piece woes after defeat to Arsenal: 'It's my burden to carry'

Ange Postecoglou batted away suggestions he does not care about set pieces, and said Tottenham Hotspur's struggles defending from dead-ball situations are "my burden to carry".

Gabriel scored the only goal of the game, nodding home from a corner as Spurs fell to 1-0 defeat against north London rivals Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

According to the BBC, the goal was the 18th conceded by Spurs from a set piece since the beginning of the 2023/24 season - Postecoglou's first in charge of the club - but he insisted his side "work on them as much as anyone".

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"For some reason people think I don't care about set pieces and it's a narrative that you can keep going on for ages and ages," Postecoglou told a post-match news conference.

"I understand that. Like I said, we work on them all the time. You know that they're a threat, as I said, for the most part, we handled them really well today, but we switched off for one and we paid a price. You learn from that and you move on.

"But it is what it is, it's my burden to carry, and I'm happy to do that. I've always said there's a bigger picture that's at play here that's much more important than the finer details of us getting to where we want to. For us, the way forward is to try to turn the football we're playing now into something meaningful."

Defending set pieces has proved a weak point for Spurs, with some crucial goals in the 2023/24 campaign coming from dead-ball situations, including two in the previous iteration of the north London derby at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Postecoglou's side also crashed out of last season's FA Cup to a late set-piece goal against Manchester City, while Sean Dyche's Everton capitalised on Spurs' struggles with two goals from dead-ball situations in a 2-2 draw at Goodison Park.

The former Celtic boss said "it only takes one" player to switch off from a set piece, against an Arsenal side who have profited hugely from such situations in recent years.

"We held them well for the most part and you switch off for one and you pay the price," Postecoglou continued. "They took their key moment and we didn't.

"We had held them well and they're obviously a big threat from set pieces. It only takes one. It wasn't just [Cristian] Romero, others switched off from the set piece."

Arteta hails Arsenal's 'thick skin'

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta pointed to his side's "thick skin" as they came through with a battling performance to win 1-0, despite missing some key players.

Declan Rice was forced out of the derby through suspension, while Mikel Merino, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Odegaard were sidelined through injury alongside long-term absentee Takehiro Tomiyasu.

Arteta praised his side's ability to win "ugly" in a crucial match in Arsenal fans' calendar.

"We have people that are hard and have thick skin," Arteta said. "They love the game and we love winning. In order to win you have to do things that people call ugly. When you’re able to do that, normally you get a good gift."

The Arsenal boss continued by saying his side did not find "excuses" despite their injury-blighted squad.

"Super happy," he continued. "We know what it means to our club and our people to win a north London derby. Hopefully we made people very happy.

"We had good moments and others where we had to suffer. We had to adapt because of the players that we had available. It’s a tough week coming and instead of finding any excuses, we did the opposite."

According to Squawka, Gabriel's goal was Arsenal's 23rd from a set piece since the start of last season, and Arteta went on to praise set-piece coach Nicolas Jover for his impact on the side.

He said: "In his field, in other fields, as a person, the relationship that we have, that’s why I made the decision to bring him from City to Arsenal. Him and the staff have injected a belief."

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