Ange Postecoglou takes ‘duty’ for Tottenham’s ‘unacceptable’ show in north London derby defeat by bitter rivals Arsenal as he labels it ‘nowhere close to ok’
- Tottenham lost 2-1 to Arsenal having been in the lead after Son’s early goal
- Ange Postecoglou took the blame for the loss and ‘unacceptable’ performance
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Ange Postecoglou blamed himself for Tottenham‘s derby defeat against Arsenal – but insisted they will keep plugging away with their gung-ho style.
Tottenham had lead after Son Heung-min‘s 25th-minute goal but went in 2-1 down at half-time after an own goal from Dominic Solanke and Leandro Trossard‘s bottom-corner strike.
Spurs came out all guns blazing as Brennan Johnson and James Maddison came on for the second half but Postecoglou’s attack-first men managed just two shots on target all evening.
Their second derby shortfall of the season leaves them languishing 13th in the Premier League with 11 defeats – a personal record for this stage of the campaign and more than Ipswich Town.
‘We weren’t good enough, especially in the first half, we were too passive and let Arsenal take the game, second half was better but nowhere near good enough and unacceptable,’ Postecoglou said.
‘Ultimately I guess the responsibility lays with me. It wasn’t our intent when we started the game, second half was better but first nowhere near the standards we want to set.
Ange Postecoglou has taken the blame for Tottenham’s defeat by Arsenal on Wednesday
He claimed their second-half performance was ‘unacceptable’ and ‘nowhere near’ their level
Arsenal have done the double over Spurs for the fifth time in Premier League history
‘I’m more interested in about how we go about playing our football.
‘We have no choice, go back to work and prepare for a tough game.
‘They hurt me but they are not acceptable, we have had too many losses this year, too many games getting away from us and that needs to stop.
‘If you give up now there’s no point but it needs to stop. Right now we have a big game on the weekend and that’s our focus.’
Tottenham travel to Everton on Sunday and could end the weekend as low as 15th, which would be equivalent to their worst-ever Premier League finish under Ossie Ardiles in 1993-94.
In one aspect it was a positive night for Son, who scored his ninth goal against Arsenal and become the fifth-highest scorer in London derbies – that’s right, any derby in the capital.
But Spurs have now lost four of their last five Premier League games, drawing the other with Wolves, and sit 14 points off fourth-placed Newcastle.
