Postecoglou reveals what he told his Spurs players at half-time against Arsenal

Ange Postecoglou has revealed that he told the players at half-time that they owe it to the Spurs fans to fight for every ball in the second half and show some resilience.

While the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was buzzing at the start of the game, the crowd had gone completely silent by the end of the first half.

The home fans were shell-shocked by what they saw, with the Lilywhites giving up three easy goals to their opponents, including two from set-pieces, despite dominating proceedings.

The game looked done and dusted at the interval, especially given Arsenal’s impressive defensive record but Tottenham put up an admirable fight in the second period.

The home side pulled two goals back to set up a nervy finish for Mikel Ateta’s men, with the atmosphere in the stadium changing completely in the final 20 minutes, with the Spurs fans pushing the side on.

Postecoglou wanted Spurs to show some fight

While it ultimately was not enough, Postecoglou insisted that he was happy with the resilience that his players showed in the second half.

When asked what he said to the players during the interval, the Australian told beIN SPORTS: “My main sort of message was we owed our fans something. We couldn’t go out in the second half and just accept our fate.

“We had to go out there and show some fight and some resilience, which I thought the lads did to be fair and they gave the supporters a bit of hope.”

Spurs Web Opinion

One certainly cannot accuse the players of a lack of effort or commitment as they never let their heads drop and continued playing for 90 minutes but it was once again a couple of defensive lapses that cost us. We are not going to be able to close the gap with the best sides in the division unless we cut out those kinds of mistakes.

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