Vicario's fury with Tottenham team-mates, Postecoglou's Hojbjerg chat and those Liverpool links
There was a certain irony to the fact that Ange Postecoglou had given his Tottenham players four days off to rest and recover and jet off around the world during their 12-day mini-winter break yet they looked anything but fresh at times against Manchester City.
Spurs had mustered plenty of stamina from their deep reserves during the depths of their injury crisis in recent months but they needed to summon up belief against a City side that they simply showed too much respect to.
Postecoglou pointed out after the game that Pep Guardiola's side have been eight years in the making whereas his team is just six months old. That said, the Australian's version of Tottenham has rarely given little regard to the opposition's status.
On Friday night, they showed too much of the fear that Postecoglou had done so much to eradicate since walking through the doors. City were able to show why there are the Premier League champions and the holders of the FA Cup. They had 57% of the possession and played 528 passes to Spurs' 385, the reverse of the kind of figures Spurs produce most weeks.
The visitors had 18 shots at goal with five on target, while Tottenham could only muster one shot during the entire 95 minutes, Brennan Johnson's poked effort on the run into the onrushing Stefan Ortega's chest.
The north London side defended well, meaning Guglielmo Vicario had only four saves to make, just two of them giving him much of a test. In the end the Italian, so good this season, played his part in helping City score their winning goal, a weak punch under pressure into the back of the excellent Micky van de Ven, which allowed Nathan Ake to touch home the loose ball.
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