Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has hit back at the supporters who booed his decision to withdraw Lucas Bergvall during Wednesday’s EFL Cup win over Coventry.
Spurs scored two late goals to win 2-1 at the Coventry Building Society Arena, with Djed Spence and Brennan Johnson booking their place in the next round after Brandon Thomas-Asante had given the hosts the lead.
However, there’s a strong argument that Spurs didn’t deserve the win, with Coventry outperforming them on the night for shots (15-9), shots on target (5-4), big chances (3-2) and xG (1.73-1.14).
One player who did stand out, however, was Bergvall. The 18-year-old — who signed from Djurgarden in his native Sweden this summer — completed 27 of 31 attempted passes and created one chance, while also playing three passes into the final third.
Bergvall looked composed under pressure, taking the ball in tight spaces and turning out of trouble, while he chipped in defensively with two tackles, five recoveries and one interception.
The teenager was withdrawn in the 62nd minute to be replaced by James Maddison but the decision was not met well by sections of the travelling Spurs support, who booed Postecoglou’s call to take off a player adding obvious quality to the match.
Postecoglou hits back at Spurs supporters after Bergvall boos
Postecoglou has hit back at those supporters, however, highlighting the importance of building up Bergvall’s fitness and avoiding putting further stress on a squad that has suffered greatly from injuries during his time in the dugout.
“I don’t make substitutions by poll, mate,” Postecoglou responded when asked about the decision by reporters after the match (via Football.London).
“I’m sure the fans have got their own opinions, but Lucas, that’s his first sort of significant game time for quite a while. What I didn’t want was us pushing guys over the edge today, that’s why we took Destiny [Udogie] off at half-time as well,” said the Spurs boss.
“We already had a couple of injuries, and I had some pretty good players on the bench that I thought could make an impact, but it doesn’t take away from Lucas’s performance. I thought he was outstanding tonight. They’re going to play a lot of football for us and hopefully getting through tonight, whether it’s 90 minutes for Archie or you know, 60, 70 for Lucas, will put them in a good space.”
Top photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images