Ange Postecoglou lost patience with familiar questions about his tactics after Tottenham’s 6-3 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday, refusing to answer a broadcaster who asked him if his side’s heaviest defeat of the season had made him reconsider his attacking football.
“I keep getting asked the same question. What makes you think the answer will be different?” Postecoglou said.
“You’ve asked the question and I’ve already answered it multiple times [in the past].”
Postecoglou has a point; he has been quizzed ad nauseam over the past 18 months about his approach and always made it abundantly clear that there are no circumstances in which he will compromise.
Having worked for more than two decades to elevate himself from a footballing backwater to the biggest sporting stage in the world, the Australian is plainly going to stick to his principles, even if it ultimately leads to his downfall at Spurs.
There is increasingly limited value in pursuing this line of questioning with Postecoglou, when he is so forthright about his steadfast commitment to his tactics.
It is, however, entirely reasonable to ask Postecoglou about his side’s game management following another chaotic and wildly entertaining match, which demonstrated the gulf between Spurs and Liverpool - even considering the hosts’ injury problems.
Particularly frustrating for Spurs supporters was the way Postecoglou’s side played for the final five minutes of the first half after James Maddison halved the deficit with a scarcely deserved goal to make it 2-1 in the 41st minute
Having been shredded by Liverpool, Spurs suddenly had a foothold - and a chance to turn the game on its head in the second half, as they have so often done under Postecoglou at home.
Spurs have been hard to stop when attacking the single-tier South Stand after the break and, with Maddison’s clever finish changing the momentum of the game, they had an opportunity to put the wind up Liverpool in the second half, if only they could get through to the interval.
When Trent Alexander-Arnold received a stray pass behind him in first-half stoppage-time, however, Djed Spence hared forward - directly in front of Postecoglou - in a hopeful press which was never likely to produce the desired results.
Alexander-Arnold’s hasty ball committed Radu Dragusin on the halfway line and the Romanian was beaten in the air by Dominik Szoboszlai.
In a flash, Liverpool were in again, Szoboszlai finishing from Salah’s pass to restore Liverpool’s two-goal cushion moments before the half-time whistle.
From there, it was a different game, Salah scoring twice by the hour-mark to put Liverpool out of sight, in spite of a stirring Spurs rally and goals from Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke. Luiz Diaz, who had opened the scoring, rounded off the goals to make it 6-3.
Postecoglou’s mantra at Celtic was ‘never stop’ and, broadly speaking, the 59-year-old demands that his teams stick to their game plan at all times, disregarding the scoreline, the clock and the state of the match. This, he believes, will eventually lead to success - as, to be fair, it has done at all his previous clubs.
Had Spurs managed out the final five minutes of the first half after Maddison’s goal, though, the afternoon against the league leaders may have turned out differently.
No-one is asking Postecoglou to change his approach or abandon his ‘non-negotiables’.
No-one expects his side to be passive or sit in a low block for an hour, but they could still play have played their football for the vast majority of the game and been a little cannier and more cautious for the final five minutes of the first half.
Postecoglou is right that there are mitigating circumstances to Spurs' openness at the back and up-down form as they continue to suffer from absences.
But there remains a case that they could manage games with more savviness while sticking to the manager's principles.
