Tottenham manager Anger Postecoglou said the 3-2 defeat at Brighton was the ‘worst defeat’ of his tenure as Spurs manager and criticized Tottenham’s lack of fight in their defeat at the Amex Stadium.
Tottenham suffered a south coast collapse in the second half as Brighton scored three goals in the 18th minute of the second half, falling behind 2-0 before winning 3-2.
Spurs never looked like they would equalize after Danny Welbeck’s 66th-minute strike, and Postekoglou insisted his side had “accepted their fate” as their five-game winning streak came to a shock end.
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Postecoglou said. sky sports: “I’m disappointed. I’m frustrated. I’m really upset.
“It’s probably the worst loss I’ve had since I’ve been here.
“It was an unacceptable second half. We weren’t at all where we needed to be. We were probably smitten with the way we were going.
“We accepted a fate that was difficult to understand because we had never done anything like it since we got here. We usually fought for everything. When you didn’t pay, we paid.
“Maybe that was part of the problem, maybe things were going too smoothly. If you get too far ahead of yourself, your football and your life will stumble. That’s how I saw it in the second half.”
The stunning defeat left Spurs in ninth place and four points off the top four heading into the October international break.
Asked what message he had for his players, the Australian replied: “There is no message. This is a terrible loss. As bad as it is, there is only one way to fix it and that is my responsibility.”
“We lost all our duels, we weren’t competitive. If we lose all our duels, it won’t matter what we do tactically. We have to be competitive.
“Everyone is away on international duty, so the players will deal with it individually. I will deal with it when everyone gets back.”
Angie: We didn’t deserve anything from the game.
Postekoglou was ‘frustrated’ and ‘disappointed’ by the 3-2 loss to Brighton.
Postecoglou was particularly optimistic during his post-match press conference.
The 59-year-old said: “There are certain things about this team that have remained pretty consistent throughout my tenure: Even in the bad times, we’ve always fought and been competitive. I think that’s been non-negotiable.
“Today, the first day, I felt we didn’t deliver in those areas, either defensively or with the ball.
“Sports are about competition more than anything else. If you don’t compete and allow your opponent to dominate you that way, you’re not going to get anything out of it.”
He added, “We haven’t done the basics of everything we’ve done, for better or for worse.”
“So even when we didn’t win at Newcastle we played well and fought hard until the last minute to win that football game. We didn’t do that today. And every time we’ve played that’s been one of the aspects of our game I felt. It was a factor and I didn’t see that today.”
When asked if he learned anything new about his team, he responded: “I don’t know if I learned anything new, but I definitely experienced something new. All of this makes me emotional right after the game.
“It’s probably the most disappointing loss I’ve had since I’ve been here, in terms of the way we’ve handled this. It’s something I have to evaluate.”
Postecoglou has a lot to worry about during the October international break.
Asked whether he could have brought on a substitute before Brighton’s second or third goal, he said: “Yes, I could have. But none of this has anything to do with me – substitutions and all that.”
“If you’re not competitive, you’re not going to get rewarded for whatever you do. You don’t deserve to win. So we didn’t deserve to see a second half play, regardless of the substitutes or anything else to get something out of the game.
“But I think if you get something out of the game, you’re getting the wrong reward. I don’t want to get the wrong reward.”
Madison: We need to do a better job of dealing with adversity
Yankuba Minte sparked Tottenham’s second-half collapse
Tottenham midfielder james madisonwho put Spurs 2-0 up after Brennan Johnson’s opener, admitted he “lost complete control” after Yankuba Minte’s 48th-minute comeback for Brighton.
the England international said. sky sports: “We couldn’t handle the mental shift and lost complete control of the game after the first goal went in. We handled the momentum very poorly. It felt as if the attack was going on and we couldn’t deal with it.
“Brighton are a good team but when the first goal goes in you have to overcome the adversity of the Premier League and stay strong and weather the storm. The best teams have to stay strong and we didn’t do that.”
“We will have to learn big lessons from the second half of the year if we are to move forward.”
Berbatov: “Tottenham are too good”
Tottenham players look dejected after the collapse against Brighton.
Tottenham have lost a Premier League game for the 10th time when they were ahead by two or more goals, making them the first club to score in double figures and at least three more goals than any other team in the history of the competition.
Dimitar Berbatov He believes his former club is still receiving a soft touch under Postecoglou.
the former Spurs striker said. sky sports: “This kind of thing has happened to Spurs before and continues to happen.
“They’ve had some good games but things are falling apart due to those results or other reasons.
“This is where they have to be mentally strong (after conceding the first goal) and weather the storm, but that didn’t happen for Spurs. If you’re not consistent in your game to stay on top, you suffer.
“I love Spurs.”
Meanwhile, another former Spurs striker ferdinandI believe players should be “embarrassed” by the collapse.
“The players will embarrass the coach,” he said. sky sports.
“The number of fans suddenly increased and they were embarrassed by the performance in the second half.
“That’s the embarrassment and humiliation that stays with you as a player. It stays with you until you play again.”
