Tag: Petit

Ange Postecoglou should be sacked as Tottenham boss after their north London derby defeat.

That’s the view of Arsenal legend Emmanuel Petit, who told talkSPORT that ‘broken’ Spurs need to put their players out of their misery.

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Fresh from a tricky FA Cup victory over non-league Tamworth on Sunday, Postecoglou’s side went into the clash at the Emirates Stadium in need of a reaction and got one when Heung-min Son put them ahead early on.

However, it didn’t take long for Arsenal to seize control of the game and secure a 2-1 victory in a game that could have gone even further in the Gunners’ favour.

As well as keeping them stuck in 13th spot in the table, Spurs have lost four of their last five games in the Premier League and picked up just 11 points in their last 12 games, conceding 22 goals in the process.

With Tottenham 14 points from the top four and just eight points from the drop zone, Petit believes that the time is now for Spurs to make a change.

Speaking to talkSPORT from the Emirates Stadium, Petit said: “I was watching Ange Postecoglou and he must be feeling really alone on the pitch tonight.

“I think things are probably coming to the end for him. I think that something has to change.

“We can see the league, we can see the faces of the players tonight on the pitch and they look so miserable, nobody looks like themselves.

“As I said, I think something has to change at Spurs so I think he will get the sack.”

He added: “I feel pity for the Spurs fan. Honestly, I feel pity.

“Game after game, I’ve watched this team and I’m thinking, is it Postecoglou’s fault?

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“When I look at this team, I have no idea what they want to do on the pitch, what kind of system, what kind of movements, even the commitment and the behaviour of the players.

“I know that they give everything on the pitch, but that’s not enough. When you look at the quality individually and collectively in this team, something has been broken.

“They’ve been losing so many games, they’re dropping down the table, they’re not far the relegation zone. We’re talking about a team that should be playing for the top position in the Premier League.

“So this is something for me that worries me the most.

“If I was a Spurs fans – and I’m not in the board, I’m not Mr Levy – but to be honest with you, something has to change.”

Tottenham haven’t been helped by key injuries to Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, Destiny Udogie and Rodrigo Bentancur, while Richarlison has just returned to fitness.

But reflecting on their fitness woes, Petit responded: “Injuries are something very important to deal with but they have enough quality in the squad.

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“Look at the players on the pitch, look at Son – he was amazing on the pitch for five years. Maddison this season – Maddison last year was such a great player, what has happened to him?

“Something is broken in this team and you can’t sack all of the players and so you have to make the easiest decision and that’s to sack the manager.

“I don’t like saying that and I feel for Postecoglou, but he deserves to be sacked because they’re going down game after game so change something.”

Tottenham are next in action on Sunday when they travel to face Everton, before taking on German side Hoffenheim in the Europa League on Thursday.

Speaking to talkSPORT after the game, Postecoglou said: “I just thought the first half in particular was just way too passive. We allowed Arsenal to control the game and we’re just nowhere near aggressive enough with and without the ball.

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“And, you know, allowed them to sort of feel comfortable in the game and that’s not what we’re about.

“It’s unacceptable. It’s a big game, we should be ready for that. And I said we were nowhere near the team that we can be in that first half.

“I think all you do is you get up tomorrow morning and start preparing for a tough game on the weekend.

“Our league form’s unacceptable, the results are unacceptable and it needs to change… as I said, our form and our results are nowhere near good enough so we need to change that.”