Ange Postecoglou admitted that his Tottenham side were “not threatening enough” in their 2-1 defeat by Wolves on Saturday as they slipped out of the Champions League spots.
Joao Gomes’ double helped Wolves inflict Spurs’ fourth home defeat in the league this season: a result which undermines the hosts’ pretensions to a top four finish.
The 23-year-old Gomes broke the deadlock on the stroke of half time, rising to steer home Pablo Sarabia’s inswinging corner. Not one Spurs player minded to meet him at the summit.
If Postecoglou delivered the dressing-down Tottenham’s first half showing warranted, it worked immediately. Dejan Kulusevski needed just 34 seconds to restore parity, pouncing on a loose ball before poking in through Jose Sa’s legs.
But hopes of a comeback win were dashed when Gomes finished off a Wolves move which started from a Spurs corner and opened up over the length of the pitch. Pedro Neto carried the ball some 70 yards before Gomes fired his cut-back past Guglielmo Vicario.
On the performance
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Postecoglou acknowledged his side’s slow start. He said: “Similar to the last couple of games we didn’t start the game well. The first half wasn’t great. We controlled the game well enough, we just weren’t threatening enough and we didn’t really capitalise on moments that we had.
“Even without pressing it wasn’t our usual level and then you’re chasing the game. They’re a good team on the counter-attack, they kind of set up that way.
“Second half, we had them camped in their half, sometimes in their box, and created some decent opportunities. But obviously conceded a second and then you’re obviously chasing a game of football. We couldn’t overcome it today.”
Postecoglou poured scorn on suggestions that injuries to first choice full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie were to blame for the result.
He quipped: “We’ve had a lot of injuries this year and we’ve certainly played a lot better than that. I don’t think that’s the reason.”
On giving up chances
Tottenham concede 13.7 shots per game, the eighth most in the Premier League. No team in the top half allows their opponents more looks at goal than Spurs.
This is symptomatic of Postecoglou’s free-flowing, attacking mandate in which his full-backs are required to get forward, often bombing into spaces typically occupied by number 10s.
By now Spurs fans will be well-versed in the Australian’s belief that attack is the best form of defence.
“We conceded two or three good chances on the counter-attack,” he said. “Against Wolves that’s going to happen. But… if you get a foothold in the game and put the opposition under pressure it limits the opportunities they have the other way.
“But ultimately when you’re not successful everything looks like it’s garbage, but that’s not the way I look at football. The same way I didn’t think we were super great leading into this game.”
Spurs will have to wait a fortnight to right their wrongs owing to Chelsea’s involvement in next weekend’s League Cup final. They will next welcome Crystal Palace to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on March 2.
Asked how he plans to sure up his defence during the extended break, Postecoglou quipped: “There are no tricks. It’s hard work. I’m not a magician, I’m a football manager. So it’s hard work, which these guys have done all year.”
On James Maddison
James Maddison’s recovery from injury at the end of January marked the return of their most effective creator. But while he has by no means disappointed, he is yet to rediscover the blistering form which saw him blitz nine goals and assists in the opening 11 games of the season.
His manager has no concerns about the midfielder’s fitness but insisted that his side is based on the success of the group, not of individuals.
“He’s ready, he’s fit,” Postecoglou explained. “If we’re looking for individuals, we’re not that team. We’re not at that level to rely on individuals to win us games of football. For us, what’s got us to this point is the collective.
“We work really hard as a team, we’ve been really committed to something and that’s what’s got us to the point where we are now. We’re not a team that’s got individuals that are going to win games of football on their own. We don’t have those players, we don’t want to have that kind of team.”
