Leon Osman says Ange Postecoglou did something that he does not normally do after seeing his side deliver a lacklustre performance against Crystal Palace.
Tottenham’s worst display of the season
One can make the case that Spurs’ showing at Selhurst Park was their worst of the season so far.
While the Lilywhites have had periods of dominance in all of their other matches, even the ones they have lost, they failed to get going against the Eagles and struggled to create opportunities.
Postecoglou was visibly angry during his post-match media duties, giving a spiky response to one reporter’s question. The Australian said he’d be ‘very surprised’ if the travelling supporters were ‘happy’, to which a reporter said (via talkSPORT): “Because you’re not happy, obviously”.
The question evidently struck a nerve with Postecoglou, who fired back: “Why would I be happy? Is there a question there? Why would I be happy about today when our supporters, so our supporters are unhappy, I’m unhappy, the players are unhappy, I think that’s a fair assessment.”
Leon Osmon on Postecoglou’s frustration
Osmon admitted that he had never seen the Tottenham head coach’s frustrations boil over as they did after the game on Sunday.
He suggested that the 59-year-old would have been particularly upset by the fact that his players did not work as hard as their Palace counterparts.
MORE SPURS STORIES
The former Everton man told Premier League Productions: “You show character in those moments, and I’ve never seen him as frosty as that in interviews. You can be outplayed at times, the opposition can show more quality.
“But they better not outwork us or show more bottle, and that seems like where he’s very disappointed with his team.”
Lack of fight is now a pattern for Spurs
This was the second away game in a row where the Tottenham players simply could not cope with the opposition’s intensity once the home side built momentum and got the crowd on their side.
While some brushed the second-half showing against Brighton as a rare anomaly, the display against Palace showed that it is indeed a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed.