Postecoglou forgets Liverpool fandom to bring happy days back to Spurs

Postecoglou forgets Liverpool fandom to bring happy days back to Spurs

AFP
September 29, 2023 at 2:23 PM
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou grew up supporting Liverpool
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou grew up supporting Liverpool. Photo: Paul ELLIS / AFP
Source: AFP

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said his days as a Liverpool fan are long gone as he aims to end the Reds' unbeaten start to the season on Saturday.

The Australian grew up supporting Liverpool during a glory era at Anfield in the 1970s.

"It was the 70s so you could have gone one or two ways as they only used to show Liverpool or Man Utd back then," said Postecoglou at his pre-match press conference on Friday.

"I had a couple of mates went the United way and I went with Liverpool to make it interesting.

"Look, I used to love (TV show) Happy Days back then but I don't have posters of The Fonz on my wall now."

If Postecoglou's ardour for Liverpool has cooled, he is still a big fan of Reds boss Jurgen Klopp and credited the German with being one of the few coaches to inspire change in the Premier League.

"Jurgen is an outstanding manager, he's one of the managers I think it's fair to say who has made an impact on the competition, not just his club," added the former Celtic boss.

"Because when he came in, with the way Liverpool went about things, he challenged quite a few of the conventions about the Premier League and introduced a new style of play that others have followed.

"It's a great test for where we are at the moment in terms of our development."

Tottenham sit just two points behind Liverpool and four adrift of leaders Manchester City after an impressive unbeaten start to the Premier League in six games since Postecoglou took charge.

However, their chances of maintaining that run could rest heavily on the availability of captain Son Heung-min and James Maddison.

Son scored twice from Maddison assists in a 2-2 draw at Arsenal last weekend, but the pair were later forced off due to knocks.

Both trained on Friday, but Postecoglou admitted they remain a doubt.

"We'll just have to see how they pull up as it's fair to say they were a bit sore after last week and had a bit of an interrupted week training," he said.

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