Ange Postecoglou saw his Tottenham side lose 3-2 at Everton on Sunday, as Spurs remain 15th in the Premier League table after a run of five defeats in their last six league games.
Tottenham’s fans in the away end were chanting ‘we want Levy out’ as they shared their displeasure at the performance and the current situation with the squad.
Postecoglou’s side were undone after a sloppy start which saw Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Iliman Ndiaye ripping them to shreds and both scoring, then an own goal from Archie Gray rubbed further salt into the wounds after a woeful first half. Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky kept the score down as Spurs could have been 5-0 down at half time to an Everton side not renowned for scoring goals.
Dejan Kulusevski pulled one back in the second half and even though Richarlison made it 3-2 late on, Tottenham couldn’t grab anything and they didn’t deserve to.
The Australian coach was seething on the sidelines throughout as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing, as Spurs’ Premier League record since they lost 4-1 to Chelsea in November 2023 now stands at 19 wins, seven draws and 24 defeats from 50 games.
Ange Postecoglou reaction after Tottenham lose at Everton; transfers, injuries, belief
Postecoglou didn’t hold back when assessing the poor performance, but he did distance himself from his future being linked with the injury crisis Tottenham are going through.
When asked if he was concerned his future is being impacted by the number of injuries and the lack of reinforcements in the transfer market, Postecoglou said he wasn’t focusing on that and said the club are trying their best to bring in new players.
“You know it’s more about getting the players help rather than me help,” Postecoglou told reporters. “I separate myself from that. This is not about me, but what is about me right now is I have the responsibility of the group of players I do have to try and get us through this. That is what we’ve got to focus on. For me to focus on anything else is abstaining myself from the responsibility I have. I’m just determined to get us out of this.”
Reflecting generally on the game, the Australian coach was clear that Spurs just weren’t good enough. Once again.
“It is a difficult result,” Postecoglou told our partners in the UK at Sky Sports. “We struggled to really get in the game in the first half and that gave Everton momentum. We gave ourselves a mountain to climb but the players certainly tried to claw the game back but we just fell short.
“We couldn’t really take control of the game. We struggled to get any traction in terms of with and without the ball and that allowed to get in behind us. We had some chances where we probably should have capitalized early on, when the game was still in the balance, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”
Postecoglou went with a back three from the start and it didn’t work and he was asked about having to make so many changes in defense due to injuries.
“Obviously we are pretty stretched. We literally had 11 players fit enough to start the game with. That is on me trying to restructure a little bit. We weren’t in total control of our organization, particularly early on, and Everton capitalized on that and we paid the price for it. Radu [Dragusin] got a head knock, he’s got a pretty big cut so I had to take him off at half time and restructure,” Postecoglou added.
“Second half we had the fair share of the game. We started strongly and I thought Richarlison made a difference and a presence and Mikey Moore gave us something on the left.”
Asked if Tottenham are looking to make moves in the transfer market, Postecoglou said he has now problem with how the club are approaching it.
“There will be urgency but it doesn’t need me to say it, everybody can see that. I have no issue with the way the club are going about it, they are working hard and trying to find solutions for us,” Postecoglou said. “These players need help for sure and hopefully over the next 10 days we’ll find a solution for it... It’s really tricky, we’re not the only ones in the market for players. The club is working hard to find a solution for them.”
Is Posetcoglou’s faith in what he’s doing at Spurs wavering?
“No it doesn’t. If you look at the situation we’re in, it will eventually dissipate,” Postecoglou said. “I certainly hope and believe it will. We’ll give ourselves the opportunity to get consistency in performance and results. I certainly haven’t lost belief or determination to turn it around and the players showed in the second half that they haven’t either.”