it."
And breathe Spurs fans 😮💨
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 19, 2024
Ange Postecoglou’s side defeat Man Utd 4-3 in a rollercoaster encounter to seal their place in the EFL Cup semi-finals! ⚪️ pic.twitter.com/ZjtSMTgjlj
Tottenham are arguably the most entertaining team in the Premier League, scoring 36 goals in 16 games. But their risk-taking style has worn down the patience even of fans brought up on the club's motto 'to dare is to do'.
Even so, former Celtic manager Postecoglou says he will not change his approach.
"I love football and love watching teams that go out there to entertain. Obviously we want to be successful and we won't be if we make things difficult like we did tonight," he said.
"We're not going out there to try and grind out 1-0 victories, we're trying to keep folks entertained. I can't see how that's a bad thing.
"It's part of football, mistakes will happen. From the context of how we play as a team, there's nothing we need to change. It doesn't get me any credit in the bank as an astute tactician, but so be it.
"You're asking for perfection in human beings. That doesn't exist. Sometimes they stuff up just like I do and you do."