Home » ARTICLES » Opinion: Tottenham need to bid Ange Postecoglou farewell, but Massimiliano Allegri is not the answer

Opinion: Tottenham need to bid Ange Postecoglou farewell, but Massimiliano Allegri is not the answer

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Opinion: Tottenham need to bid Ange Postecoglou farewell, but Massimiliano Allegri is not the answer

Tottenham’s situation has only gotten worse after another defeat over the weekend—this time to relegation-threatened Everton, who are now looking to shrug off the destiny ever associated with them with the return of David Moyes and were able to get some crucial points on Sunday.

It’s rather telling that relegation contenders Everton are now just four points off Spurs and a spot below them in the Premier League table. Spurs are 12 points from the closest European spot and eight points off the drop; given we’re 16 gameweeks away from the conclusion of the season, their predicament cannot be expressed in light terms.

Pressure on Ange Postecoglou was arguably on from the start of the season, given the manner in which Spurs fumbled a Champions League spot last season. It did not help with his press comments, which are always refreshing amongst the monotonous responses we are otherwise used to, but they have also been contrasting poorly with the performances on the pitch, with both the performances and Spurs’ injury issues further worsened by Postecoglou’s dogmatic approach to the game.

For the time being, we are also receiving contrasting reports. While the club are backing Postecoglou, other managers’ names have popped up, including that of former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri. The fact that the club has been putting out assurances of backing Postecoglou is a hint enough for the regular followers to know how long a manager has left.

Opinion: Tottenham need to bid Ange Postecoglou farewell, but Massimiliano Allegri is not the answer

It’s understandable why Daniel Levy is sticking with Postecoglou. Spurs are alive and kicking in the FA Cup and Europa League and have the lead over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final. While there’s no reason to believe a new manager could not pick up where Postecoglou would leave things and make a deep cup run or two, this is Tottenham—trophyless for 17 years now; you don’t want to destabilise things too much.

Postecoglou also represents a return to type for the club. Mauricio Pochettino took the club to a Champions League final. They lost it, but the scent of the Big Ears remained. Levy wanted to put an end to the trophy drought and felt the club had breached their previous ceiling and arrived among the very biggest of names, and so he went about trying to further establish that feeling—first with José Mourinho and then with Antonio Conte. There was a Super League push and a Nuno Espírito Santo stint between these two, but we don’t have to talk about either of them.

Mourinho and Conte were attempts at winning silverware with so-called serial winners. Didn’t work, so the club needed to return to what they have always been known for. And Postecoglou has brought them that sense of identity, but he has also taken the team to the diametric opposite, and so here we are at a point where Spurs could, realistically, end their silverware drought and still end up fighting relegation.

Opinion: Tottenham need to bid Ange Postecoglou farewell, but Massimiliano Allegri is not the answer.
Daniel Levy might have a decision to make sooner rather than later.

Levy bet on Postecoglou and he has lost. No one wants to admit there’s been a mistake, but the longer you refrain from admitting it, the longer you refrain from rectifying it, and the worse things get.

Where does Allegri come into all of this? This is not the first time his name has been linked with Spurs. He was one of the many, many coaches Spurs tried and failed to get before setting Espírito Santo on his ill-fated way. At the time, Fabio Paratici was at the club, looking at pragmatic solutions, all the while Levy continued talking about playing exciting football—talk about an organisation suffering from an identity crisis.

Speaking of suffering, the sense of whiplash must be strong for Tottenham fans. Imagine going from Pochettino to the Mourinho and Conte years and then get whopped back to the other side with Postecoglou’s exciting, self-flagellating football. Now imagine waking up and seeing Allegri may yet arrive on their side of North London.

Have they not gone through enough?

Make no mistake, at the peak of his powers, Allegri is an extraordinary coach when it comes to setting up defences and making the other teams dread the very sight of your players. However, that is exactly how the team’s fans feel as well, and that has been the case across his two Juve spells in recent years. His football made sense for a club for whom “winning is the only thing that matters”, but the novelty wore off even for them as they now attempt to try to find some balance with Thiago Motta.

Balance. That’s the operative word. That’s Spurs are missing. That’s what Spurs need. The Carabao Cup will wrap up in February, final included. Maybe Postecoglou gets to stick around till then, but Tottenham continue running the risk of flirting with relegation, and if they wait long enough they may end up deep in the quagmire with a set of players who aren’t used to getting out of it, especially in the final three months of the season alongside teams who prepare themselves for it.

Opinion: Tottenham need to bid Ange Postecoglou farewell, but Massimiliano Allegri is not the answer.
Ange Postecoglou has stubbornly stuck to his tactics.

Postecoglou has to go. It would be bittersweet if it happened now, but everyone would understand. Maybe Spurs choose to keep him till the second leg of the Carabao Cup final and refrain from dismissing him the way they did Mourinho, but if balance is what they’re looking for, they’d be better off getting a replacement in earlier than February end—someone closer to Pochettino than Postecoglou, wanting to play exciting football while also willing to nominally engage with Premier League reality.

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That person cannot be Allegri. Spurs cannot, must not go to the opposite end of the football-style spectrum again. Even if they need to take their time in finding an able replacement, better if they take it now. They must not reach the end of the summer and find themselves out of options the same way they did in the summer of 2021.

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