Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has suggested there is a “national campaign” biasing referees in Liverpool’s favour when decisions don’t go the way of Arne Slot’s side. He didn’t hold back on his own side either, indicating that ex-Spurs players turned analysts need to show more support for the team.
Tottenham finds itself in a disappointing 14th place in the Premier League standings, and Postecoglou is feeling the heat, with the Europa League seen as pivotal if he is to stay in a job. Spurs is set to meet Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals this month, where victory in the competition would clinch a Champions League spot.
On the eve of Tottenham’s game against Southampton, Postecoglou was noticeably combative during his pre-match briefing. He highlighted perceived refereeing injustices: “I think in the time I’ve been here, we’ve had two decisions that have gone for us against Liverpool and there has been a national campaign, almost.
“It seems like every fight ends up being an internal fight at this club. There’s never any sort of defending of the club or the club defending itself. That’s a unique challenge, but I accepted that challenge so I’ve got to try to find a way to overcome it.”
“By being more vocal. I hope not [just the manager]. I think you hear enough from me, you probably hear too much from me, to be honest.
“It doesn’t have to be just from people at the club. I hear plenty of people talking and defending other clubs but it seems, with Tottenham, wherever there’s a sore there’s a real pile-on to sort of stick a finger in that sore and then we kind of accept our fate.
“You guys know the landscape better than I do, but it seems like…I never switch it [the television] on and hear any sort of strong voice. The only voice you hear is me. When we’re talking about the bigger clubs, there seems to be a lot more voices. And not always defending. You need scrutiny and constructive criticism as well.
“We definitely get enough of that! But we never get any of the other stuff. I think the fact that out of last night the big story is my interaction with the fans and not the fact a game of football was materially changed by technology.
“VAR said ‘clear and obvious’. Six minutes for clear and obvious and I’d have thought that would be the story from last night, but it’s not. Again, it’s my interaction with the fans and how I’ve made things more difficult. You kind of go ‘OK, well, that’s the challenge we face’.”
Postecoglou is alluding to an incident during the match where Spurs fans chanted “you don’t know what you’re doing” following his substitution of Lucas Bergvall for Pape Sarr against Chelsea. Remarkably, Sarr netted shortly afterwards, prompting Postecoglou to gesture towards his ear at the crowd, only for the goal to be dismissed after a protracted VAR review.
However, Postecoglou refuted claims that his actions were a response to the chanting fans during a tense post-match interview with Sky Sports. “I wanted the supporters to cheer,” he maintained.
“I thought it was a cracking goal. They’ve booed my substitutions before. It had nothing to do with them booing my substitutions.”
