Postecoglou makes football a better place - Guardiola

Published on: 01 December 2023

Postecoglou faced Pep Guardiola's Manchester City when he was the manager of Yokohama in a pre-season friendly in 2019

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou "makes football a better place".

The two sides meet in the Premier League on Sunday at 16:30 GMT with three points separating City, who are second, and fifth-placed Tottenham.

Postecoglou took over at Spurs in June and the club started the season with a 10-game unbeaten run, but they have lost their past three matches.

"In a few months you recognise perfectly his team," Guardiola said.

"He's already there. In a short time, even the games they didn't win lately, I'm impressed with how good they do in many things - how many chances they create, how aggressive they are in all departments."

Guardiola said he admired the "courage" of Postecoglou's style and enjoyed watching Spurs.

"I think all the Spurs fans and the people in England can admit that his impact has been quick and really good," the Spaniard added.

Prior to joining Spurs, Postecoglou led Celtic to successive Scottish Premiership titles in his two seasons in charge and helped Japanese side Yokohama F Marinos end a 15-year wait for a J-League title in 2019.

"So dynamic. It happened at Glasgow and now here [Tottenham]. I know they lost the last games but did you see who they played?" Guardiola said.

"I see a lot of similarities when they were winning. Football is like that sometimes, two red [cards] against Chelsea, bad moments, but the dynamic is always positive."

Tottenham's unbeaten start to the Premier League season came to an end on 6 November when Chelsea inflicted a 4-1 defeat, with Spurs defenders Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie both sent off.

The club have also let a one-goal lead slip in their past two league matches - 2-1 defeats by Wolves and Aston Villa.

Within those three defeats, Spurs have lost three players to injury - James Maddison, Micky van de Ven and Rodrigo Bentancur, who Postecoglou confirmed on Friday would be out for around two months after a challenge from Villa's Matty Cash.

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Source: bbc.com