Leon Osman believes it is clear where Tottenham Hotspur have to improve if they are to compete in the top end of the Premier League table.
Tottenham’s worrying away record
Spurs’ away record last season was poor, and that is an area where Ange Postecoglou would have wanted to see a big improvement in his second season.
However, we have got more of the same so far, with the Lilywhites having won just one and lost three of their five away games in the Premier League this season.
That means that, overall, Tottenham have only won 33.3 per cent of their away fixtures in the Premier League since Postecoglou has taken charge.
Leon Osman on what is holding Tottenham back
Osmon believes that Spurs’ struggles away from home is holding them back from reaching the next level, pointing out that their record at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been more than decent.
The former Everton man said on Optus Sports’ The Weekend Wrap about Tottenham’s away record: “It’s what’s holding them back. Their home record is still relatively good, where they pick up the majority of their points, but if you’re going to compete in the league towards the Champions League positions especially, your away record has to represent that.
“You have to be able to go away from home and be difficult to beat. You show character in those moments and I don’t think I’ve seen him as frosty as that in interviews.”
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Reacting to Postecoglou’s frosty post-match interview, Osman suggested that the Tottenham boss appeared particularly disappointed that his side were not able to match Palace’s fight on Sunday.
The pundit added: “I’ve played in teams where you come in after the game and you can be outplayed at times, the opposition can show more quality, but they better not have outworked us, outfought us and shown more battle.
“That’s something that should be a given and he (Postecoglou) seems really disappointed with that performance today.”
Tottenham regressing away from home
Tottenham’s performances in their first two away games of the season (Leicester and Newcastle) were extremely impressive, even though they only had a point to show for their efforts.
It seemed like they had turned a corner when they delivered another dominant away display against Man Utd and came away with a 3-0 win.
However, since then, they have taken several steps backwards, with the displays at the Amex Stadium and Selhurst Park looking more like the Spurs side we saw away from home last season.