‘Why would I be happy’: Ange Postecoglou snaps after ‘worst game of the season’

The pressure is ramping up on Ange Postecoglou after Tottenham suffered a loss and the prickly Aussie’s tactics came under fire.

Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham suffered a tough loss.

Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said his side had lost too many battles as they slumped to a 1-0 loss away to Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the only goal of the game just after the half-hour mark at Selhurst Park to seal Palace’s first Premier League win of the season.

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Spurs defender Micky van de Ven was easily dispossessed deep in his own half before Daniel Munoz’s cross found Ebere Eze. He in turn set up Mateta, with the Frenchman on target with a low finish.

Defeat by one of their London rivals left Spurs eighth in the table, with Postecoglou’s men now having lost four of their nine league matches so far this term.

Inconsistency has been a perennial problem for Tottenham, last crowned champions of England in 1961, with Postecoglou accepting a Spurs side missing injured captain Son Heung-min had been outfought by Palace.

Pressure is steadily mounting on Ange Postecoglou. (Photo by Tom Dulat/Getty Images)

Fans criticised his decision to make a triple substitution, taking James Maddison, Mikey Moore and Dejan Kulusevski off the in the 65th minute.

Worst game of the season by far, we look completely lost out there

— 🇸🇪 (@axelthfc) October 27, 2024

That triple sub killed us.

I agree with the sentiment that we needed to be more direct to bypass the press.

But we now have 2 runners on each flank alongside two strikers.

No one to feed them. Should’ve kept Maddison or Kulu on and put them wide.

— LL (@LilywhiteLab) October 27, 2024

Bringing Maddison, Moore and Kulusevski off is looking like a weird decision

— Hunter Godson (@HunterGodson) October 27, 2024

Spurs have gone behind at some point in 14 of their 24 away Premier League games under Ange Postecoglou., and they've only won one of those games - the 5-2 win at Burnley over a year ago.

— Ali Tweedale (@alitweedale) October 27, 2024

“It was one of those games with a lot of stoppages and battles and they (Palace) ended up winning a lot of them and coming out on top,” Postecoglou told the BBC.

“There was a lot of disruption and it was hard to get any fluency. They did better than us.

“It turned into a game they were thriving on and we should have dealt with it better. It was a poor goal to concede, it had nothing to do with playing out from the back. That can happen.” The Australian added: “I’d be very surprised if they (Spurs supporters) were happy right now. Why would I be happy? If I’m unhappy then they’ll be unhappy.”

Tottenham sis eighth on the EPL ladder. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

The interviewer then followed up: “Because you’re not happy, obviously”.

“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,” Postecoglou said.

Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario was even more damning, telling Sky Sports: “They (Palace) fight and I think we lacked that today. We are disappointed because we have to fight. We play good football but maybe sometimes we lack the desire to fight.”

Originally published as ‘Why would I be happy’: Ange Postecoglou snaps after ‘worst game of the season’