Ange Postecoglou is said to ‘feel betrayed’ by Tottenham Hotspur fans after some sections of the crowd’s reaction to their defeat against Manchester City.
Spurs were beaten 2-0 at home by Pep Guardiola’s side on Tuesday (May 14), a result that put City on the verge of lifting their fourth consecutive Premier League title and denying arch-rivals Arsenal in the process – something that seemed more important to some sections of Lilywhites. Postecoglou became visibly enraged by the celebrations and sneers from the home fans towards their own players and confronted one supporter behind the dugout in a fit of rage.
The Aussie remained furious with the lack of support behind his side as the defeat simultaneously ended Spurs’ chance of qualifying for the Champions League next season, as Aston Villa confirmed a fourth place finish. He was simmering with anger during a press conference when he slammed the “fragile foundations”, both “inside and outside” the club – seemingly a dig at supporters.
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Following Postecoglou’s outburst, OLBG spoke to body language expert Darren Stanton who analysed the 58-year-old’s facial and body expressions during the post-match press conference. “The first thing to bear in mind is that his voice tone is very low and his speech is very laboured, that is submissive,” He said.
“When we are in a good and confident mood we tend to blow our own trumpet and have our head and our shoulders up with a straight posture. His head is down and it’s dipped, it’s almost as though he is praying. He’s making himself smaller which shows you his mood.
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“The first thing I noticed is a flash of anger in a micro expression, his eyebrows are pulled together and his eyes squint while his lips pierce. He almost immediately bites his lip, that’s a self-assurance gesture. He’s got this kind of anger and feels betrayed. He’s on the verge of bursting into tears.
“If you zoom in on his eyes, you can see them welling up. He’s got a myriad of emotions that he’s trying to fight back against and mask but not very well.”
Stanton added that Postecoglou’s reaction gives off a ‘sense of betrayal’ from Spurs fans, he continued: “He’s a very emotional man, you can see this anger mixed in with sadness and a sense of betrayal [from Tottenham fans]. It’s a pallet of different emotions that he’s trying to mask in his press conference.
“He says that he doesn’t care but he does care which you can see with his shoulder shrug. He uses the phrase ‘inside and outside’ so he feels like his foundation and trust of certain people has been decimated.”