Ange Postecoglou has not cut such a sad figure as he did after Tottenham’s humiliating Premier League defeat at Brighton, which he described as “as bad as it gets”
Spurs were coasting to what appeared to be the most straightforward of triumphs on England’s south coast on Monday, outplaying Brighton at the Amex Stadium with some brilliant play to lead 2-0 at halftime thanks to goals from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison.
However, exhibiting the instability that has become a Spurs trademark – and not just under Postecoglou – the Australians were practically unrecognisable after the break, folding so easily that Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter, and Danny Welbeck scored three goals in the space of 18 minutes.
It was the tenth time Spurs had lost a Premier League game after leading by two goals. No other club can match such disheartening statistic.
Postecoglou has been occasionally irritated and often belligerent when Spurs’ performances have been questioned this season, but his response on Sky Sports, with head bowed, was unusually muted.
“That is disappointing. “I’m frustrated, absolutely gutted; that’s probably the worst defeat we’ve had since I’ve been here,” he stated.
“Unacceptable second half. We were nothing near where we should have been, and we had gotten carried away with how things were going.
“We kind of accepted our fate, which is difficult to explain because we haven’t done so since I’ve been here. We’ve always fought for everything, but when you don’t, there’s a cost, and we paid it.
“Perhaps things were going too nicely, and football and life will trip you up if you get ahead of yourself – and that’s how it appeared to me in the second half.
“There is no message [for the players]. It’s the worst possible loss for us, and there’s only one way to solve it – and that’s my obligation.”
What must have irritated the 59-year-old the most was that, after a shaky start to his second season in charge, Spurs appeared to be shifting into high gear, winning five straight games, including an impressive 3-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford last week.
Spurs have dropped to ninth place in the table, when they could have been sixth with a win, and many of Postecoglou’s players will now depart for international service, leaving them with food for thought.
“So they will process individually, and then we’ll deal with it when everybody gets back,” the worker explained.
Spurs’ England international Maddison also conceded on Sky that they had “lost complete control of the game”.
“In adversity in the Premier League, the best teams stay strong in that moment and weather the storm,” according to him. “We definitely did not do that.
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