Tottenham Hotspur recently crashed to a 4-1 defeat against London rivals Chelsea in the Premier League.
The defeat at the hands of the Blues ended their unbeaten start to the Premier League campaign and Spurs will now look to bounce back strongly in their upcoming match.
They have been quite impressive since the start of the season and few would have expected them to lose 4-1 against Chelsea, who have had a relatively mediocre start in comparison.
However, the lack of composure cost Spurs dearly and they were reduced to nine men after the likes of Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie were sent off.
After the game, Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou was asked to share his thoughts on the referee’s decisions during the high-octane clash with Chelsea.
The Australian manager appeared to have a sly dig aimed at Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, who launched a furious rant against the officials following his side’s defeat against Newcastle earlier this season.
Postecoglou revealed his respect and admiration for officials and claimed that Premier League managers should concentrate on managing their own clubs instead of questioning the credentials of the referee. He also added that it is quite hard for officials to manage games as it is and managers do not need to question their authority constantly.
He said (h/t Sportbible): “Premier League managers should just manage their football clubs. I’ve never and I never will talk to a referee about the rules of the game. I was taught that you grow up and you respect the officials.
“You know what managers do? I’ll tell you what managers do, me included, we try to find ways to bend the rules. Tell me what the rule is, and I guarantee you’ll have a room full of managers processing ‘how can I get around this?
“We’re not the right people. I get people keep saying this. I don’t agree with it. What I want is the best officials always being upskilled to officiate the game. But I think it is so hard for referees to officiate these days.
“Their authority is just constantly getting diminished. I grew up afraid of referees. They would be like policemen. Nowadays I guess we talk back to policemen as well. I’m old-school. I’m from a bygone era. I just love the purity of the game.”
Meanwhile, the defeat to Chelsea leaves Tottenham second in the Premier League table and they will be hoping to climb to the top once again in the coming weeks. Defending champions Manchester City are currently on top of the standings.
