In a moment of intense frustration, Ange Postecoglou lost his composure and vociferously urged his Tottenham squad to demonstrate courage amidst their significant setback against Chelsea.
Tottenham suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of their city adversaries on Thursday evening, dealing a severe blow to their aspirations for Champions League qualification.
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The Blues gained the upper hand when Trevoh Chalobah converted Conor Gallagher’s free-kick with a header, followed by Nicolas Jackson securing a second goal off a rebound after Cole Palmer’s attempt hit the crossbar.
This loss marks Tottenham’s second defeat to local rivals within a span of five days, having previously fallen 3-2 to Arsenal in the north London derby. The outcome leaves them in fifth place, trailing seven points behind Aston Villa. Despite having an extra game to play compared to Villa, the prospect of securing fourth place seems distant at present.
Tottenham’s lackluster performance against Chelsea left Postecoglou visibly incensed. Caught on camera during the 32nd minute, with Tottenham trailing by a single goal, he did not hold back in expressing his dissatisfaction towards his team from the touchline.
Aiming his angry instructions at Cristian Romero & Pape Sarr, he screamed: “Pape, stop passing it f***ing backwards! Pass it forwards! You, pass it forwards.” The outburst prompted Gary Neville’s remark on Sky Sports’ commentary: “He’s having a right go at Sarr and Romero. He’s snapped!”
“Angry Ange! Honestly I’ve never seen him so angry and animated,” Karen Carney said at half-time. “They kept getting into midfield and giving it away and really it’s about [Brennan] Johnson and Son [Heung-min], they missed the ball and they lost possession and gave away this free-kick that led to the goal.”
Despite Ange Postecoglou’s strategic substitutions in the 63rd minute, introducing Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Maddison, and Rodrigo Bentancur in place of Sarr, Yves Bissouma, and Richarlison, the adjustments failed to turn the tide. Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson sealed the deal with a decisive second goal, thwarting any hopes of a Tottenham comeback.
Postecoglou was still very furious in his post-match interview. “It wasn’t good enough and I have to take responsibility for that, it is on me,” he said.
“I am the manager and I am the one putting them out there and it was not good enough. When we put in a performance like we did in the first half it meant my message wasn’t getting through.”
Asked what message he was trying to get across to his players, he said: “Come on mate, we didn’t play well, do you want me to write you a dossier of where it went wrong? I feel like we’ve lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football and that is on me to change that.
“It wasn’t about conceding the [first] goal, it was our approach to playing football and we were nowhere near good enough. That is on me. We’ve been in a bit of a grind for a while now, that is part of our challenge and part of our growth. We have to go out there and perform and sometimes you have to grind out. We were poor today.”
