Ange Postecoglou says even in-form Liverpool ahead Mohamed Salah would discover life a wrestle in the intervening time within the Tottenham crew he manages.
Spurs are set to face the Reds within the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final on Wednesday (20:00 GMT), throughout a tough run of kind.
Tottenham have misplaced three and drawn one in every of their previous 4 matches, together with a 6-3 Premier League defeat by Liverpool on 22 December.
Egypt worldwide Salah scored twice in that recreation and has netted 21 targets from 27 appearances in all competitions throughout a very eye-catching marketing campaign.
Nevertheless, under-pressure Postecoglou believes even having an “unbelievable participant” in Salah at his disposal would have finished little to enhance their fortunes.
“Mo is a world-class participant, however in the event you put him in our crew now I am unsure he’ll have that very same degree of efficiency due to the state of affairs we’re in as a gaggle,” stated the Spurs boss.
“His attacking play, who do you want? You want a crew that is type of in good kind, creating alternatives, taking part in on the entrance foot, having a very stable basis of a defence that’s cohesive. None of these items exist in the intervening time.”
Spurs head into the match in opposition to Arne Slot’s facet with the information that captain Son Heung-min will keep on the membership till not less than the summer time of 2026 after activating an choice to increase his contract.
Son has scored 169 occasions in 431 Spurs appearances, together with seven targets in all competitions this season.
Postecoglou felt the South Korean’s kind doesn’t mirror his true capacity in comparison with fellow 32-year-old Salah.
“You have all the time acquired to offer context. He [Salah] is taking part in in a implausible crew which might be flying in the intervening time,” he defined.
“I would hazard to say that in the event you put Son Heung-min in Liverpool’s crew, I reckon his goalscoring return could be first rate. It is arduous for our gamers in the intervening time, they’re making an attempt awfully arduous to be the perfect they are often.
“However after we’re at our greatest, I nonetheless suppose you will see Sonny’s return, when it comes to his capacity to attain targets and be actually efficient for us. I do not suppose that is diminished in any respect.”
