Fans loving Big Ange and boss loving Spurs' spirit
STREWTH: Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou celebrates the win. Photo credit: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire
As soon as the final whistle sounded after a dramatic and enthralling game at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the Robbie Williams song Angels rang round the ground with the words reworked to include the tribute “We're loving Big Ange instead”.
Spurs fans have quickly taken to Ange Postecoglou, the gruff Australian, who has transformed the mood music at the club in a heartbeat. This was Tottenham's fourth straight league win, taking them to second in the table, and this thrilling comeback against Sheffield United was masterminded by a man whose brand of bright, attacking and entertaining football is what the club's supporters have been crying out for.
It was breathtaking stuff from Spurs once again. Paul Heckingbottom's side were on the verge of a huge shock as they headed into the 108th minute of this dramatic game with a 1-0 lead, given them when Gustavo Hamer hammered home a half-volley in the 74th minute.
But Postecoglou's Tottenham are tougher and more resilient than they were under Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte, and they scored twice in the space of three minutes to secure the win they thoroughly deserved.
Richarlison, whose troubles on and off the field have been well documented recently, came off the substitute's bench to head Spurs level in the eighth minute of stoppage time, and two minutes later set up Dejan Kulusevski for the winner.
Asked about the frenetic finale, Postecoglou said: “Yeah, there was a fair bit going on out there today. A great ending, in terms of what we're trying to build, there's the football side of it but there's also trying to build the spirit and character and resilience within the group and they showed bags of it today.
"Hopefully it gives us the opportunity to fuel that further. Every time you have to deal with adversity and you overcome it, I think it helps in what you're trying to grow.”
Tottenham are unbeaten and have made their best start to a season for 58 years, and most strikingly, they are playing the way their fans love to watch.
And although they left it late, they thoroughly deserved it, being dominant from start to finish. Postecoglou was voted Premier League manager of the month this week and James Maddison was voted Player of the Month, and the latter showed why with his clever midfield play, creating chances and having a go at goal too.
One effort, after his quick-thinking from a short free-kick, ended with him shooting tamely at Wes Foderingham, who then dived full-length to save another Maddison shot. The Sheffield United keeper was the busiest man on the pitch, keeping out efforts from Pape Matar Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Heung Min Son.
But Guglielmo Vicario made the best early save when he stretched out a foot to stop James McAtee's first time shot after a rare attack by the visitors.
Maddison should have had a penalty in the 33rd minute when he was upended by Chris Basham in the area, but referee Peter Bankes waved play on. Television replays showed Basham clipping Maddison's heel instead of the ball, but VAR did not see fit to inform Bankes of his mistake.
The referee's performance became more and more eccentric as the game went on, to the unhappiness of both teams, and prompted an extraordinary rant from Heckingbottom, who had seen striker Oli McBurnie sent off in the final minute. “The referees are just killing the game at the minute,” he said.
“They are ruining it. I've got no qualms about the result. The referees are showing they don't know enough about the game, they haven't got a clue, they don't know what they're saying. We work on how we play all week and the refs are telling us how to play. They haven't got a clue what they're doing and they're ruining the game. They don't know football. It's been all the time I've been a manager, they don't know what they're doing. It is really foolish.”
Foderingham had been booked early on for handball outside his area, and pushed his luck at times with his delaying tactics and time-wasting, but Heckingbottom was incensed about Bankes' performance, calling it “appalling.”
Yet United were heading for their first win of the season when Hamer scored in the 74th minute. A long throw from the right bounced across the penalty area towards the left and the Dutch international clipped a powerful shot in off the inside of the far post.
Postecoglou reacted by sending on reinforcements including Richarlison and new signing Brennan Johnson for his debut. The former Nottingham Forest forward got the ball in the net only to be denied for offside, before United's extensive time-wasting came back to haunt them when the officials decided to add 12 minutes of stoppage time.
Richarlison started the comeback by flicking home an Ivan Perisic corner in the 98th minute for his first league goal of the season, and from that point there was only going to be one winner. Destiny Udogie, Maddison and Richarlison combined in a flowing move down the left and when the ball fell to Kulusevski close to the penalty spot, the Swede took one touch before firing home the winner. The roof almost came off the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, and two minutes later, when the final whistle was blown, the celebrations were just as loud.
“The fans played their part today,” added Postecoglou.
“It was a real frustrating game, there were a lot of stoppages and dead time and it would have been easy for our supporters to get frustrated. But they are seeing this team trying to play the football they want to see and that helps. They can resonate with that. They want to see aggression and they have bought into that.”
They are loving Big Ange indeed.
Vicario 7; Porro 7, Romero 7, Van de Ven 7, Udogie 7; Sarr 7 (Richarlison 80), Bissouma 8, Maddison 8; Kulusevski 8, Son 6 (Johnson 80), Solomon 6 (Perisic 80).
Foderingham 6; Ahmedhodzi 6, Basham 6, Robinson 6; Bogle 6 (Trusty 86), Souza 6, McAtee 6 (Norwood 69), Hamer 7 (Davies 80), Thomas 6; McBurnie 5, Archer 6.
Peter Bankes 4.
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