Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has confessed he is "ready to explode" as his players return from international duty to Hotspur Way. Spurs were on a winning streak of five consecutive victories and seemed poised for a sixth win after leading 2-0 at half-time in their game against Brighton before the break.
However, Brighton staged a remarkable comeback in the second half, scoring three goals to clinch a 3-2 victory. In his post-match press conference, Postecoglou didn't mince words, describing the loss as his "worst defeat" since taking over as Tottenham's head coach.
The international break meant that there was no immediate opportunity to rectify things on the pitch. The Lilywhites are set to return to action this Saturday with a home game against West Ham.
With all his players back at Hotspur Way for training ahead of the weekend's London derby, Postecoglou is eager to vent his frustrations after "sitting on it for ten days".
In an interview with Optus Sport, Postecoglou said: "You never know if it's (the international break) good or bad. Maybe for the players it was good, but I don't like sitting on a loss. You want to get it out of your system and move on to the next challenge, so you're kind of sitting on it.
"There can be a tendency to over-analyse things. It wasn't a good one, it was a sore one. The first half was unbelievable against Brighton and probably as well as we've played all year, but I didn't like the second half and what we looked like.
"It wasn't the loss, which was painful enough, but it was the manner in which we kind of went about it that I wasn't really comfortable with.
"You know what it's like with international football as the game finishes, everyone goes and the dressing room after the game is not the time to analyse. So I've been sitting on it for ten days, I'm ready to explode once they get back in the building and that will be my therapy.
"I care about what I do and if I've upset one person that's enough for me. The scrutiny isn't the challenge. The challenge is the competition - you're playing against the best in the world. The demands of that are pretty dramatic in terms of where I've come from in terms of starting my journey."
"This club has its own unique challenges for sure. Are they more difficult than others? I don't know. When I was at Celtic I was expected to win. If you lose one game it's a major problem and not many can cope with that.
"It's just a different challenge for sure. I get why people would say it's the level and the scrutiny is the reason why you're not having success - I don't believe that. I believe we will have success and there's nothing here that makes me think that is insurmountable."