Tottenham star is purposely avoiding the ball – Dion Dublin accuses

Dion Dublin has taken aim at the Tottenham players after their 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa in the fourth round of the FA Cup, with the pundit suggesting that many Spurs players were hiding at Villa Park.

Tottenham deliver two abject performances in crucial matches

The back-to-back Carabao Cup and FA Cup games against Liverpool and Aston Villa were earmarked as crucial matches that could dictate Tottenham’s season a long time in advance.

Yet, not only did we see Spurs lose both matches, but they failed to even throw a punch at their opponents, crashing out of both competitions in an appalling fashion.

These results meant that Tottenham have little to play for domestically, which is a sorry situation, given that we are only at the start of February, with the pressure now being turned up on Postecoglou.

Dion Dublin accuses Spurs players of hiding

Dublin suggested that it is the players, not the manager, who is to blame for their latest loss at Villa Park.

He insisted that many Spurs players were not showing for the ball, thus limiting the options they had in possession. The former Villa centre-forward suggested that is a sign of a squad completely devoid of confidence at the moment.

Dublin even named club captain Heung-min Son as one of the players purposely hiding from the ball.

Dublin said on BBC One after Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat: “There are no options [for Tottenham to change style and go long] because the players who should be giving options don’t have the confidence to have the ball in positions where they should receive it as they don’t back themselves.

“We used to call it hiding, going into a position where you can’t receive it. Son, he is their best player, he is going through that phase. The squeeze was so poor. They go as individuals and not as a team.”

Ange Postecoglou defends his players

However, Postecoglou has refused to entertain any criticism of his players’ performance in the FA Cup fourth round, pointing to the fact that many of them are extremely fatigued due to the amount of football they have played over recent months.

The Tottenham head coach insisted that they were physically not capable of pressing Villa high up the pitch, given their physical and mental exertions at Anfield less than three days prior.

Postecoglou said after the game: “They’re tired mate. Do you think they can press like [we would]. If we hadn’t played Thursday night and I hadn’t rotated that team we wouldn’t have been pressing aggressively today. Fair chance, unless you don’t think they’re human beings.

“Unless you’re superhuman and you think no, after playing Liverpool on Thursday night they should be flying tonight. It doesn’t happen. They’re human beings. Why do you think Liverpool and others rotate 11 players? Why? There’s a reason and I wish I could do the same. So you can bring a freshness to the team.

“Of course, they’re not playing anywhere near the levels that we want or expect, but that’s not because they’re not trying. It’s because they can’t. I think this group of players once we get the rest of the group in, will be an outstanding team. I have no doubt about that.

“Whether other people can’t see that, that’s of no interest to me. If you want to measure anything on what they’re doing at the moment, other than the extreme situation they’re dealing with then I think your analysis is skewed and it’s not objective. That’s my opinion.”

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