'It was almost inevitable!' - Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou unsurprised by Man Utd's decision to sack Erik ten Hag

Postecoglou guided Spurs to a comfortable 3-0 win over United earlier this season, and he has claimed that Ten Hag's sacking became "almost inevitable" given the level of scrutiny he was facing. United are currently 14th in the Premier League table and have won just three of their nine games thus far.

Postecoglou has faced criticism of his own this season, with Spurs sitting eighth, five points behind the top four. They were beaten by Crystal Palace at the weekend, and the Australian accepts that the demands facing managers in the Premier League are almost unrealistic.

Postecoglou told reporters of Ten Hag's sacking: "I'm not really shocked. Disappointing as it was, it was almost inevitable with the scrutiny he had.

"If you look at Erik, he was there for two and a bit years. He won a trophy in each year, they finished third in his first year. If he was here with that record would he have lost his job? I don’t know. Would he be under the same scrutiny? I don’t know, because everyone tells me all I have to do is win a trophy, but I have got a feeling it would be the same because, just the nature of the world today.

"As a manager you have to hit a sweet spot where you get success, you play football everyone likes, you get every signing right. In that moment you seem to get some sort of validation. Anything other than that, it seems to be for some clubs they want trophies not football, others want football. It is a difficult task.

"But what you have seen in the past, I’m sure Erik will bounce back from that because he is a good manager. You have seen it with other managers. I’m sure his career will continue to go on strongly."

United appear poised to appoint Ruben Amorim as ten Hag's replacement at Old Trafford, having communicated their desire to pay his release clause to Sporting CP. In the meantime, they face Leicester in the EFL Cup this week, while Spurs play Manchester City.