Ange Postecoglou ‘broken’ after another Tottenham defeat, says ‘we deserved to win’

LONDON — Ange Postecoglou adapted. His idealistic view of how Tottenham should play football has been tempered in recent games, and it was tempered again today. However, there are only a limited number of adjustments that can be made once cracks have become cracks. Any manager, regardless of their penchant for pragmatism, would find that there are no reasonable adjustments to the digital crisis in which Tottenham find themselves.

It was bad enough before Destiny Udogie pulled a hamstring against Wolves, let alone when a sickness bug took hold of Fraser Forster. When Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon glanced at the team sheet on Saturday morning, they would have seen them lining up against Tottenham’s third-choice goalkeeper, third-choice centre-back, right-back second or third choice on the opposite flank, Radu Dragusin and an 18-year-old player. former midfielder moonlighting as a central defender. The latter two had “literally gotten out of the sickbed to play together,” Postecoglou explained. Dragusin, “broken at halftime”, would not return in the second half, leaving debutant Brandon Austin protected by Archie Gray and Djed Spence.

Long before that, Postecoglou had made his modifications. Since Spurs blew a 2-0 home lead against Chelsea, they have lined up with a double pivot in midfield rather than their manager’s preferred 4-3-3. Given the need to protect the back line, it was immediately apparent today that the intensity of Tottenham’s press was not what it used to be. The line was still extremely high – some things will never change – but reasonable adjustments were made in light of the situation Spurs find themselves in.

With Rodrigo Bentancur suspended and Yves Bissouma deserting, it fell to Lucas Bergvall to step in alongside Pape Matar Sarr. He did so valiantly for an hour, earning praise from his manager. “Lucas, today was incredible, at 18 years old, to play in this position. I see so many reasons to be positive.”

Bergvall accepted the pressure placed on him by Newcastle’s tough and dynamic midfield of seasoned internationals. The teenager carried the ball fearlessly as he escaped the attention of Joelinton and Bruno Guimaraes. Without it, Pedro Porro might never have seen the space to squeeze in and deliver the cross from which Dominic Solanke opened the scoring.

It’s just that at the most decisive moment, Bergvall was one of many young players whose inexperience was being punished. Gray was closer to the Newcastle press than he should have been to receive Brandon Austin’s pass, but of course he was. Another 18-year-old, this one playing in central defense despite being a natural midfielder, can be forgiven in his first season in the Premier League for not understanding why he needed to be at away from the penalty box rather than ahead.

Bergvall wanted to push the ball past Joelinton and send Spurs flying up the field. Just 90 seconds earlier, which had led to his side’s opener, this would now allow Newcastle to equalise. The ball pushed against the Brazilian rather than around him, Guimaraes slipped into Anthony Gordon and the lead disappeared on a low drive that a keeper with more experience than Austin could have put a glove on.

Postecoglou seemed to believe that this was the moment when the match changed. He was “as angry as I have ever been in my career that players are being denied appropriate rewards for a fantastic performance.” If he had never actually verbalized exactly what he was referring to, he would end up suggesting that a handball that wasn’t, in the build-up to the goal, was the cause of his fury.

“I am heartbroken that the boys did not receive the rewards they deserved,” he added. “Our football was exceptional against a very good opponent, in form and in a good position. I thought it was brilliant, exceptional and it was a match we deserved to win.

“I know what everyone wants me to say (about the goal). All I will say is that any other day, on a fair and equal pitch, we would have won this game.”

According to the letter of the law, the objective should have been maintained. Ahead of the 2020-21 season, the handball regulations were changed such that although a goal would still be ruled out if its scorer was accidentally tampered with, it would no longer be counted if the same thing happened to a teammate during preparation. Likewise, it is easy to understand why Postecoglou feels wronged. He feels as if Newcastle had had too many advantages for the ball to have inadvertently hit Joelinton’s hand.

Instead, it was just the latest blow of misfortune for a manager who will face fresh questions over his future with Tottenham even closer to the relegation places than the European places. Luck just isn’t on his side. Indeed, it was almost a surprise that when Austin went down in the second half, he managed to get away with a shot. As of Thursday, this team only had 11 fit players in training.

Given this, it’s worth noting how impressive Tottenham ultimately were in passing. In the first half, they held together as well as could be expected given the disparity in talent between the two teams, particularly in midfield. It took an excellent mix of strength and technique to finally secure Newcastle’s lead, with the visitors pulling the ball away from a Spurs throw-in before Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali flicked the ball from left to right and Jacob Murphy . His low cross demanded that an exhausted Dragusin do something. All he could do was flick the ball back to Isak’s boot.

From there Newcastle would hardly threaten. Some of this is on them. For all the skill with which they overturned their early deficit, they seemed determined to play like an underdog desperately clinging to the lead from around the hour mark. Likewise, the simultaneous introduction of James Maddison, Heung-Min Son and Bissouma gave Spurs more control in Newcastle’s half, less energy but more trickery.

Even before that, Postecoglou’s men had refused to give in to the apparent impossibility of the task when there was only one first-choice defender left in their eleven. Sarr started from a good position from the start. Solanke had his openings to add another. Parity never really arrived, but it was easy to understand why the Tottenham head coach felt mistreated.

After all, he did what his detractors asked of him. Against a more powerful opponent, Postecoglou had approached this task with some caution, tweaking his system to guard Tottenham rather than handing the game to his opponent. The fact that it did not bear fruit speaks volumes about the challenge of his task at present. There just aren’t the players to do much.