Ange Postecoglou admitted Tottenham’s performance “wasn’t good enough” after they slumped to a potentially damaging 2-0 defeat at Chelsea.
Goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson secured a deserved win for the home side to leave Spurs in fifth, still seven points behind Aston Villa but now with just one game in hand in the race for Champions League qualification.
Read our other football news stories here:
Emma Hayes concedes WSL title after latest Chelsea loss
Tonali handed suspended ban for betting breaches
Aston Villa 2-4 Olympiacos: Villa stunned by El Kaabi hat-trick
Spurs improved after a poor first-half display but Postecoglou had few excuses afterwards.
He told Sky Sports: “It wasn’t good enough and I have to take responsibility for that, it is on me. I am the manager and I am the one putting them out there and it was not good enough.
“When we put in a performance like we did in the first half it meant my message wasn’t getting through.”
Nicolas Jackson makes it TWO for Chelsea! 🔵🔥 pic.twitter.com/7HkXFoPD7N
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 2, 2024
Asked what that message was, he tetchily replied: “Come on mate, we didn’t play well, do you want me to write you a dossier of where it went wrong?
“I feel like we’ve lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football and that is on me to change that.
“It wasn’t about conceding the [first] goal, it was our approach to playing football and we were nowhere near good enough. That is on me.
“We’ve been in a bit of a grind for a while now, that is part of our challenge and part of our growth. We have to go out there and perform and sometimes you have to grind it out. We were poor today.”
Spurs defender Micky van de Ven echoed his manager’s thoughts, adding: “Today was not a good performance from us. We can do much better.
“First half we didn’t try to play. We didn’t push forward when we come out. We tried to play in the second half but there was not that confidence today.
“We have to take a look back at this game and bounce back better at the weekend.”
It was a far more enjoyable night for Chelsea’s former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino, who celebrated his 400th game in management in England with a morale-boosting win.
He told BBC Sport: “So happy and so pleased. So happy for our players.
“The first half was fantastic. Then you have to contain and suffer. Tottenham have quality players. Not too much to say, all credit to the players.”
