‘Too Good for Us’: Ange’s Cup Admission Ahead of Key Villa Clash

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A deflated Ange Postecoglou has admitted Liverpool were “too good” for his Tottenham outfit in the Carabao Cup semi final, while concerns have been raised regarding his position as Spurs manager.

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Tottenham came into the second leg clash at Anfield with a 1-0 lead on aggregate, but after goals from Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk, Arne Slot’s men reigned supreme.

Liverpool will now move onto the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United, while Tottenham’s hopes of winning silverware have taken a major hit.

With pressure mounting on the Australian manager, Postecoglou cut a forlorn figure in his post-match press conference, explaining Spurs were unable to deliver his game plan.

“Ultimately Liverpool fully deserved the victory tonight, they were the far better team,” Postecoglou said.

“We just weren’t able to get a grip of any part of the game, defensively or with the ball, they were too good for us.”

“We allowed them to get into the game, we weren’t aggressive as we needed to be.

“I just think we didn’t start the game off in the right footing, we allowed them to get comfortable and when they did get comfortable it was hard to swing the game back.”

Postecoglou also explained his desperately wanted his team to stay in the first to start the second half.

Instead, Spurs gave away a 51st minute penalty before folding to close out the game with two more goals conceded.

“No, look, obviously we didn’t have a great first half, we were very much in the game,” he said.

“We knew in the sort of first 15 or 20 minutes we needed to be very solid in terms of our decision making, to give them a second goal was very disappointing.

“But I still think we never really got to grips with any part of the game today and they were too good for us.”

“We definitely needed to be brave with and without the ball.

“It’s easier said then done at a place like this against a very good Liverpool team who are in a good run of form, and very settled.

“But it’s what we needed to do, and we didn’t do it.”

The Australian manager was then asked if he felt “lonely” on the touch line, replying: “No, that’s not an emotion I feel.

“I’m disappointed we weren’t able to sort of give a better account of ourselves today and give ourselves a chance of getting into a final.

“Yeah, very disappointed. We had a great opportunity and unfortunately we didn’t grab it.

“There’s no choice, you have to. There’s plenty to play for us this year. We have a big game against Villa… and that’s where our focus goes.”

As for that clash with Aston Villa, should Spurs lose it would see the North London outfit dumped out of two Cup competitions within three days.

Tottenham face Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup, while Postecoglou’s men finished in the top eight in the Europa League table phase, progressing straight through to the round of 16.

Pressure has been mounting on Postecoglou, but his position as Tottenham manager looked to be solidified after playing a major role in the signing of Bayern prodigy Mathys Tel.

However, failure to win silverware could be the final nail in the coffin for the former Celtic boss.

Spurs will still have to face Villa without several key players, and former Premier League striker Nicky Summerbee questioned the player’s commitment.

“The next game is huge, that will be three days and they could be out of two Cup competitions,” Summerbee said on BEIN Sports.

“Looking at the injuries here, when are they coming back? We are looking at eight or nine of them, I would be looking at some of these players… he needs these players.

“Get out there and play, this manager needs help… if you have a little bit of an injury I suggest you put your boots on and roll your sleeves up.”

“This time now is getting very difficult and very hard for the manager.

“The crowd is going to put pressure on him, the fans are… going into the game at the weekend, you need somebody to stand up.

“We saw in the two games before, the Brentford and Europa League game, some young players stood up.”

Meanwhile, former PSG and Newcastle United defender Didier Domi was of the belief there’s issues in Tottenham’s football staff.

“They really have to work with the performance department, you cannot have 10 injuries, there’s something there,” Dodi said.

“You cannot have that many injuries… imagine Liverpool were playing without van Dijk, Robertson, Konate, Tsimikas and Gravenberch, how would they be?

“You cannot, so first of all I think there’s a problem in the performance department… you cannot have 10 injuries like that and most of them are muscular.”