Ange Postecoglou took responsibility for Tottenham’s inconsistent form after Sunday’s defeat to Ipswich, saying it is down to him to “fix” the club’s yo-yoing results.
“Ultimately it comes down to me and my approach and something I need to try and fix it and see if I can help the players in that area,” the head coach said after the 2-1 loss in north London, which left Spurs with five wins and five defeats from 11 Premier League games.
So where is it going wrong for Spurs and what are some of the issues Postecoglou will be mulling over during the international break?
Spurs are still porous defensively
The most significant big-picture problem facing Postecoglou is his side’s continued struggles defensively.
Spurs have managed just two clean sheets in the League this season and remain prone to giving up big chances to any opposition, even when they are playing well.
On Thursday, an admittedly patched up side allowed Galatasaray to have 28 shots in a 3-2 defeat, while Ipswich had already struck the crossbar and forced a save from Guglielmo Vicario before Sammie Szmodics’ opened the scoring.
Sammie Szmodics’ goal for Ipswich was the 13th time Spurs have fallen behind at home in 2024
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Even in their best results this season, such as the 3-0 wins over Manchester United and Qarabag, there were periods of the game when Spurs might easily have conceded (Qarabag’s expected goals metric was 2.43).
Great teams are almost always built on a solid foundation and, at present, Spurs are just far too easy to score against to be considered a serious side.
… so they keep falling behind
Perhaps as a result of the above, Spurs have developed a habit of conceding first – demonstrated again against Ipswich.
They have now fallen behind 13 times at home in 2024 (one shy of equalling a Premier League record for a calendar year).
To their credit, Spurs have recovered to win eight of those games, including the 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa a week ago, but having to come from behind requires mental and physical effort and is simply not a sustainable route to success indefinitely.
Sunday’s game simply felt like one comeback too many.
If Spurs are to be more in control of matches, they must be better from the start, as Postecoglou acknowledged.
“We can’t start games like that at this level and expect to overcome the gap that exists between us and the other teams,” he said.
Stretched squad starting to look thin
Postecoglou rejected the suggestion that his squad is struggling to cope with the schedule after Sunday’s game – “If we were seeing that we’d probably feel it more at the end of games and we’re not feeling it at the end of games,” he said – but clearly Spurs are being stretched by playing three times every week.
Postecoglou was only missing four players on Sunday, and yet there was no recognised centre-half on the bench and Timo Werner, himself struggling with a groin problem, was the only forward among the substitutes.
Heung-min Son is among the Spurs players who have appeared jaded in recent weeks
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Some players, including full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie and captain Heung-min Son appear jaded.
And the gap between certain starters and their understudies – for example, Micky van de Ven and Radu Dragusin or Son and Werner – also feels gaping, meaning Spurs quickly drop a level or two when some of their stars are absent.
Ultimately, on their day most of Postecoglou’s trusted players are capable of brilliance but many of them are still struggling to execute his game-plan on a consistent basis.
Postecoglou slow to use his bench
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, but some of Postecoglou’s decisions on Sunday were puzzling.
Chiefly, why ignore substitute James Maddison until the 83rd minute when Spurs were so short of spark?
In the defeats to Brighton and Palace, Postecoglou was also oddly reluctant to use his bench even after it felt obvious in both games that the momentum had turned against Spurs.
Ange Postecoglou has been oddly reluctant to use his bench
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There is also a lingering case that Spurs need to be more adaptable and less predictable, particularly with the ball.
Galatasaray and Ipswich both looked well prepared for their opponent in the first half, suggesting Spurs can be too easy to play against when they are not at their best.
It is easy to wonder if Spurs are simply a little complacent at times.
Postecoglou actually suggested it might have been a factor in the collapse from 2-0 up to lose at Brighton and their subsequent League defeats have come against previous winless sides: Palace and Ipswich.
Spurs went into both those games on the back of 4-1 home wins over West Ham and Villa, and perhaps they expected an easier ride from a struggling opponent.
Postecoglou has admitted his squad is short of “leadership and maturity”, helping to explain why they are often poorer on the road than at home, and plainly this is not yet a squad with the mentality needed to compete at the highest level every week.
