Ange Postecoglou left fuming after Tottenham staff member told him to ‘play the youth team’

The Aussie coach was seething after his side’s defeat to Manchester City (Picture: Getty)

Ange Postecoglou’s frustrations after Tottenham’s defeat to Manchester City on Tuesday night were exacerbated by one of his staff members joking that he should ‘play the youth team’ in the build-up.

The north Londoners lost 2-0 to Pep Guardiola’s side, with Erling Haaland netting a second-half brace, but they gave a good account of themselves and City were indebted to substitute goalkeeper Stefan Ortega for securing all three points.

It was a rather strange atmosphere, though, with a portion of Tottenham’s fans reluctant to see them beat City as it would effectively hand the Premier League title to fierce rivals Arsenal.

A defeat or draw for City on Tuesday night would have seen the Gunners go into the final matchday of the season as league leaders, needing only to beat Everton to secure the title.

Instead, the trophy is now in City’s hands – who are at home to West Ham – while Tottenham’s slim hopes of securing Champions League football are over.

Postecoglou was clearly unhappy with the lacklustre atmosphere during the game, with some Spurs fans even ejected for celebrating City’s opener, while he also got into a confrontation with one supporter.

Afterwards, he could not hide his dismay with the attitude from fans and also suggested that same ambivalence had crept in behind the scenes.

‘I think the last 48 hours has revealed to me that the foundations are fairly fragile, mate,’ explained the downbeat Aussie coach afterwards.

Postecoglou argued with a fan during the City match (Picture: X / Twitter)

‘I just think the last 48 hours have revealed a fair bit to me. That’s alright. It just means I’ve got to go back to the drawing board with some things.’

Asked if he was referring to the attitude from inside or outside the club, he replied: ‘Outside, inside, everywhere. It’s been an interesting exercise.’

Now a report from The Athletic has claimed that Postecoglou’s grievances stemmed, in part, from the attitude of some of his coaching staff.

It is claimed that a few Spurs-supporting staff had been ‘relaxed’ about the City match because they knew that defeat would deny Arsenal the title.

More Trending

Read More Stories

While the majority of club staff, including Postecoglou himself, had been focusing on winning the match, the prospect of losing to City had been a ‘theme of jokes’ among a small minority of others.

Incredibly, one member of the support staff even joked to Postecoglou that he should ‘play a youth team’ against City, which left him furious.

The report also revealed that Postecoglou’s bust-up with the supporter during the match stemmed from the fan questioning why he was so animated on the touchline against City, suggesting he had not been that way in other games.

Spurs now have to quickly put Tuesday’s defeat – and the weirdness of the occasion – behind them ahead of facing Sheffield United in the final match of the season, with a draw required to guarantee Europa League qualification.

For more stories like this, check our sport page.

Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.