Paul Merson warns Ange Postecoglou not to repeat Arsene Wenger mistake

Paul Merson has said warned Ange Postecoglou that Manchester City will rip Tottenham to absolute shreds if the away side play the same way they did against Aston Villa.

Postecoglou has not abandoned his high-risk, front-foot approach over recent weeks, even though Tottenham are without an entire team of players, owing to injuries and suspensions.

While the Australian will argue that his side deserved to get more out of the game against Chelsea and Aston Villa in particular, several pundits have accused him of naivety.

This includes the likes of Jermaine Jenas (BBC Sport) and Richard Keys (his personal blog), who suggested that the Spurs boss should have shown some more pragmatism against Villa and urged him to adopt a more cautious approach against City.

Merson says Spurs will be embarrassed by Man City

Merson has become the latest pundit to fire a similar warning to Postecoglou, telling the Australian that his side could get humiliated at the Etihad Stadium if he is stubborn, pointing to the example of Arsene Wenger doing the same in the past.

The former Arsenal midfielder told Sky Sports: “There’s no way Tottenham can go and play the way they do against Man City. Great managers change things up,’

“I like Ange, he’s a top manager. He’s come into the Premier League to a big club and said he’s going to play his way, front-foot football – and I have all the respect in the world for him doing that.

“I remember many years ago I was in the studio when Arsenal went to Old Trafford. Arsene Wenger, never sits back, plays on the front foot. He’d got about seven injuries, played exactly the same way, got beat 8-2. 8-2. That’s not clever.

“You’ve got to play to your strengths. Sometimes you’ve got to say, ‘you know what, it’s not right to do that this weekend’, and they’ve got to change it up.

“Lose this game, that’s four on the trot. For the last four games with those injuries, at least three of them you’ve got to rein it in and think about nicking a point here, a point there, and maybe nick a win on the way too.

“But trying to win all three of those games… Sometimes you just haven’t got the players. The fans aren’t silly, they’ve seen enough of it over the years at Tottenham. They know he’s trying to entertain, but if you’ve not got Robbie Williams’ voice you’re not selling out Knebworth.

“Manchester City couldn’t cope with the injuries Tottenham have got. Eight players out, and a lot of those are key players too. If they go to the Etihad and open the game up they’ll ship five, I’ve got no doubt.”

Spurs Web Opinion

What many pundits are missing in their analysis is that without our first-choice defenders and midfielders, Tottenham simply do not have the players to keep City out for 90 minutes by playing with men behind the ball.

Spurs have a much better chance of nicking a point (although still a slim chance) if they play to their strengths and look to create chances. Tottenham will get some joy going forward and they will be hoping that Son can put away the chances that fall to him.

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