Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou cut a calm figure after his side’s FA Cup win over Tamworth on Sunday - but that hasn’t always been the case this season.

While Spurs have struggled in the Premier League, they have fared much better in cup competitions. Postecoglou’s side hold a 1-0 lead in their two-legged Carabao Cup semi-final with Liverpool, scraped through to the FA Cup fourth round, and are chasing a top-eight spot in the Europa League. That is in stark contrast to their league form, with Spurs winning one of their last eight games and slipping to 12th in the table.

Tottenham’s last league defeat against Newcastle saw Postecoglou fume over refereeing decisions, but the manager refused to criticise the officials. Instead, he continually used a version of the phrase “if everything was equal” when answering questions, but reporter Faye Carruthers claimed it was not the first time Postecoglou had lost his cool in post-match press conferences.

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“He’s started to unravel a bit in terms of his post-match. Pre-match, I had a lovely chat with him [vs Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day] and he’s so polite and really engaging, which everybody says he’s like,” Carruthers said on the Seaman Says podcast, sponsored by Betway. “He was really lovely, very respectful, very nice.

“But post-match, it started fine but he accused me of putting words in his mouth, which I hadn’t, I’d just interpreted what he’d said in terms of the energy levels. It’s really difficult, I’m trying to give him an opportunity to explain the positives because actually I thought they’d played really well against Forest. It was a much tighter game, and they played better than they had done. But ultimately lost it.”

She added: “The post-match interviews that he gave to more than one outlet after the game against Newcastle were really spiky and a little bit disrespectful to reporters, which he has been on occasion before as well.”

In an interview with the BBC after the Newcastle match, the Spurs boss used a similar phrase nine times to avoid calling out a possible refereeing mistake. "No, because I know what everyone wants me to say, but all I'll say is that on any other day, on a fair and even playing ground, we would have won that game. Simple as that,” Postecoglou said.

Spurs avoided embarrassment but did require extra time to overcome National League side Tamworth 3-0 at the weekend. There is no rest for Tottenham, though, who head to Arsenal in the North London Derby on Wednesday, and Carruthers believes the pressure of Spurs being 12 points outside the top four is beginning to shine through in his interviews.

“The reason I get annoyed with people calling him “Ange” or “Big Ange” is because he’s not your mate,” Carrithers explained.

“But having interviewed him once, I don’t think he is arrogant. I just think he’s under an incredible amount of pressure and that things aren’t going his way this season.”

The Spurs board are continuing to back Postecoglou but there is no doubt he is under pressure following some very poor results this season.