Ange Postecoglou admits a “a fair chunk” of people will think he should be sacked as Tottenham boss but believes his players are giving him everything.
Spurs blew a 1-0 half-time lead against Leicester to suffer a fourth straight league defeat, while their only top-flight win in their last 11 games came at bottom-side Southampton.
Tottenham have suffered back-to-back defeats against struggling sides, having been beaten at Everton – in a game which saw them go 3-0 down at half-time – followed by the defeat by Leicester, who had previously lost seven consecutive league games.
Spurs are still in the mix to win a first trophy in 17 years with the north London side in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, the FA Cup fourth round and on course to reach the last 16 of the Europa League.
But their alarming Premier League form, which has seen them drop closer to the bottom three than the top half of the table, has put Postecoglou under immense pressure after seven league defeats in his last eight matches.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Tottenham Hotspur’s match against Leicester City in the Premier League
When asked if he should still be in charge once all of his key players return from injury, he said: “Who knows? A fair chunk will say no.
“When you are a manager of a football club, you can feel vulnerable and isolated, I don’t feel that. The players are giving everything. I focus on that and try and support the players.”
Postecoglou revealed that both Richarlison and Pape Sarr, in an ideal world, would not have started against Leicester but such are their injury issues, he had no choice but to play them.
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Jamie O’Hara believes Postecoglou is out of his depth, and a sacking is on the horizon
He said: “It doesn’t come into my conscious trying to convince people, I’ve been around long enough that people will judge where we are at the moment, which hasn’t been good enough.
“If people want to put context to that then that’s fine. The players are giving everything they can. Two players shouldn’t have been out there but they are desperate to turn our fortunes around. In the next 10 days we should get some significant players back which will help. We still have fantastic opportunities to make an impact – I’m sure that will happen.”
Despite the defeat and their precarious position in the Premier League, Postecoglou still holds out hope that Spurs can do “something special” this season in the cup competitions.
He added: “The players are committed to what we’re doing. That’s important to me. I believe in it. This is as low as we’ve been this year but in the next three months we can do something really special. The players believe that. Right now it’s hard to visualise that with our circumstances. Just look at the absences but they will be back. All these things aren’t allowing us to get any momentum. When those things change we can make an impact.”
Son: Leicester loss painful
Tottenham captain Heung-Min Son described the loss to Leicester as “painful”.
The South Korean, who has been at the club for nearly a decade, told Sky Sports: “Breaking down or scoring goals is always hard when it’s a day that is not happening and you always get more frustrated than you should be.
“We were very frustrated and made the wrong decisions. It’s painful.”
The 32-year-old added: “Mentally we have to refresh and go again because we have a game in three days. Sometimes it’s really tough.
“We came back from the win in Germany and lost an important game in the league. It’s very tough.”
Tottenham’s upcoming fixtures
- Elfsborg (H) – Europa League – January 30
- Brentford (A) – Premier League – February 2, live on Sky Sports
- Liverpool (A) – Carabao Cup – February 6, live on Sky Sports
- Aston Villa (A) – FA Cup – February 9
- Man Utd (H) – Premier League – February 16, live on Sky Sports
- Ipswich (a) – Premier League – February 22
