Ange Postecoglou’s trouble tenure as Tottenham Hotspur manager suffered another setback after a 1-0 loss at Stamford Bridge to Chelsea left his team adrift in 14th in the English Premier League (EPL), a whopping 39 points behind Liverpool, the runaway leaders. Postecoglou’s scathing comments about the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) and a mocking gesture aimed at his own fans only added fuel to the fire. With the Europa League – they play Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarterfinal first leg next week – now Spurs’ only chance of a first trophy since 2008, it remains to be seen whether Postecoglou will stay beyond the end of the season.
He had been angered by the away fans chanting ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ when Lucas Bergvall was substituted in the 65th minute and Pape Matar Sarr brought on instead. Four minutes later, Sarr burst through the midfield and fired a rocket past Robert Sanchez in the Chelsea goal. Postecoglou celebrated by cupping his ear in the direction of the Spurs fans who had jeered him earlier.
There was just one problem. Sarr had clearly fouled Moises Caicedo in the build-up, with his studs making contact with the Chelsea player’s knee, and the VAR asked Craig Pawson, the on-field referee, to take a look. After a lengthy delay, the ‘goal’ was rightly chalked off.
“If a referee sees that and he needs to see it for six minutes, what’s clear and obvious about it?” asked an angry Postecoglou after the game. “Last night, we were all sat on our couches and saw one replay [of James Tarkowski’s tackle on Alexis Mac Allister in the Merseyside derby] and thought ‘oh my God’. Tonight we sat there and were waiting for six minutes for something that VAR official Jarred Gillett thought was clear and obvious – it’s crazy, it’s madness.”
Earlier this season, Postecoglou boasted of how he always won a trophy in his second season, whether that was in Australia, Japan or Scotland. After a 16th league defeat of the season, he’s finding out that English football is a very different ball game.