Unai Emery responds to Ange Postecoglou sack question after explosive rant from Tottenham boss

Unai Emery has defended under-fire Tottenham head coach Ange Postecgolou after Aston Villa dispatched Spurs 2-1 in the FA Cup fourth round on Saturday evening.

The sacking calls have never been louder for Postecoglou, who himself admits he’s under great pressure after Tottenham were knocked out of a second domestic cup competition within the spaces of just four days. Spurs were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday and have now been beaten again just 72 hours later, this time courtesy of goals from Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers at Villa Park.

Still in the UEFA Europa League having progressed straight to the last 16 but 14th in the Premier League and now in no other competitions, Tottenham are enduring one of their worst campaigns in recent memory. Postecoglou, fully aware of the situation, came into the press room ready to explode after the match. Frustrated and exasperated after his exhausted team suffered once more, the Australian let loose.

“People can judge me, they can say I'm not good enough but they can't be critical of the players during this time,” Postecoglou began.

“They've been giving everything they can since mid-November and you can't judge them at this point. There's got to be a better appreciation for what this small group of players has been doing for two-and-a-half months. That's not an excuse, it shouldn't be seen that way through objective analysis and anything else would be agenda driven.

“This small group of players have given everything in multiple competitions. I think they’ve been outstanding. We had 11 first-team players missing today. We started with four teenagers, a 21 year old goalkeeper coming to one of the best teams in the country, away from home.

“And that was all after playing the best team in the country on Thursday night (Liverpool). After playing a Premier League game last Sunday, playing a Europa game [before that]. The same group of players. No rotation. And they’ve been doing this since the middle of November.

“I don't know how else to explain it if you can't see that this team is just trying to play its hardest in the most extreme of circumstances. Two and a half months of asking 18-year-olds and 17-year-olds and senior players, with no rest, to play Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday.

“I'll keep going for two-and-a-half months and if you think that is not at all a factor of how this team is performing then there's nothing else I can say. There's nothing else I can explain,” Postecoglou said.

Emery stands up for Postecoglou

Entering for his press conference immediately after Ange’s rant and shaking the Aussie’s hand on the way into the lounge, Emery displayed clear respect for his counterpart. The Villa head coach - untouchable in his role - is in a contrasting position to Postecoglou but he can certainly understand his struggles having endured a sacking from Arsenal in 2019.

Despite Tottenham’s league position and exits from the cups, Emery has been impressed with the intent and tactical identity they’ve preserved. The Spaniard also has great sympathy for the injury crisis Postecoglou has had to deal with.

When asked about whether the Spurs boss should be cut some slack, Emery responded: “I can analyse his work last year and the first six months of this season and I really appreciate a lot how Tottenham are playing with their style. Last year they performed fantastic. Of course, every team has their injured players - they have more than normal.

“The potential they can have with every player being available is a little bit lower without them. I think we played a very good match today to stop them. They played well but it was not enough to beat us in this match. When they are going to recover players, they will perform again like they were doing,” Emery concluded.