Postecoglou needs smoother waters as problems mount for Tottenham
At the end of a weekend of stormy weather across Britain, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou must be thinking it never rains but it pours after another cruel blow for his side.
Tottenham was 2-0 up after 11 minutes against Chelsea on Sunday with goals from Dominic Solanke and Dejan Kulusevski, but ended up losing 4-3 to sit 11th in the Premier League table.
It was its seventh loss in 15 league games this season and the second time it had ended up pointless after leading 2-0.
If that were not bad enough, central defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven, both of whom surprisingly started after recovering from injuries, failed to finish the game.
Romero went off after 15 minutes, just before Jadon Sancho pulled back a goal for Chelsea, while Van de Ven was replaced after 79 minutes because of muscle tightness.
It all felt horribly familiar for Tottenham fans who saw the side lose 4-1 at home to Chelsea last season despite leading — a game they ended with nine men after two red cards and in which Van de Ven and James Maddison sustained long-term injuries.
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At least last season Tottenham had been on a thrilling run in Postecoglou’s early months in charge. This time, however, the mood is becoming increasingly dark, and fans’ patience is wearing thin as his side continues to entertain but keeps losing.
A stretched squad has not helped but Postecoglou is now under pressure to turn things around.
“The players are constantly out there because we can’t rotate,” he told reporters. “They are giving everything they can. It diminishes performances as well because they probably need a rest but we can’t give them a rest.
“I think it is something we need to tackle head on and keep pushing on. There is still plenty to play for us between now and January just to make sure we keep performing.
“I still sense within this squad there is a real conviction in what we are doing and if we maintain that we will turn our season around and hopefully at some point we hit some smoother waters.”
With a Europa League clash away at Rangers this week and a League Cup quarterfinal against Manchester United looming, not to mention a clash with league leader Liverpool, Postecoglou can ill afford to lose Romero and Van de Ven again, especially with defender Ben Davies, striker Richarlison and keeper Guglielmo Vicario also sidelined.
“Romero is just obviously hugely disappointing. He felt something in his quad. He trained really well. He wasn’t the one I was worried about, to be honest,” Postecoglou said.
“It’s just like I said, the way the season’s going for us unfortunately. So we just have to wait and see.
“(Van de Ven) didn’t feel anything significant. He just felt tightness but we were always going to take him off anyway.”
Despite the defeat, Postecoglou was far more positive than after the midweek defeat at Bournemouth when he received some ‘direct feedback’ from disgruntled Tottenham fans in the stands.
“The pain of the defeat today, for me anyway, it doesn’t diminish that we also played very well against a top team and, at times, looked the better side,” he said.
“So, I always look for that in terms of our growth.”
