It was another example of how things keep on conspiring against Ange Postecoglou and Tottenham. At least, that was how the manager wanted to frame it after the 4-3 home defeat by Chelsea on Sunday. At 2-0 up it was looking good but this is Spurs, where stability has proved elusive, where problems can strike at any time. Often at the best of times.
So it was that Cristian Romero had to go off with a thigh injury in the 15th minute. The influential centre-half had passed a fitness test, having missed the previous four games with a toe issue, and, of course, he just had to feel the new setback after an extravagantly risky backheel move inside his own area on eight minutes.
Romero tried to continue but he had to accept defeat and, moments after his departure with Spurs trying to reorganise with his replacement, Radu Dragusin, on the field, they conceded to Jadon Sancho for 2-1. Spurs had looked open before Sancho’s goal and that became only more pronounced, especially in the second half. But nobody knows how it would have played out if Romero had not gone down.
Postecoglou had other gripes over matters beyond his control. He felt that the Chelsea midfielder Moisés Caicedo ought to have been sent off for a lunge into Pape Sarr’s shin in the 34th minute. It was still 2-1 and, again, that might have put a different complexion on the game.
The manager was introspective, gloomy, even a little resigned about the state of affairs. Spurs, who lag 11th in the table, cannot gain traction or momentum, he said. “Every time we’ve seemed to, something comes along and disrupts us.” Take the 4-0 Premier League win at Manchester City on 23 November, the best result of Postecoglou’s season and a half in charge. It turned out the goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had fractured his ankle and would be out for three months.
Postecoglou returned to the Romero situation. “These things come along and you just go: ‘Here we go. Another challenge for us. Nothing is really running smoothly.’ The crowd probably senses that as well and it almost becomes a self‑fulfilling thing where you are almost expecting things to go wrong.”
The Australian can be tetchy after defeats, but not here. He sought to engage, to explain. It was almost an appeal. People needed to realise that injuries have bitten in specific areas – central defence, the front three – restricting his ability to rotate. Players would benefit from a rest but it is not possible. And at such a bad time, too, with the schedule remorseless.
Yet one line from Postecoglou stood out. It was not just, as he said, that it was “the way our season has gone so far”. He added: “It went like that last year … it’s not like since I have been here this is unusual territory.”
When the same things keep happening and the sample size is big, it is a moment to look deeper. Postecoglou has admitted previously that his squads will sustain more muscular injuries than can be deemed normal because of his full-throttle approach to training and matches. So what is the solution? Have more players he can trust?
The other recurring and damaging theme is the lack of resilience and composure in the difficult periods. There is a vulnerability about this team and it is not going away. Zero in on the past couple of months, beginning with the 3-2 defeat at Brighton when a 2-0 lead was thrown away. That was the day when Postecoglou raged about the absence of fight.
In the soul-searching after the 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace on 27 October, Postecoglou said the team were “struggling in difficult moments” because they “lack some maturity and leadership”.
In the next game – at home against City in the Carabao Cup – they led 2-0 and yet a concession for 2-1 before the interval came to feel certain. You could feel the edginess inside the stadium. It duly happened, the prophecy fulfilled and at that point, many Spurs fans feared another 3-2 loss. To the team’s credit, they regrouped for the second half to win and advertise a turning point. How is that looking now?
After the 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth last Thursday, Postecoglou talked about the need to “break that cycle of not showing the belief and resilience in key moments”. Against Chelsea, they did not show the belief and resilience in key moments, missing chances and suffering rushes of blood to concede penalties for 2-2 and 4-2. The errors did not happen in a vacuum. Spurs were too easy to play through. There was an inevitability about the Chelsea comeback.
It is linked to the transition upon which Spurs embarked in the summer of 2023 after they finished eighth. There has been an emphasis on smart young signings and they need time; they will make mistakes as part of their development. Adding players in their prime years (probably for big fees) is not a part of the project.
Equally, there is a tactical dimension which talks to Postecoglou’s commitment to attacking football. When you play forward-thinkers in the full-back positions and demand they push up and when you rely on a ball-playing No 6, it is likely to encourage high jinx, back and forth, a lack of control.
There is much to like about Postecoglou and his approach – the desire to entertain at all costs; to remain true to who he is and his principles, also to a fault. What do Spurs want? What do they want to be? Surely a major consideration is to have a team that stir the passions, that the fans can get behind.
It is impossible to overlook the financial context. According to Deloitte’s most recent report, for 2022-23, Spurs had the fifth-highest wage bill, significantly behind City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United – in that order. They were just ahead of Arsenal. The figures are unlikely to have changed much, meaning that by this important metric Spurs ought to finish fifth or sixth. Arguably Postecoglou’s biggest problem is that the supporters would like more.
