Over 20 years on from his last match as Tottenham manager, Glenn Hoddle has sympathy for current boss Ange Postecoglou during what has been a tough run. Despite winning three consecutive Premier League games - now the best of any side in the division - the chaotic and destructive start to the season has left Postecoglou under scrutiny throughout.

Although attention has largely gone above his head and towards the way Daniel Levy runs the club - as evidenced by recent protests - Postecoglou has come in for his fair share of criticism as well. His bold summer statements over winning trophies in his second season couple with yet another injury crisis left things at boiling point with results dwindling.

Spurs have been booed off multiple times this year and Postecoglou was confronted by travelling supporters in December after defeat at Bournemouth. Things got worse before they got better, and even reaching the Carabao Cup semi-finals has not been enough to satisfy a disgruntled set of supporters who are eager for change at multiple levels.

As Postecoglou deals with fitness setbacks, outside noise and poor league form up until recently, Hoddle believes that he won't take the recent action or discontent personally. "I think he understands, every football manager and every person understands that it's results-driven, but sometimes there is a story behind the results, and there is at the moment," the club icon told football.london.

"Ange will understand the frustration. I understand the frustration he has gone through by missing so many key players. And the vision that he had for his second year after last year would have been shattered. The rope has been taken from under his feet.

"My only question mark, really, is once you haven't got all your players fit and probably with nine or 10 [unavailable] during that moment, you perhaps cannot play the same way as the way you want to play because you have not got the personnel to do it." Speaking on behalf of TNT Sport, who Hoddle will be representing as a pundit for the midweek round of fixtures, the former England boss explained just how coaches need to adapt to these sorts of testing times.

READ MORE: I'm a Tottenham icon - Daniel Levy is at a crossroads and must make one key decision

READ MORE: Sheikh Jassim has already made major Man Ud takeover decision amid Tottenham links

READ MORE: I’ve got more league goals than Bukayo Saka this term - I’m finally joining Spurs this summer

"The personnel are having to play every game and every minute," he said. "They're on injury alert anyway so it is a double problem. There are times to adjust. When you have everyone fit and able, fantastic, go and play that way with the principles that you want.

"Management, sometimes, I have been in clubs - when I first went to Chelsea - I wanted to play three at the back but I did not have the right players at that time so we adjusted and played a different shape. We got progression that way. It was the same at Southampton.

"I wanted to play three at the back and did not feel like it suited them so we went 4-3-3. It's a challenge and it's a good challenge for a coach. I loved the fact that I had to change a little bit.

"That's what happens when a team plays three at-the-back or five. It's three at the back with the ball but you go into a back four when you defend, if the style of play we are playing against forces you to do that.

"When you've lost the personnel to actually go out and do as you want to, I just feel that is something fans can understand. If we were getting results left, right, and centre, but we aren't.

"We've been beaten by teams down the bottom at times and sometimes in football you have to tuck the belt in a little bit and wait for your better players and your stronger players to come back. Then you go again and the team will be in a better position when you get your strength back.

"That's the only question mark that I would say about this season. But I have every sympathy for Ange with the injuries that he's got. In the long-term it's been absolutely crucifying his plans and that is frustrating."

As injured players have returned there has been an uptick recently. Postecoglou has been waiting for this moment for months and hit back at suggestions that it was a worry when his side 'didn't look like a Postecoglou team' in the face of adversity.

Forced to select a group of youngsters and moving many out of position to accommodate, Hoddle has also been impressed by Postecoglou's ability to stay in line, choosing not to complain openly about the shortcomings in his squad or any of the decision-makers above him, including Levy and Johan Lange. "To be fair, I think that's probably where he's done a really good job, actually," he admitted.

"Ange has kept saying repeatedly for the players and for himself that we can't listen to the noise outside. You've got to reverse that and actually use it and use it for good because if you listen to too many people, you know, I was England manager and crikey, that's a job that if you listen to too many people outside, you'd never do the job.

"You have to be insolent, you have to be able to talk to people, your players, your staff, and just shut the noise out because everyone is going to have a lot of different opinions in football and social media now. Even fans. You just cannot allow that to effect you.

"The main thing is the injuries. Getting the players back, training them, preparing them, playing how you want to play. Getting over the line and getting some results. That's what Ange will be thinking about and I really genuinely think he's the type who will say 'the job wire, if people do not want me here, that will look after itself.' We all know in football that it is results at the end of the day.

"What Ange has gone through at the moment is like a boxer going into a boxing ring and telling them 'you have got to win the heavyweight championship with one arm behind your back.' Do you think he is going to win it? That is what Tottenham have had for two or three months now."

Postecoglou has made similar points himself. Hoddle still thinks that there needs to be improvements at the core of the group in order for Spurs to get back to the level they found under Mauricio Pochettino as a challenger near the top of the table.

"If I'm going to be honest, I look at players and I look at the top teams like Liverpool, Manchester City, and Arsenal, they are the three top teams at the moment," he said, analysing what is available in north London. "How many of Tottenham's players would go into that squad? That's a good question.

"I have not got the answer but that is how you have got to think. Son [Heung-Min] maybe a few years would have gotten into those clubs. [James] Maddison, I think is a talented player, very talented. It has been stop-start a little bit for him since the injuries he has had this season.

"That has stopped him as well as the club and the team and Ange. There's a lot of good players. A hell of a lot of good players. A lot of seven out of tens. Are there enough nine out of tens?

"There are some youngsters, which might bode well if there are four or five youngsters and it looks good for them over the next three or four years and the experience is going to bring them on as a player now. That's the question at this moment in time.

"There's a real group of players who are decent. [Dejan] Kulusevski has had a really good season. I see a little bit of fatigue coming into him for the last couple of games and it is impossible for him to keep playing as well as he did because he needs a rest and he was not able to play as well as he did. He was not allowed a rest.

"I think he was rested on one game, I remember, and he had to come on at half-time. That is what Ange and the players have had to put up with. Over a consistent period of time, maybe [Micky] van de Ven when he's fit, he probably walks into most Premier League sides.

"If you see my point, where I'm going now, it's still a good enough squad to win things. Maybe not the league at the moment but a cup, it's still good enough to do that."

Tottenham can still climb the table and will hope to continue doing so as they face Manchester City on Wednesday. They also have a favourable Europa League last-16 tie and know that all focus will be on securing a place back in the Champions League via winning that competition. With players returning, Hoddle and Postecoglou will hope that they are out of tunnel and into the light.

Watch all 10 fixtures from Matchday 27 of the Premier League, including Tottenham v Manchester City, exclusively live on TNT Sports and discovery+ from Tuesday 25 ^th to Thursday 27 ^th February

Discussing the futures of Tottenham's bright young stars & whether they have a future at the club - click here to listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham

Want breaking and top Tottenham stories sent straight to you? Join our Spurs WhatsApp community by clicking this link. If you're curious you can check out our privacy policy here.