Tottenham Hotspur have now tasted victory in just one of their last eleven Premier League fixtures following their loss against 18th-placed Leicester City at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium - a stat which makes for grim reading, but it was also a result which saw The Foxes end a seven-game winless run at Spurs' expense.
In the immediate aftermath, Ange Postecoglou was visibly disturbed by such a shocking result as he told Sky Sports that the defeat "hurts a lot," with his side sitting in 15th place and just eight points above the dropzone.
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Spurs on last legs
The Lilywhites, struggling with a horrendous injury crisis, saw the return of Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr to the squad after they spent the last week in the club's overcrowded treatment room, however, they also lost Djed Spence and James Maddison, who were both feeling sore.
Postecoglou admitted that Sarr should not have been in the squad for the clash with Leicester, but the Senegalese midfielder wanted to play to help his teammates with no one else available.
"I've said all along the players need help and I've also said the club are working hard in that area to try to alleviate some of those problems because Pape Sarr shouldn't have played today. He obviously wasn't fit."
On Thursday night, Spurs dug in deep in the UEFA Europa League to pick up a huge three points in Germany to propel themselves into a generous position ahead of the final League Phase match, but that result took a lot out of the players. Again, Postecoglou was proud of his side's efforts despite being on the wrong end of the result on Sunday afternoon.
"The players are giving everything. From my perspective, I can’t get away from the fact that this group of players are trying as hard as they possibly can to turn our fortunes around."
The side wasn't helped by the loss of Richarlison, who has just returned from nearly twelve weeks out with a hamstring, with the Brazilian, who has scored two goals in his last two Premier League appearances, being subbed off in the 55th minute with a groin issue, much to the dismay of the N17 faithful who booed the substitution.
"He was feeling his groin mate, he should have come off at half-time but he wanted to give another 10 minutes. I could see he wasn’t running well so that is why I took him off."
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Raucous chanting against the board
26 days into the January transfer window and Spurs are yet to make a signing for an outfield player, with the arrival of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky the only piece of business completed to date.
The fans are now witnessing complete and utter negligence from the powers beyond Postecoglou as he aims to keep his job in extremely challenging circumstances with nearly half of his playing squad decimated by injuries, and they are responding to that by in-stadium protests via chants against the board.
Currently, The Lilywhites' Head Coach is being hung out to dry, with success far from a possibility if these issues are not addressed in the remaining days of the winter transfer window - he needs backing and fast. His side are still fighting on all four fronts, with a Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool and an Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round tie at Villa Park awaiting them in the next two weeks.
He was under no illusions that he needs help.
"The players are going out there and giving everything then can because we can't call off games. We've got another game in three days' time that these players have to front up for."
The former Celtic boss was also quizzed on what it was like to hear those chants from the sideline.
"Certainly something I wanted to try and do when I took on this role is to try to unify the club and create an environment here where we are all focused on the one thing. Obviously it hasn’t worked out that way. It’s understandable, like you said, the fans are not happy with our current situation. It is a difficult one to navigate because we need them right now, especially at home to create an atmosphere."
Instead, the Australian opted to focus on just how good and powerful the 62,000+ Tottenham fans can be when they get behind the players and create an intensifying atmosphere which disturbs the opposition.
"It wasn’t that long ago we played Liverpool here and it was a great night. Everyone was focused on the one thing. Like I said, the one thing I keep saying and I think it is important to acknowledge, the players are giving everything for this club and I think that is something that needs to be acknowledged by everyone."
