Flimsy, flawed and out of two cups in a week – Tottenham and Ange Postecoglou are nearing an inevitable end | OneFootball

A new start for Marcus Rashford may have taken Ange Postecoglou a step closer to the end. Rashford was the substitute who was rendered a subplot by the drive and directness of Aston Villa’s younger generation; Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers illustrating that the first task in rebuilding his career will simply be to earn a place in a side with the speed and verve the Mancunian used to exhibit.

But for Postecoglou, this became a horrible week. Cast out of the Carabao Cup by Liverpool, Tottenham were ejected from the FA Cup by Villa, conceding six goals in four days. They were flattered by the narrowness of the margin here. The first minute seemed to sum up the gulf between rivals: Spurs contrived to trail after 57 seconds with at least three players at fault for Ramsey’s opener. “We obviously didn’t get off to a great start,” said Postecoglou, with a nice line in understatement.

Now Tottenham’s season has been reduced to the Europa League and a damage-limitation exercise in the Premier League. It is a couple of defeats from being over, which would heighten the focus on the manager. “People can judge me and say I have done a bad job, that is fine, but what I am saying is you can’t be critical of the players’ performance,” said Postecoglou. “If you do that, do it for everyone else.”

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The pressure is on Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou after their FA Cup defeat at Aston Villa (PA Wire)

He cut a combative figure, defending his players and, by extension, himself. “There has got to be a better appreciation for what a small group of players have been doing for two-and-a-half months,” he continued. “It can’t be that people think it’s an excuse. 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.” The supporters’ analysis was not concentrated on him. The constant choruses at Villa Park were calls for chairman Daniel Levy to go.

Whoever is deemed the culprit in chief, this was a 16th defeat of the campaign and a sixth of 2025. Spurs won 4-0 at Villa Park last season; they could easily have lost by the same scoreline on a return. Their injuries are an ever-present in the conversation but, James Maddison apart, the midfield are all fit. Yet Tottenham were overrun and overpowered in the centre of the pitch. “If we hadn't played Thursday night and I hadn’t rotated that team we wouldn’t have been pressing aggressively today? They are human beings,” said Postecoglou, presenting the case for the defence. He had dropped Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr after their insipid displays at Anfield and having to bring both on as a new-look trio seemed still worse. Tottenham may be exhausted but they looked weak, flimsy, compounding their difficulties with a capacity to give the ball away, further hampered by Pedro Porro’s propensity to be out of position.

But it was testament to Villa’s brilliance. The energy of Unai Emery’s side made them feel irresistible in the opening 20 minutes and again for another 20 after the interval. Rashford and Marco Asensio, the glamour arrivals, made their bows as replacements, but the damage was done by the ultra-mobile front four Emery selected in the absence of the injured Ollie Watkins. Rogers, Ramsey, Donyell Malen and Leon Bailey comprised a quarter of runners. Both goals stemmed from direct, dynamic bursts in the centre of the pitch. Spurs couldn’t handle them. Two of their midfielders, Rodrigo Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall, were booked for fouling Villa men in full flight.

More often, however, they ran free. For the opener, Ramsey burst into the space vacated by Porro, who was caught upfield, to unleash a shot Antonin Kinsky should have saved. The blame extended beyond them, with Morgan waltzing through the midfield to find Ramsey. “The squad depth is unbelievable,” said the scorer. “The starting players have got to raise their game now.” And if Rashford has designs on the spot on the left, Ramsey staked an eloquent case to keep it. Rogers, meanwhile, has responded to greater attacking competition. He lifted a shot into the roof of the net after Porro had intercepted but not cleared Malen’s low cross-shot.

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Morgan Rogers netted a crucial second to send Aston Villa through (Getty Images)

There was, though, a flurry of other chances. Kinsky has had a decidedly mixed start to life in the Spurs goal but had redemption of sorts after the opener with two fine saves from a rampant Bailey, with Ramsey striking the outside of the post after the latter. The Czech did brilliantly to stop Ramsey from adding a third, with Porro again missing in action.

And yet the game’s third goal came instead from Spurs. Matthys Tel volleyed in from Dejan Kulusevki’s cross to open his Tottenham account. The 19-year-old, at least, had something to show for a trip to the Midlands. There could have been a second deadline-day addition on the scoresheet, with Kevin Danso responsible for a terrible miss a dozen minutes earlier. At least, after failing to register a shot on target at Anfield, Tottenham had more threat: Emi Martinez made a wonderful save from Son Heung Min after 23 minutes.

But while Spurs’ patched-up team had four teenagers, Villa’s injuries could have afforded them a chance. When Ezri Konsa limped off, they did not have an available specialist senior centre-back; indeed, Danso was the only one on the pitch. “I don’t know how else to explain it if you can’t see that this team is just trying to play its hardest in the most extreme of circumstances,” said Postecoglou.

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(Action Images via Reuters)

But, sadly for him, losing under them. Meanwhile, Villa are in the fifth round for the first time in a decade, a strangely wretched record. “I know how much this competition means to the supporters. We have won seven times the trophy,” said Emery. The most recent of these win was in 1957. But while Tottenham long had the reputation as the Cup specialists, those seem distant days too.