Tottenham Hotspur returned to winning ways last weekend with an exciting three points against West Ham as the Lilywhites put four goals behind the struggling Hammers at White Hart Lane in what was an exciting afternoon for the Spurs faithful after one sweat too many in the preceding fortnight after that horrendous Brighton defeat.
However, the scoreline doesn’t tell us the whole story, as it was a tale of two halves. The first one was when the visitors drew the first blood when Mohamed Kudus scored and gave the hammer a lead before Dejan Kulusevski drew going into halftime. Though much changed when the teams came out of the dressing room, one thing that changed was the Spurs line-up as Ange Postecoglou chose to introduce Pape Sarr for James Maddison.
The substitution was met with gasps around the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Madison was the one who laid off Kulusevski for the Spurs equaliser, and the Greek-born coach chose to make a defensive sub, taking out an attacking midfielder for defensive mid when a goal was needed. However, it brought much stability in the middle of the park, and that reciprocated with how Tottenham got more and more opportunities to attack.
Rob Guest praises Postecoglou’s bold midfield substitution
And Rob Guest was all praise for the former Celtic coach for the right decisions vs. West Ham insisting that the Australian made decision based on what suits the play on pitch over which name is bigger and brighter. Speaking on Football.London’s Gold & Guest YouTube channel, Guest said:
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“The key thing is for Ange, it’s not just about putting the best players on the pitch, but the right ones in the right positions at the right time. He just felt bringing Sarr on added energy and helped Spurs gain control of the midfield.”
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It is refreshing to see the pundits and supporters back such changes, however, it worked against West Ham and it way not work next weekend or the next time Ange does so, it is important to see the ideology behind it when it not works.
