Peter Crouch has insisted he ‘doesn’t understand’ why Ange Postecoglou refuses to negotiate his methods of playing at Tottenham.
Postecoglou took his Spurs team to Ibrox on Thursday night to face Rangers in the Europa League in the midst of a dire run of form that has seen them lose their last three matches.
The Australian was confronted by angry fans after defeat by Bournemouth a week ago, and his side followed that up with a 4-3 loss at home to Chelsea despite leading 2-0.
He has faced criticism for his style of play in recent days, with many arguing that he should be adapting his team’s play based on the state of the game rather than going all out at all times.
Still, he stuck to his guns in the London derby, and his side suffered as a result, leaving questions going into the game against Rangers.
And former Tottenham striker Crouch, speaking on TNT Sports, gave his verdict on the manager’s methods, also calling them into question.
Peter Crouch has admitted he ‘doesn’t understand’ why Ange Postecoglou (pictured) won’t adapt his approach
Spurs are in a poor run of form and Postecoglou is now under pressure to get results
Crouch, like many, insisted Spurs need to be better at controlling games under the Australian
‘I don’t understand it to be honest,’ he said. ‘You just – can’t understand why – you need to manage the game better, filling the holes, sometimes you need to manage the game.
‘They’re permanently going for the next goal, and as a neutral, it’s fun, but as a Tottenham fan, you’re tearing your hair out wondering why they can’t see out games.
‘They have got something special, and they’re not far away for success, but they have got to make some changes.’
Spurs defender Cristian Romero had given an interview claiming ‘something is going wrong’ when discussing how much Tottenham spend on players, claiming they should ‘imitate’ Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea.
Spurs actually had the fifth-highest net spend in the Premier League this summer with -£83.1m. Manchester United were the only ‘Big Six’ club with a higher net spend. Over a five-year period, their net spend is the fourth-biggest on £-458.8m, a figure exceeded only by Chelsea, United, and Arsenal.
Postecoglou has defended his man since, and Crouch called Daniel Levy into question on the back of the World Cup winner’s words.
‘The thing is, they’ve had top managers, and it hasn’t worked out,’ Crouch said. ‘Have they spent enough money, are they paying enough wages?
‘You look at the players, the wages they’re paying, I wouldn’t put them in the same bracket as Liverpool or Man City. [Mauricio] Pochettino got them to a good level, a Champions League final. I think that was the time to strengthen and I don’t think that was done.
‘Tottenham fans have a frustration towards the ownership, he’s done a magnificent job off the field, but on the field, it’s been far too long since they’ve won a trophy and they’ve struggled. It can’t always be the manager’s issue.’
