Ange struggles to sympathise with Man Utd
Ange Postecoglou struggled to sympathise with Manchester United's injury-hit struggles as Tottenham battled to a 1-0 win.
United was without the likes of Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo, Manuel Ugarte and Lisandro Martinez as James Maddison's 13th-minute finish proved the difference at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Maddison was just returning from injury as Postecoglou's squad troubles started to ease, with Guglielmo Vicario, Wilson Odobert and Brennan Johnson also all coming back into the gold.
Some had called for Tottenham to dismiss Postecoglou during their injury, and form, struggles but they have now managed back-to-back wins in the Premier League for just the second time this campaign.
The Australian boss admitted he could understand Ruben Amorim's challenges with a lack of players available, though says he got no such sympathy during Tottenham's similar issues.
Asked whether he had sympathy for Amorim, Postecoglou said: "If I check my office I don't have any sympathy cards from other managers. So I can tell you that hasn't happened.
"But there's definitely empathy there. I can see today Ruben has put a team together, played players out of position, had kids on the bench...
"Welcome to my world. But that's for one game. Now do that for two months. Any club, do that for two months.
"I thought Man Utd were good today considering all that. We had our days when we were good. We beat Liverpool, we had other significant victories. But do that for two months."
A defiant Postecoglou's plight may well have been aided by United's fitness problems, with Victor Lindelof the only senior player named on Amorim's youthful bench.
The United boss opted to use Casemiro in the holding-midfield role, alongside Bruno Fernandes in a deeper-than-usual position, though pundit Gary Neville was far from impressed with their efforts.
Speaking on Sky Sports, the former United defender said: "We just said about the distance between the two central midfield players. Look at where Casemiro is and where Bruno Fernandes is.
"That cannot be right. It breaks all the rules in football. Look at them – absolute madness, that.
"They may score goals but the structure of the team is awful. The gaps in that midfield, that's a tactical thing – they've been told to do that. Bruno Fernandes is playing right wing. It’s embarrassing.
"You wouldn’t see this in Under-9s or Under-10s football. There’s a reason for it. It's because of what [Joshua] Zirkzee did against Newcastle when he kept having to come out to one side.
"What Amorim said is 'You stay in there'. But that means then it's impossible for them two behind… that space in midfield there. It's shocking."
