Spurs' season in freefall after sorry defeat at Villa

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.

- RICHARD JOLLY

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.”

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.