Former Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou laments “lost” Tottenham under interim boss Igor Tudor 

The alarm bells have been sounding at White Hart Lane for a while now, but Tottenham have now entered a critical stage of the season and sensations in North London have never been worse. Ex Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou was let go by the club last spring, but admits seeing his former club in this position “pains him.”

Feelings still stick with Ange

The wounds still might be open after getting sacked just weeks after winning the clubs first title in 17 years, but Postecoglou still feels a connection to Tottenham. That connection has brought out some difficult sentiments given the current situation the club is going through. “It pains me to see it,” Postecoglou admitted to TNT Sports. “It looks like the players are fairly lost at the moment. There’s obvious pressure there and it’s a real difficult time. It all manifested itself in what happened last night - kind of the worst case scenario playing against a side away from home in Atletico who never drop their performance level. It was a horror start for them.”

Postecoglou was replaced by Thomas Frank on the touchline, but he had a dreadful first few months with the club and was sacked in mid February. Igor Tudor was brought in as interim manager and things have gone from bad to worse. The Croatian manager has lost each of his first four matches since taking over, and coming off of what was one of the biggest disasters in club history with the 5-2 loss to Atletico in the first leg of the Champions League.

Tudor, who has been with Tottenham for less than a month was quick to point out before the match at the Metropolitano that the priority within the dressing room, front offices and in the stands in the Premier League. They certainly painted that picture in the Spanish capital after a miserable start that saw them trailing 3-0 in the first 17 minutes of the match.

Another race against relegation

The Aussie manager knows many of Tottenham players well after spending two seasons with the club, but says none of them are performing at the level they should be in the league or in Europe. “There is no way that anyone objectively would say these players are performing at the levels they’re capable of. You’ve got to try and ease the pressure on them. Even last night, I thought it was tremendous opportunity for them because they’ve done well in the Champions League, they’re on the good side of the draw. Atletico away’s tough but you’ve still got to take them back to Tottenham,” said Ange.

Now they have to pick up the pieces and prepare for a weekend trip to Anfield. Spurs are currently sitting in 16th place with just one point separating them and Nottingham Forest and West Ham United two are 17th and 18th. Last year Tottenham finished in 17th which was a big reason why Postecoglou was let go at the end of the season.

Now the former boss is warning that the same group that made club history last year could be remembered on the wrong side of history this year. “If I was there now that’s what I’d be saying to them: don’t go into history for the wrong thing now,” Postecoglou said. “There’s a great motivation for you, don’t be the group that takes a backwards step now, because they were the group that brought success after 17 years [by winning the UEFA Europa League].

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