Ange takes blame for fickle Spurs after Ipswich loss
Ange Postecoglou has suffered another setback in his roller-coaster season with Spurs, and has ended up shouldering the blame for his side’s chronic if familiar inconsistency following a second loss in four days.
Spurs succumbed 2-1 at home to previously winless Ipswich on Sunday, gifting the struggling Tractor Boys their first Premier League victory in 22 years with an insipid display which had social media critics out in force with their criticism of the Australian.
Postecoglou was left reflecting recently that a week is a long time in football, after being derided as a grumpy old so-and-so one week and an all-conquering hero the next.
He may have been thinking the same as a week which had begun with him feeling emotional and humbled while being honoured at the Australian High Commission for his striking contribution to English soccer ended with one of his side’s most deflating displays of the campaign.
Four days after they’d lost to Galatasaray in the Europa League, Spurs lost for the fifth time in 11 Premier League games this season, leaving them 10th, a dozen points behind leaders Liverpool, when a routine win over Ipswich would have catapulted them to third.
Spurs are in the League Cup quarter-finals but they haven’t been able to stretch together more than two league wins in a row this season and have demonstrated wild fluctuations in form, even within the same match.
“It’s just down to me. I’m not getting consistent performances from the players,” Postecoglou told the BBC, when asked about the inconsistency.
“It’s something I need to address. I’m the person in charge so that’s usually the way it goes.
“I take responsibility when their performances don’t meet the levels that they should.”
Poor starts in matches have been a constant thread and so it was again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Spurs fell behind 2-0 by halftime through goals from Sam Szmodics and Liam Delap.
Rodrigo Bentancur’s header pulled one back but it was not enough, with Postecoglou admitting that playing catch-up – this was the 13th time Spurs have gone 1-0 down in 15 home Premier League matches in 2024 – was a problem.
“There are different reasons,” Postecoglou said when asked why it had happened.
“Today was a bit different to other times. We were way too passive.
“If you give the opposition that much of a head start, it takes a lot to claw it back.”
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