Ange Postecoglou has admitted that the Tottenham squad needs major surgery this summer if the Lilywhites are to harbour ambitions of competing against the best sides in the Premier League next season.
Until a month or two ago, things looked relatively rosy at Spurs and many fans would have said that the side were just two or three top-class additions away from challenging the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal next season.
However, the results over recent weeks have exposed the various chinks in Tottenham’s armour, with opposition teams appearing to have learned how to effectively thwart the Lilywhites’ system and approach.
Postecoglou wants a major upheaval at Spurs this summer
Postecoglou has now confessed that Tottenham need to make big changes to the squad and sign players who are better suited to his system.
The Tottenham head coach told Football.London: “We need change, change has to happen. You can’t want to alter your course, and quite dramatically for this club because we went down a certain direction and now we’re pivoting to a whole different direction, and expect the same people are going to be on that. It’s just not going to happen.
“We’ve had two windows and we’ve had some development of players, for sure, but when I say we’ve still got a long way to go, that’s what I’m talking about. We can’t be there yet because it’s impossible to say you’re going to have drastic change and yet expect everyone to be on that journey.
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“It’s not for the want of trying..it’s just that we’re going to play a certain way, we’re going to train a certain way and we’re going to have a certain mindset, and that’s not for everyone.”
“I’ve got to change this squad, I have to. Because I’ve got to build a squad I think can play our football. For that to happen, there has to be exits. I can’t just keep everyone here and keep bringing in players. So sometimes you let people go who you think ‘he’s a good player’ but how am I going to change if I don’t do that.”
Reports over recent days have indicated that Tottenham could offload several senior players this summer, including Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Richarlison and possibly even Yves Bissouma (The Telegraph).
Postecoglou explained that he has already had to make some difficult decisions at Spurs and that we can expect more to follow this summer.
He added: “We’ve already made tough decisions, we let some experienced players leave the club at the beginning of the year, some by choice. But again, I feel like if we’re really going to change, that means change.
“You have to make decisions. Some of those decisions aren’t that tough because whether it’s a player or a staff member, they realise it themselves and say ‘you know what, I’ve got a better path somewhere else and you’ve got a better path here’. So they’re not that tough, but some of them you have to make just because of change, not necessarily because they don’t fit in the picture but you still have to change.”
Spurs Web Opinion
If there is one silver lining from our sub-standard performances over the last couple of months, it is that it has exposed the technical shortcomings of some of our players, thus helping the club realise the issues that have to be addressed this summer.
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