‘Wasn’t about our football’ – Postecoglou reveals what he told Spurs players after West Ham loss

Ange Postecoglou has said that Tottenham do not have to change anything about their style, admitting that it is a case of the players showing more clarity of thought and belief in the final third.

The most concerning thing for Spurs fans is the fact that all of their recent defeats have followed a very similar pattern, with the team dominating proceedings but unable to make their dominance reflect on the scoreline, only to be caught out as a result of defensive lapses.

It was clear after the loss to Hammers that Postecoglou himself was at the end of his patience, with the Australian cutting a frustrated and angry figure after the game.

The Tottenham head coach has now admitted that the ‘gaps’ that he sees in his side are to be expected, given that they are only at the start of their project.

When asked what he said to the players after Thursday’s loss, Postecoglou told Football.London: “With the players, I allow them to get to the space they want to. I give them clarity about what I think and it’s about how they embrace that, how they execute that, what they think themselves. When I spoke to them last night, it wasn’t about our football.

“It was about understanding our football will get us to a certain point and if we want to get beyond that point, that’s where we’ve got to really be disciplined and have conviction about who we are and what we want to do. It’s only natural that at the beginning of the cycle, there is going to be some gaps there. That’s where our gaps are.”

When asked if having that conviction is more of a technical or a mental attribute, he responded: “Bit of both. You want that responsibility so when the ball falls for you, you embrace that.

“It’s a mental thing, and then it’s the conviction in your technique to execute, to not rush, to not be in a position where you have to do something that is way out from the norm of what you normally do.

“Goalscoring is the hardest thing in football. We know that. At the same time there’s a methodology and a mindset that when you get into those areas, if you follow and you’re really disciplined and you have conviction in what you’re doing, you give yourself a better chance.

“When you look at the game against West Ham we got into some great areas, had some great opportunities and we didn’t really test the goalkeeper or the opposition.”

Tottenham need confidence but not arrogance

Postecoglou noted that the players needed to take more responsibility rather than believing that their style of football alone will eventually help them break down the opposition.

He added: “Wherever I’ve been it’s been a similar experience where sometimes it creeps into the mindset of the players that the football alone will give you that. If we play a certain way we’re definitely going to score, definitely going to win, and that’s not the case. There’s still an execution.

“There’s still what they bring as people to finish all that off. If you look at our football you would say ok we were very dominant, particularly in the first half but that’s proven that that’s not enough.

“If you really want to finish that off you have to be able to execute. The football won’t do that, it has to be the individual and the team as a collective.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Most of these players have been used to a counter-attacking approach for the last few years, not having had much experience dominating possession and coming up against an extremely low block.

So, there was always going to be a steep learning curve at the start of Postecoglou’s spell. That has been exacerbated by the fact that we have lost our most creative player in Maddison, and Postecoglou has not been able to turn to fresh legs in attack due to the injuries to Solomon and Perisic.

There are still plenty of positives to be taken from our performances and there is no reason for fans to panic.

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