LONDON — Ange Postecoglou has said that Erik ten Hag has done a “great job” at Old Trafford and that criticism of the Dutchman’s time as Manchester United manager should be expected as Premier League coaches are “always” under pressure.
Spurs travel to face United on Sunday with both sides sitting mid-table and searching for a result that could kickstart their respective seasons.
Despite winning the Carabao and FA Cup since taking over at United in 2022, Ten Hag’s management has been the subject of regular criticism, with the club ending last season in eighth place for their worst finish in the Premier League era.
“I mean there’s always some manager under pressure,” Postecoglou told a news conference on Friday. “I think there must be a sort of — what do they call one of those spinning boards with all our faces on it and whatever it lands on — he’s the one that cops it for a week or two.
“But I think Erik’s in a real tough job. He’s done really well. He keeps mentioning he’s won two trophies and he has, so I don’t think that’s insignificant. Everyone keeps telling me that’s all I have to do, but obviously it’s not all you have to do because when you do that then there’s more, there’s always more. So I think he’s done a great job and like I said, a difficult job and at Old Trafford, it’s tough there.
“You look at their record irrespective of the managers, it’s still a fairly compelling record there and they’ve got some real quality players. So, we had a really good game there last year. We ended up 2-2 and it was a cracking game and yeah, it’s one we’re going to be ready for.”
Spurs haven’t won at Old Trafford since their 6-1 demolition of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team in October 2020.
Son Heung-Min scored twice on that win, but Postecoglou said that Spurs will make a late call over the forward’s availability for Sunday after he received treatment on the pitch and was subsequently substituted during Spurs’ 3-0 win over Qarabag in the Europa League on Thursday.
“Fair to say the boys are fairly tired, the ones who put in the shift. I think apart from Sonny, everyone’s OK, and I don’t think he’s too bad, he wants to train tomorrow so we will obviously see how he goes at training tomorrow and make a decision from there,” Postecoglou said.
With Wilson Odobert and Richarlison unavailable through injury, Postecoglou has limited options to choose from on the left wing if Son proves unable to recover in time.
Spurs’ 17-year-old academy product Mikey Moore has been generating excitement among the team’s fanbase and Postecoglou said that it is not too early to hand the teenager his first Premier League start.
“No, I wouldn’t say that,” Postecoglou said. Yeah, look, we will see with Sonny, but obviously with Wilson out, we’re kind of limited, and with Richy [Richarlison] out, because Richy can play there as well, we’re kind of limited a little bit, but Timo [Werner] and Mikey certainly come into the frame.
“We’ve got ‘Deki’ Kulusevski who can play wide as well, so we’ve got some options there, but firstly we’ll just see how Sonny is and we’ll decide from there.”
