The truth about Postecoglou provoking Tottenham fans

Sharing with Sky Sports, coach Ange Postecoglou affirmed that he did not provoke Tottenham Hotspur fans in the loss to Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou seeks moment of strength to escape spiral at Spurs | Ange Postecoglou | The Guardian

In the London derby at Stamford Bridge, Enzo Fernandez was the only one to score, helping Chelsea defeat Tottenham Hotspur with a minimum score of 1-0. Immediately after conceding the goal, coach Ange Postecoglou made a personnel change by bringing Pape Matar Sarr onto the field to replace Lucas Bergvall.

However, this decision made a part of the “Rooster” fans unhappy, booing fiercely and even chanting: “You don’t know what you’re doing”, these were words aimed at the decision of the Australian strategist.

Just a few minutes later, Tottenham Hotspur thought they had equalized when the Senegalese midfielder himself fired a long-range shot that defeated goalkeeper Robert Sanchez. As the players celebrated, Ange Postecoglou was caught on camera with his hand to his ear and towards the away side, leading many to believe he was responding to criticism from the fans.

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However, speaking to Sky Sports after the match, the Australian strategist insisted: “I just want them to be happy, I want them to cheer because they haven’t had many reasons to be happy recently. It’s not the first time my substitution decisions have been criticised, if you’ve followed my tenure you’ll know. They have the right to boo, but I just want them to cheer.”

When asked again at the post-match press conference, he added: “Oh my gosh, it’s unbelievable how it was misinterpreted. The team had just scored, and I just wanted to feel the cheers from the stands.”

However, that brief joy did not last long when VAR took more than four minutes to determine Pape Matar Sarr’s error in the play leading to the goal, thereby denying Tottenham Hotspur an equalizer.

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For Chelsea, this hard-fought victory helped Enzo Maresca’s team temporarily climb to fourth place in the Premier League table, thereby gaining a slight advantage in the race for a ticket to the Champions League next season.