Everton 3-2 Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou under pressure after Everton loss
2025-01-20
Category: sports

Everton are the latest crisis club to seek a cure for their ills in the healing hands of 'Dr Tottenham' and their manager Ange Postecoglou - and come away feeling reinvigorated and revitalised.David Moyes was the biggest beneficiary as Everton secured their first win since his return as manager with a 3-2 victory, but Spurs counterpart Postecoglou's position will come under even closer scrutiny after a seventh defeat in 10 Premier League games.'Dr Tottenham' is the latest cruel jibe aimed in the direction of Spurs - the theory being if you are a team or manager in desperate need of a tonic, then look no further than the surgery in north London.Among the satisfied patients this season have been Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town - both of whom secured sorely needed first league wins against Postecoglou's side.Everton may have had a new (or old) manager in Moyes, but they took a list of ailments as long as your arm into Sunday's match after the 61-year-old Scot's first game ended in a home defeat by Aston Villa.That made Spurs - admittedly in desperately reduced circumstances of their own because injuries - the ideal opponents.At kick-off, Everton had failed to score in nine of their past 11 Premier League games, netting only five goals in that period, including two own goals from Wolverhampton Wanderers defender Craig Dawson.They had scored a miserly 15 in their previous 20 league games this season, mustering just 66 shots on target from 226 attempts.Central to that toil was striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who had not scored in the league since the 3-2 defeat at Aston Villa on 14 September - his barren sequence extended to 16 games when he looked short of confidence as he missed three good chances against those same opponents on Wednesday.Spurs? No problem.He was back on the target after 13 minutes with a neat, clinical finish as he turned Archie Gray twice before leaving keeper Antonin Kinsky wrong-footed.It was Calvert-Lewin's first league goal in 1,288 minutes.
'Dr Tottenham' had written out the perfect prescription as Everton were transformed - unrecognisable from their stodgy appearance this season as they tore into a Spurs team that was once again far too easy to play against, racking up 12 shots, with six on target.These were almost unheard-of riches.Everton took the medicine they were offered to go 3-0 up at half-time after a truly shambolic first half from Spurs, and it would be delusional for Postecoglou - or anyone else - to be fooled by the late goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison that gave the scoreline a narrow appearance the visitors did not deserve.It all turns up the heat on Postecoglou, with Spurs 15th in the table - only four points ahead of Everton, who have a game in hand.Any analysis must take into account the injury problems Postecoglou is facing, having lost striker Dominic Solanke with a knee injury, Brennan Johnson with a calf problem and Yves Bissouma to a knock after the midweek derby at Arsenal.There can be no excuse, however, for such a desperate run of results and performances, with the first half here an embarrassment to Spurs and a source of fury for the travelling fans.
They turned their anger on chairman Daniel Levy, and delivered a sarcastic "ole" when Spurs strung passes together. The elation of Everton's supporters enjoying only a fourth league win of the season was met with: "You're nothing special, we lose every week."The half-time whistle was met with pure vitriol, and matters were only made slightly less toxic by those two late strikes that set up a tense finish of sorts.Spurs got what they deserved: nothing.Postecoglou's change of defensive strategy to three at the back failed dismally, though he insisted this was simply an attempt to find a structure with the personnel at his disposal.The Spurs manager clearly has problems, but contrast their results and football to that of Andoni Iraola at Bournemouth.He was without eight players and had a total of only 39 appearances on the bench at Newcastle United on Saturday, compared to the home team's 979.Iraola still conjured up a tactical masterclass with a 4-1 win that makes the Cherries unbeaten in 11 games in all competitions, just one point off the Champions League places.This comparison is stark and unflattering for Spurs and Postecoglou.All eyes will increasingly be on Levy, who is not renowned for his patience or increasing the tenure of struggling managers, especially when he is the main target for noisy discontent, not the man in the technical area.The Spurs fans went through their full anti-Levy songsheet â  never good news for any manager under his rule.The idea of sacking Postecoglou is the easy bit. The hard part is finding someone of quality available now. Change for change's sake is rarely a good solution.Spurs and Postecoglou will cling to the hope offered by a 1-0 advantage going into the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg at Liverpool, when he will hope to have key defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven fit again, although Solanke will be a doubt as he is likely to face several weeks out of action.They will have to play many levels above what they showed at Everton for that hope not to be extinguished very quickly.Postecoglou did not attempt to duck the issue, saying: "I have the responsibility of the group of players. I do have to try and get us through this and that's what I've got to focus on."For me to focus on anything else is abstaining myself from the responsibility I have."And he remained defiant, adding: "My belief doesn't waver."We are in a pretty extreme situation with injuries. If you look at the situation we're in, it will eventually dissipate. I certainly hope and believe it will."We'll give ourselves the opportunity to get consistency in performance and results. I certainly haven't lost belief or determination to turn it around and the players showed in the second half that they haven't either."Spurs now travel to Hoffenheim in the Europa League before a meeting with another of those Premier League strugglers, Leicester City, at home next Sunday.'Dr Tottenham' has helped others - now a cure must be found closer to home or Postecoglou will be in deeper trouble.