Postecoglou has returned his identity to Spurs: Slot

Arne Slot believes Ange Postecoglou has given Tottenham back their identity as the Reds prepare to visit north London in the Premier League on Sunday.

Spurs are currently 10th after an up-and-down season that has seen them pick up impressive wins over Manchester City, Aston Villa and Manchester United, but have also lost seven of their 16 league games so far .

His inconsistency has led some to question Postecoglou’s attacking approach, but Slot, whose Liverpool are currently top of the Premier League, believes the Australian is moving them in the right direction.

Ahead of Sunday’s clash, the Reds manager said: “I’ve really got to give them credit, if I look at Tottenham, I’m from the Netherlands, but I’ve seen a lot of the game today.

“You think of Paul Gascoigne, Glenn Hoddle, Gareth Bale. They’ve always been a certain brand of football for me and a certain identity and Ange Postecoglou brings that identity back to them completely.

“Every time it’s a joy to watch them, every now and then the results go against me, but I think they’re one of the teams that City have beaten.”

We were drawn against Spurs in the semi-finals of the @Carabao_Cup 👊 pic.twitter.com/VWgI4rrlRO

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 19, 2024

Tottenham Carabao Cup draw

Tottenham and Liverpool will go head-to-head in the new year after being paired in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup.

On the draw, Slot added: “Interesting game, but all the draws would have been interesting because, I don’t know if it’s always the situation in England, but four top teams are still in the draw, so it wasn’t easy “

Slot reiterated his admiration for Postecoglou, insisting he hopes the 59-year-old’s Spurs get a long-awaited trophy, but says he hopes it won’t be the Carabao Cup.

He said: “I hope, I hope, I hope he wins a trophy. It’s not the League Cup, but I’m totally a fan of his squad for the Europa League.

“People talk about trophies, trophies, trophies and that is very important. For me his brand of football is more important and if he can combine that with winning something that would be so good for football in general because then people can stop talking about ‘is he too attacking?’

“How on earth can you play too much attacking football?”

“Judge the table after 19 games”

Despite having played a game less than their title rivals, Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League has been cut to just two points after being held 2-2 by Fulham last weekend.

And Slot says earlier suggestions that the Merseysiders should run away with the title were premature, claiming they should only be judged once the season has reached the halfway point.

“As I have said over the last three or four months, judging the table after 19 games because then everyone has played the same opponents.

“We were probably a bit lucky, for example Arsenal had a lot of red cards at the start of the season, so they dropped points.

“Now we have received a red card and we have lost points. Now we have Tottenham away which Arsenal had at the start of the season, Chelsea were already playing there.

“It’s not about where you are in the season, it’s about where you are at the end of the season.”

Liverpool team news

Slot says Ibrahima Konate and Connor Bradley remain out of the Reds, saying: “Those are the two still in red so they’re not training with us at the moment. They’re back but not training with the team yet.

“It is quite difficult (to predict when they will return). We’ll see, but we have a really good rehab staff here and they’ve already done a good job with Alisson and a few others.

“The most important thing is that if they come back they are ready to come back and we don’t have to focus on one, two or three games. It’s more important in the long run that they’re fit afterwards.”

Slot looks poised to have a clean bill of health aside from those two, with Andy Robertson returning from injury.