‘We’re nowhere near Chelsea’ financially or in volume of players – Ange Postecoglou | OneFootball

Tottenham play Chelsea on Sunday and Ange Postecoglou says his side cannot compete with Chelsea from a financial standpoint or even in terms of sheer volume of players.

The two sides go into the game in very different form. Chelsea are second and have just beaten Southampton 5-1, whilst Spurs are 10th and have just suffered a demoralising 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

Speaking about the difference between the sides, Postecoglou said: “It’s the sheer volume that they’ve invested both from a financial perspective, but also a numbers perspective that we’re nowhere near. The players we’ve signed are not only young in age, but also young in experience.

“I mean, Archie Gray made his senior debut last year in the Championship. The teenagers we signed weren’t really experienced either. As I said, I think it’s different in both approaches. Almost impossible to compare what we’re trying to do.”

It is a fair point, as Chelsea have invested heavily in youth, spending over £1billion in the last three years, most of that on very young players. Spurs have spent around £100 million on players of a similar age.

Another key issue for Tottenham has been injuries, which the Tottenham coach was keen to point out. He added: “It’s pretty evident, but if Vicario, Van de Ven, Romero, Bentancur, Richarlison, Odobert, if five of those were available last night, if even four of those were available at Bournemouth, you know [things would be different].

“We had to sign younger and start building. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have got the injuries we have, or the suspensions, or the illnesses, or the whatever else we’ve got. And the squad would look a lot healthier. But where we are right now, obviously we’re nowhere near the level we need to be.”