Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou lifted the famous line from the movie Gladiator following the wild ride of victory over Manchester United when he asked: “Are you not entertained?”
It was Postecoglou’s way of answering questions about his cavalier approach, after Spurs threatened to concede a 3-0 lead in Thursday’s Carabao Cup quarter-final before winning 4-3.
The problem is that Postecoglou’s idea of entertainment works two ways – as he and Spurs found out to their cost as they were brutally punished by Liverpool in front of their own supporters.
Liverpool certainly found Spurs highly entertaining in a 6-3 win that was nowhere near an accurate reflection of their superiority. It demonstrated why Arne Slot’s team are in control of the title race with a four-point lead over Chelsea at Christmas, with a game in hand, while Spurs languish in 11th place, eight points off fourth.
Entertainment is never a problem with Spurs under Postecoglou. But pleasure is laced with an element of sporting torture when they are exposed to a team of Liverpool’s world-class attacking quality.
There have now been 30 goals in Spurs’ past five games. Entertaining all right, but 10 of those have been scored against Postecoglou’s team in successive home league defeats by Chelsea and Liverpool. In the latter case, the only question was how Liverpool only scored six while somehow conceding three.
Liverpool’s expected goals total was 4.6 to Spurs’ 1.2. Slot’s team, measured by Opta statistics, carved out nine big chances – testimony to their dominance as well the defensive vulnerability Postecoglou shows little sign of addressing with extra pragmatism.
It would unfair on Postecoglou and Spurs not to point out that he is missing first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario as well as central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven. These are big absentees for a team playing in such an open style, especially Van de Ven, whose pace is so crucial to Postecoglou’s favoured high line.
Postecoglou was also unable to call on the suspended, influential Rodrigo Bentancur. The Uruguayan would have at least offered a greater degree of difficulty in passing through Spurs, something which is simply too easy at present.
Spurs are stretched on numbers, meaning Postecoglou fielded an unchanged side from that which faced Manchester United on Thursday.
No such problems for Liverpool, however, who have now won 12 and drawn three of their 16 league games this season. They also have the highest goal difference of plus 21.
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Ange Postecoglou has seen his Tottenham side concede 10 goals in their past two home league matches
The transition from Jurgen Klopp to Slot has been remarkable in its seamlessness, helped by Mohamed Salah’s apparent determination to rewrite Liverpool’s record books, whether he extends his Anfield contract or not.
Slot has taken what Klopp left him and has, if anything, shaped it into a more controlled, measured machine, with Salah as its spearhead.
The two goals he scored in the second half took him to a remarkable tally of 229 goals in 373 games, moving ahead of the legendary Billy Liddell – who was so influential during his Anfield career that they were often renamed “Liddellpool” – and into fourth place on the club’s list of all-time scorers.
And to show just how good Salah has been, Liddell scored 228 in 534 games, with his 228th goal coming in his 526th appearance.
Salah is now behind Gordon Hodgson with 241 – would you back against him overhauling that this season? – World Cup winner Roger Hunt with 285 and record holder Ian Rush with 346.
He has now scored and assisted more than 10 goals in the Premier League this season, with 15 goals and 11 assists. With just 16 games played, this is the joint-quickest that a player to hit double figures in both categories in a single Premier League campaign since Harry Kane, who also took 16 matches to do it, in 2020-21.
It is also the sixth Premier League season in which Salah’s goals and assists totals have both reached double figures. No-one in the Premier League era can match that.
The statistics offer a numerical measure of Salah’s influence and significance but it goes wider than that – all the more reason why Liverpool must surely be prioritising his signature on a new contract.
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Mohamed Salah has now moved up into fourth in Liverpool’s all-time scorers list
Slot’s incredible run continues
Slot might have looked as if he was taking on the impossible job when he succeeded Klopp in the summer, but Liverpool’s appointment of the former Feyenoord coach looks more like a masterstroke with every passing week.
He has won 21 of his first 25 games in charge, the fastest any manager has reached such a figure in charge of a top-flight English club since William Suddell with Preston in 1888-89.
And with this latest spectacular triumph, it means this is only the third time in Liverpool’s history they have reached Christmas Day without being beaten away from home.
Slot’s calm demeanour and analytical, meticulous approach, differs from Klopp’s more emotion-driven style: low-key waves to Liverpool fans replacing the frantic fist pumps. The current team is a reflection of his personality. The league leaders still possess the attacking riches and threat of his predecessor but with the Dutchman’s tweaks adding greater composure.
He said: “Being top of the league tells you we are a very good team. There are still three games to go until halfway, but if you come here and play the game we did, then it shows you we are a very hard team to beat. If it was easy to win the league then every team would do it.”
This is the 21st time Liverpool have led the league on Christmas Day. They have gone on to win the title in 11 of those previous 20 seasons.
In contrast, this was a day of suffering for Postecoglou as another goal glut meant Spurs have conceded 31 goals in Premier League home games in 2024. That is the most they have shipped at home in the league in a calendar year since the 34 they lost in 2007.
He said: “It was a painful one. Credit to Liverpool. They were too good for us. They’re in a great moment, great form, feeling confident. It was a bridge too far for us.”
If this was a bridge too far for Spurs, there currently seems little to limit the journey Liverpool might take under Arne Slot.