Ange Postecoglou will be concerned by what he saw at Tottenham, it’s a ‘shame’
Ange Postecoglou will be particularly concerned by the second-half performance from Tottenham against Fulham and their poor performance in the final third, Alan Hutton has said.
Spurs put down a marker in the race for Champions League football by routing Aston Villa on March 10 but slipped to a hugely disappointing 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage on Saturday (16 March).
Despite the poor showing, Tottenham did have opportunities with Son Heung-min, James Maddison, and Timo Werner perhaps all feeling they could have got on the scoresheet.
Tottenham are consequently fifth in the Premier League, three points behind Villa with a game in hand, and Hutton – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – acknowledges manager Postecoglou will have some concerns.
“Yeah, (I’m) a little bit (worried), obviously after the Villa performance where I thought they were outstanding to then go and turn out a performance like that is not great especially when trying to break into that top four,” Hutton said.
“I think a lot of credit has to go to Fulham, they turned up and were on it, they played at a great tempo.
“The flip side to that is Tottenham didn’t. I think when you see the best of them, the intensity is high, the tempo is high, they smother teams, the aggression they’ve got trying to close down at the top end of the pitch.
“When that’s there they’re a top team, just for whatever reason that wasn’t there at Craven Cottage. You have to give a lot of plaudits to Fulham, they attacked well down the flanks, Antonee Robinson I thought was excellent down the left getting balls into the box that were really dangerous.
“And they were clinical in the big moments, Tottenham weren’t. Son had a good effort, Maddison had a good effort, Werner when he came on. A lot of attacking talent but just couldn’t find the back of the net, which is a shame.
“So, very up and down in terms of when you look at the week before to this week. Ange will be concerned about it, especially the second-half performance, he’ll go on to the next one it’s still very close to get into that fourth place, but he’ll obviously be disappointed with that result.”
An off day or a real concern for Tottenham?
I think it’s fair to say that this season is playing out pretty much how you might have expected it to for Tottenham this season.
There is no doubt the brand of football has hugely improved under Postecoglou and the fans are really on board with what the Australian is trying to achieve.
Obviously, there have been some bumps in the road and this one felt a pretty significant one – it was just a rancid performance all around.
But, there has to be trust in the process. Tottenham still have a magnificent chance to get Champions League football and if that happens then this game can be written off as one of those days.
In other Tottenham news, one player looks poised to depart the club permanently this summer.
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