Guardiola's level of excellence is ridiculous, says Postecoglou

By Martyn Herman

LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Pep Guardiola has set the standard for rival Premier League coaches to reach and the fact he will remain a thorn in their side for another two years should be welcomed, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said on Friday.

Tottenham visit champions Manchester City on Saturday with Guardiola experiencing his worst run since arriving in 2016 and turning the club into the dominant force in English soccer.

City, who have won 18 trophies under the Spaniard including six of the last seven Premier League titles, have suffered four consecutive defeats in all competitions and have slipped five points behind leaders Liverpool.

Postecoglou, whose inconsistent side are 10th in the standings, is paying little attention to their poor form though and spoke in glowing terms about Guardiola, who he got the better of in a League Cup victory this month.

"I think he's fantastic for the Premier League. He keeps setting the standard, which is great for all of us trying to mow him down," the Australian told reporters.

"I mean, it's not easy to win, in different countries, and I know that he's been at big clubs, but as we've seen recently, that's not necessarily transferable to winning things all the time. You've still got to do it.

"So he's maintained a ridiculous level of excellence. The way his team plays. They're always sort of challenging every opponent they face and I guess his energy to maintain that for so long, I think it's been outstanding.

"He'll go down as one of the greats already and I guess the indication that he's re-signed means there's more to come."

Tottenham will go into the game with several players missing including both their regular centre halves after Postecoglou confirmed that Christian Romero would not be available along with Micky van de Ven.

The London club are also without Uruguayan Rodrigo Bentancur who was hit with a seven-match ban by the Football Association for making a derogatory remark about teammate Son Heung-min.

Tottenham are appealing about the length of the ban.

"I've made bigger mistakes than that mate, but I was allowed to learn from them, and hopefully I'm a better human being because of that," Postecoglou said.

While the opening months of the season have been up and down for Tottenham, Postecoglou insists the doom and gloom is misplaced and his side are better than last season.

"Results haven't reflected that. But I still am very bullish and positive about our progress as a team," the former Celtic boss said. "We've got to push on from where we are to get that consistency that I think will reflect in more positive results."

Tottenham have proved tricky opponents for City under Guardiola with last season's corresponding fixture ending 3-3. (Reporting by Martyn Herman Editing by Christian Radnedge)