Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has defended his side’s attacking, gung-ho approach despite the north London giants drawing 2-2 with Roma in the Europa League clash on Thursday night.
Spurs went ahead in the fifth minute through Son Heung-min, only for Evan Ndicka to level for the visitors.
Tottenham restored their lead through Brennan Johnson in the 33rd minute but, right at the death, Roma nicked a draw through veteran defender Mats Hummels.
Postecoglou’s side continue to entertain on the pitch but they still struggle for consistency when it comes to picking up victories.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has defended his side’s attacking, gung-ho approach despite the north London giants drawing 2-2 with Roma in the Europa League clash on Thursday night
PA
Yet the Australian launched a strong defence of his style of play in his post-match press conference, insisting entertainment matters – even if it sometimes costs his side.
The former Celtic boss said: “Why can’t it just be entertaining? Isn’t it why we all come?
“Would you really prefer us to sketch out a couple of 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win and we get through? I don’t know.
“I would much rather we’re exciting to watch and maybe it is edge of the seat stuff and sometimes we don’t get the reward, like we could have tonight, but no, if you want those kind of games, there are plenty in world football you can watch every weekend.
“I’d like to think when you tune into us you’ll be entertained.”
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Postecoglou was also asked about Son.
The South Korea international hasn’t been quite his usual self this season, with some fearing he’s lost confidence.
Yet Postecoglou believes his struggles are probably down to being overworked and admitted Tottenham must be careful with their talisman’s fitness.
“I don’t know if he’s lacking confidence,” he added.
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“Sonny’s had a disrupted year for us, so that doesn’t help.
“Yeah, he had some good chances tonight to get the goal and he’s getting in those areas.
“Look, he’s got the quality to take those chances and we know he’s done it consistently for almost a decade, but he’s had a disrupted season being in and out.
“You can see he is getting back to full fitness now, which is the main thing for us.
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Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou admits his side must be careful with Son Heung-min following their 2-2 Europa League draw with Roma
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“We’re quite thin in those wide areas, so he’s playing and we’ve got to make sure we are careful with him, Brennan and Timo [Werner] because they are the only wingers we’ve got left and will have for the foreseeable future.
“I thought tonight, it wasn’t just Sonny. There were quite a few really good chances, we hit the post three times as well and a couple cleared off the line.
“I still felt there were a couple of occasions where a bit more composure would have finished the game off.”
While Postecoglou insists he’s happy with Tottenham ‘entertaining’ fans, he did conceded he was frustrated by their failure to see out the match against Claudio Ranieri’s team.
Tottenham drew 2-2 with Roma in their Europa League clash on Thursday night
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“Yeah, frustration with the way the game ended. We should have killed it off a lot earlier,” he admitted.
“We should have killed it off in the first half with the chances we had.
“At 2-1, you’re always keeping the opposition in the game and they’re throwing men forward, so disappointing we weren’t able to see the game out.
“Ultimately, we’re still in a decent position.”