Manchester United v Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou leaps to Erik ten Hag's defence with 'not insignificant' claim

Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglou has praised the work done by Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, pointing to the fact the Dutchman has won two trophies in a ‘difficult’ job, amid increasing pressure on the former Ajax man.

Ten Hag has been under pressure at Old Trafford for a number of months after disappointing Premier League and Champions League campaigns last time out. United managed a lowly eighth place finish in the league last term and were knocked out of the Champions League during the group stage. However, renewed faith was shown in Ten Hag by the club’s hierarchy ahead of this season after he oversaw a 2-1 win in the FA Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley in May.

The Red Devils have failed to fully kick on from that victory and have endured a difficult start to the 2024-25 season, with a 2-1 defeat at Brighton and Hove Albion along with a 3-0 loss to Liverpool at Old Trafford before the September international break re-igniting pressure on Ten Hag.

The Dutchman has been in charge at United since the summer of 2022 and has guided the club to Carabao Cup and FA Cup triumphs in his first two seasons. Postecoglou has faced questions about his ability to lead Spurs to silverware in recent weeks and both managers could do with a win when they come face to face on Sunday afternoon but Postecoglou has expressed sympathy towards his counterpart.

“There's always some manager under pressure, there must be a spinning board with all our faces on and whoever it lands on he cops it for a week or two,” said the former Celtic boss in his pre-match press conference earlier this week.

“I think Erik's in a really tough job and he's done really well. He keeps mentioning he's won two trophies and that's not insignificant, everyone keeps telling me that's all I have to do, but it's not all you have to do, because when you do that there's always more. He's done a great job, a difficult job.”