Ange Postecoglou mocked by Gabby Agbonlahor over what happened to Tottenham at Chelsea
Ange Postecoglou was distinctly unhappy with his Tottenham defence in the first half at Chelsea, with Emerson Royal’s performance case in point.
The third-choice left-back struggled with Noni Madueke’s attacking advances down his flank, with Gary Neville admitting the winger was “enjoying himself” [Sky Sports, 8.10pm], and was left in no-man’s land as Trevoh Chalobah headed home unmarked to put the home side ahead at Stamford Bridge.
Ex-Arsenal defender Martin Keown blasted Spurs for their “schoolboy defending” live on talkSPORT (2 May) when the Chelsea defender looped one over Guglielmo Vicario after 24 minutes.
And former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor took to Twitter in reaction, gleefully mocking Postecoglou over his side conceding a defensive set piece once more.
He wrote: “Don’t care about set pieces mateeeee! I think you should Ange!!!!”
Although the subsequent VAR review focused on Brennan Johnson’s tangling with Marc Cucurella it was arguably Royal who was even more at fault, as he was the next man in marking nobody while Chalobah and then Benoit Badiashile were left on their own further out wide.
Emerson Royal has 45 minutes to forget for Tottenham
The Spurs full-back had a bad half in relief of the absent Destiny Udogie and Ben Davies, where according to SofaScore stats he failed to win a single one of his six ground duels (0%) and was dribbled past five times.
He may have had a shout for a penalty as he was pulled back by Madueke, but defensively he was not good, as he also lost possession six times and also committed a foul.
The chance to make it into the Champions League may be out of reach by now, especially since European developments this week has now confirmed Germany will be getting the extra coefficient place.
But this is still a London derby between Spurs and Chelsea so there is no space to let up and go for anything other than a win.
Postecoglou’s men have ridden their luck at times in the first 45 minutes, with Micky van de Ven having to clear a Nicolas Jackson attempt off the line, albeit straight into Cole Palmer who could only deflect it over the bar, and Royal struggling on the left as Pedro Porro had his hands full with Mykhailo Mudryk on the right, but even so they could be further behind.
It isn’t hard to see why Postecoglou has been so unhappy with his players, with a Cristian Romero the only meaningful chance in attack and the possibility they could have conceded a few more at the back.
He doesn’t have an obvious replacement for Royal on the left, who has been pressed into emergency action more than the Australian would have liked this year, but he has to consider changes at half time, unless he can inspire a major improvement from the Brazilian and the rest of the Spurs defence.
In other Tottenham news, an important Spurs star looks set to put his manager on edge throughout the summer.
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