Ange Postecoglou has admitted that he felt that his players could have been more aggressive with the ball against Wolves, particularly in the first half.
Spurs fell to their second loss of the Premier League season yesterday. While the trip to the Molineux Stadium was always going to be difficult, given the number of injuries Tottenham had in their ranks, the nature of the defeat made it a particularly disappointing afternoon.
The away side held the lead for almost the entirety of the game after Brennan Johnson’s third-minute goal but two strikes in stoppage time from Gary O’Neil’s men saw them claim a dramatic win.
Spurs needed to be more aggressive on the ball
Postecolgou admitted that he wanted his players to be braver on the ball but acknowledged that the fluency was not going to be there, given the number of forced changes that were made to the side.
When asked why he looked a frustrated figure on the touchline, the Australian told Football.London: “I don’t know about that. The first half I just felt that we started well but we could have been a bit more positive and be a little bit more aggressive with the ball.
“I’ve got to temper that with the fact that we’ve made so many changes and we’re not going to get the same type of fluency, especially when particularly three of your back four are virtually starting for the first time.”
The 58-year-old hinted that a couple of players might have been running on empty towards the end of the game, which was perhaps why they were looking to sit on the lead.
He continued: “We’ve made a couple of changes as well further up and it’s not going to be as fluent but I just felt we could have been more positive, especially in the first half.
“Second half I thought it wasn’t too bad but I just thought and maybe because we were winning the game, I think a lot of the guys in the back of their minds, they haven’t played in a while and there was a little bit of self-preservation there to get us through to the end of the game. It’s all understandable stuff because of the lineup we had out there.”
Spurs Web Opinion
There is no doubt that our central midfielders were very passive on the ball. The likes of Bissouma and Hojbjerg did not show any urgency or bravery in possession and were content to knock it around. We certainly did not deserve to get anything from this game.