26 August 2023 , 23:05
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Ange Postecoglou joked about "copying" Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola with his full-back approach in an apparent dig at pundit Gary Neville.
Tottenham's new manager has overseen an impressive start to the season since joining from Celtic. Part of this is down to his use of Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie at full-back, and the pair impressed again in Saturday's victory over Bournemouth.
In the lead-up to the game, former Manchester United defender Neville had made reference to the "Pep Guardiola idea" of full-backs tucking into midfield. Spurs' manager was asked about the approach after Saturday's game, and his reply suggested he was aware of those words.
""I think these coaches have taken a Pep Guardiola idea and made it quite ineffective," Neville had said on Sky Sports. "There is no doubt there is balance between the risk and reward, but Spurs need to adapt."
When pulled up on the matter on TNT Sports, Postecoglou immediately referenced the City manager. "I just copied Pep mate!" he said, before going into greater detail on what his own approach looks like.
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"We do a lot of work on it. It is sometimes about instincts but it's trying to create a system that's as fluid as can be. If there's space there forget you're a full-back, you're footballer in space so go into the space and then its up to us to make sure we're covering the gaps that are left."
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Dejan Kulusevski scored for Spurs in their 2-0 win on Saturday (Alex Morton/Tottenham Hotspur FC/REX/Shutterstock)Udogie had a big part to play in Spurs' victory over Bournemouth, laying on the clincher for Dejan Kulusevski. It was the Swedish international's first goal of the season, and came after James Maddison - signed from Leicester over the summer - delivered his first Premier League goal in Tottenham colours.
Spurs have scored twice in each of their league games so far, while Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola is still waiting for his first league win. However, the former Rayo Vallecano boss is still without some key players.
"The end of the first half and the beginning of the second, we had our best chances," Iraola told BBC Sport. The tie and the game changed completely after the second goal. Some subs helped us keep the press much easier."
"We have very important players out. We knew they would be out for some games, especially the ones in the middle, but we have to keep competing. The competition doesn't wait for anyone and we have to try to step up."