EPL

Ange Postecoglou ‘not relaxed’ by uncertainty over Harry Kane’s Tottenham future

By Sports Desk July 21, 2023

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou admits he is “not relaxed” by the uncertainty over the future of Harry Kane and wants the issue sorted as soon as possible.

England captain Kane has emerged as a prime transfer target for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich this summer.

The 29-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season but, while Bayern continue to push to secure his services and have reportedly lodged two bids for the forward, Spurs’ stance remains the same, they have no intention of selling Kane.

Tottenham’s record goalscorer has also been offered a new contract that is a significant increase on his current £200,000-a-week terms, the PA news agency understands, although reports claim
Kane will not sign a fresh deal this summer.

Postecoglou, who was appointed as new Spurs boss ahead of the new campaign, conceded the situation is not a welcome one. He told reporters, via football.london: “Fair to say I am not relaxed about it!

“It’s not something you go: ‘Ah, well, you know if it does or doesn’t happen!’ I mean it’s a very important part of this football club, not just the team, but the football club.

“So, you’ve got to deal with it, and I think, for everyone concerned, we don’t want to be doing it for too long. I don’t think that is good for anyone. I don’t think it is good for Harry, I don’t think it is good for the club, because as laser focused as we want to be, you end up sort of repeating yourself along the way.

“But the flip side of that is I don’t want to put a deadline on it, because that adds even more pressure. You want these things to happen for the right reasons. The reality of it is he’s still a contracted player at our football club, so that’s the way I see him.

“It’s not like his contract is ending on the 12th [of August] and he’s got to make a decision, he’s got another year.”

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    Ange Postecoglou believes Tottenham's youngsters will have learned a lot from their 3-2 defeat to Galatasaray in the Europa League on Thursday. 

    Yunus Akgun's stunning opener was cancelled out by 19-year-old Will Lankshear's first senior goal for Spurs, before Victor Osimhen's brace put the hosts in control at the break. 

    Lankshear, however, would be sent off for a second bookable offence on the hour-mark, though Spurs did reduce the deficit through Dominic Solanke with a man less. 

    Postecoglou named several inexperienced European players in his starting line-up, with 18-year-old's Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall also starting at Rams Park. 

    But the Spurs boss believes that his younger players will learn from the experience against Okan Buruk's side. 

    "Look, Will took his goal well, he worked hard for the team. Obviously, he hasn't had a lot of experience in senior football, so he would have learnt a lot today," Postecoglou said.

    "The red card, it was a bit of overenthusiasm at that moment to give away a foul, but he'll learn from that. The same with Lucas. Giving him an understanding of the levels here.

    "It is not easy when you are playing away in Europe. You can only allow them to learn that by exposing them to it.

    "I thought Archie was great. It was a tough game for us defensively at different times, but I think we'll get so much growth out of him because he's not playing in his position.

    "I guess for three teenagers in the starting line-up, I think they'll learn a lot from it, and hopefully it helps with their development."

    At 19-years-old and 201 days, Lankshear is now Tottenham’s youngest goalscorer in major European competition since Harry Kane (18-years-old and 140 days) netted against Shamrock Rovers in the 2011-12 UEFA Europa League.

    However, he became the third-youngest player to both score and be sent off in a Europa League game after Aleksandar Mitrovic for Partizan Belgrade in November 2012 (18-years-old and 67 days) and Federico Chiesa for Fiorentina in December 2016 (19-years-old and 44 days).

    Despite the score-ine, Spurs were comfortably second-best against Galatasaray as they suffered their first defeat in the competition this season. 

    They faced 28 shots from their opponents, their most in a game under Postecoglou. 

    It is the most efforts faced by an English team in a Europa League group stage match since Everton faced 39 shots against Wolfsburg in November 2014.  

    And Postecoglou believes his side only had themselves to blame for the defeat, citing a number of mistakes as their undoing in Turkey. 

    "I just felt it was self-inflicted. We had real simple solutions out there to keep the ball. It wasn't that hard. We showed it with 10 men," Postecoglou added.

    "We just needed to be stronger on the ball and play the kind of football we play every week.

    "Maybe it was a little bit the changes I made and the environment and atmosphere, but the moments that stick out to me was giving the ball away.

    "We were playing through them quite easily with 10 men but with 11 men we had nowhere near that conviction and that was disappointing."

  • Clement explains Tavernier omission in Rangers draw with Olympiacos Clement explains Tavernier omission in Rangers draw with Olympiacos

    Philippe Clement explained captain James Tavernier was omitted from Rangers' 1-1 Europa League draw with Olympiacos due to fear of him playing too many games.

    The 33-year-old skipper was utilised as a second-half substitute in a game where Cyriel Dessers cancelled out Ayoub El Kaabi's opener at the Karaiskakis Stadium on Thursday.

    It was a call that raised a few eyebrows given the criticism Tavernier has faced this season, but Clement said it was just about managing the experienced full-back's minutes.

    In quotes reported by BBC Sport, Clement said: "That's never an easy decision, but I want more than one captain in the group.

    "If you come at a certain age you can't play 60 games at the same level. We knew that before the season. It's about competition for spots.

    "It's about one team, winning together. That's Rangers - one team, one family, going for one goal."

    Rangers now have seven points from four games in Europe's secondary competition, sitting just outside the top eight in the table.

    Clement, however, was disappointed not to travel home with the win despite being impressed with the performance.

    "A very strong performance as a team, sticking to the plan, being very disciplined and using the spaces," he added.

    "Disappointed we didn't win the game, that's the next step we need to take. But I saw a lot of positive things and I need to praise the whole team for that.

    "I don't want players happy with a point. We went for the three points and that's the mentality I want to see against any opponent.

    "Our midfield was massive today. Our defence was really solid. Jack [Butland] didn't have to make many saves."

    Rangers are now unbeaten in their last five away matches in the Europa League (W2 D3), equalling their longest such run in the competition’s history (also five unbeaten between October 2020 – March 2021).

    Up next in the competition is Ligue 1 side Nice, who drew 2-2 with Enschede on Thursday. 

  • Olympiacos 1-1 Rangers: Dessers leveller rescues valuable away point Olympiacos 1-1 Rangers: Dessers leveller rescues valuable away point

    Cyriel Dessers earned Rangers a priceless point at the home of the Europa Conference League winners, with his strike securing a 1-1 draw with Olympiacos. 

    The result left Rangers just outside the top eight in the Europa League table, while Olympiacos are one place further back, having picked up seven points from their four games. 

    Dessers, however, squandered a golden opportunity in the 11th minute after being sent through on goal, but could only fire his effort at the legs of Konstantinos Tzolakis. 

    Tzolakis was again on hand to deny the Rangers striker six minutes later, producing a stunning save to tip his effort wide as the Scottish side ended the half in the ascendency. 

    But their good work was undone shortly after the restart when Chiquinho's smart backwards header found Ayoub El Kaabi, who swivelled and rifled the ball into the roof of the net. 

    However, Rangers responded eight minutes later, with Dessers finally getting the better of Tzolakis. The Nigerian skipped beyond the challenge of Panagiotis Retsos before curling the ball home. 

    Both sides pushed to try and find the winning goal in the closing stages, but the spoils were shared at the Stadio Georgios Karaiskaki. 

    Data Debrief: Oh I do love playing away

    Rangers can leave Greece happy with a point, though could have returned to Ibrox with all three after a strong showing against Olympiacos. 

    They ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.13 compared to their opponents' 0.68, despite having three less shots throughout the contest. 

    But their impressive form away from home in Europe continued. They are now unbeaten in their last five away matches in the Europa League (W2 D3), equalling their longest such run in the competition’s history (also five unbeaten between October 2020 – March 2021).

    Dessers also impressed for Philippe Clement's side. He has been directly involved in 10 goals across 13 away appearances in major European competitions (eight goals, two assists). 

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