Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou bemoaned the “soft” goals his side conceded in the 2-0 loss at Fulham as they suffered their 15th defeat of an “unacceptable” Premier League campaign.
“Fifteen defeats nowhere near good enough,” said Postecoglou following their latest loss at Craven Cottage, where former player Ryan Sessegnon added insult to injury by scoring Fulham’s second.
The result leaves Spurs languishing in 13th, with 34 points from 29 games, having lost their joint-most games at this stage of a league season since 1997-98.
Any prospect of European football next term rests entirely on winning the Europa League.
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FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Fulham’s match against Tottenham in the Premier League
“I said to the players, I’m not going to let anyone just think about Europa and nothing else,” Postecoglou said.
“We can’t let this league season go the way it has. We’ve lost way too many games, unacceptable.
“I understand the supporters’ frustrations with that. It was another day where we let a game get away from us when we shouldn’t. We had chances to go 1-0 up which would have put pressure on them, then they scored a really soft goal.
“Today the opposition haven’t blown us off the park. For 75 minutes we were where we wanted to be, the fact we come out of that game with nothing is disappointing.”
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Jamie O’Hara says Tottenham Hotspur’s standard of performance has not been good enough in the Premier League and Postecoglou’s style has been ‘found out’
A crucial victory over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday night kept alive Spurs’ campaign with Europa League progression and Postecoglou shuffled his pack with seven changes in west London.
That decision ultimately came back to bite the Australian as, after a dull first 45 minutes and a series of squandered second-half chances, Rodrigo Muniz and latterly Sessegnon pounced.
Asked if it is difficult to get his players motivated for the Premier League, Postecoglou added: “I don’t think so. Hope not. We made a lot of changes today.
“When we get back [from the international break] this is going to be our schedule we need to make sure we have as many [players] in good condition.
“They had to play today to top them up. We had to rest a couple as well. Sometimes players go through these spells and he needs to find a way to break through that.”
Bissouma hooked as Postecoglou tries to manage squad
Postecoglou calls Tottenham’s season ‘unacceptable’ and critiqued Yves Bissouma, who was hooked at half-time
Sky Sports’ Peter Smith:
Postecoglou spoke plainly when asked why Yves Bissouma had been subbed off at half-time for the second Premier League game in a row. “Sometimes Biss lets the game drift by him,” said the Tottenham boss. “He needs to be more dominant in the way he gets on the ball. The game gets away from him and today we needed more in that position.
“But at the same time Biss and a few others are lacking a bit of confidence.”
His replacement, Lucas Bergvall, added impetus and energy after the break at Fulham and was unfortunate not to win a penalty at 1-0 down. So why not start him? Because Bergvall – just 19 – started in the Europa League win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday and Postecoglou is trying to get the balance right in his squad.
“We need to make sure we have as many in good condition [as we can],” he said, referring to the seven changes he made from the AZ win. “They had to play today to top them up. We had to rest a couple as well.”
The Europa League quarter-final with Eintracht Frankfurt is the priority for Spurs now. Postecoglou wants as many options on the pitch and on the bench ready to swing that tie their way. But he has also described Spurs’ 15 Premier League defeats this term as “unacceptable” and Mathys Tel was filmed trying to placate Spurs fans after the final whistle at Craven Cottage.
Getting the balance right between rotating in the league but still delivering performances and results to maintain confidence and momentum for the key European nights is going to be a challenge.
