Ange Postecoglou criticizes 'unacceptable' Tottenham following 'disastrous' defeat against Brighton

LONDON – Ange Postecoglou publicly criticized his Tottenham Hotspur players for their disappointing display in the 3-2 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on Oct 6, labeling their performance as "unacceptable." Despite taking a two-goal lead, the team squandered their advantage, much to the frustration of their manager.

Spurs had raced into a commanding half-time lead thanks to strikes from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison.

But they suffered a second-half collapse at the Amex Stadium as Yankuba Minteh, Georginio Rutter and Danny Welbeck scored to hand the visitors their third defeat in seven English Premier League games this season.

Postecoglou was fuming after the north Londoners lost a Premier League match they led by two or more goals for just the second time in their last 166 matches.

“Disappointing. Frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. Worst defeat since I’ve been here. Unacceptable second half,” the Australian said.

“Nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how we were going.

“We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we’ve not done that while I’ve been here. We paid the price. The problem is when we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself.”

Tottenham had won their previous five games in all competitions, but the manner of their tame second-half surrender understandably left Postecoglou raging.

They sit ninth in the Premier League table and have two weeks during the international break to stew on the devastating blow before returning to action against West Ham United.

Asked what he had told his players after the final whistle, the former Celtic boss said: “There is no message. It is a terrible loss for us, as bad as it gets. Only one way to fix it and that’s my responsibility.

“We lost all our duels and if you’re not competitive it is not going to work. We were not competitive.

“They all go international duty the majority of them. They will process it individually and I will process it when everyone gets back.”

Taking his share of blame for the loss, he added: “We’ve conceded before but it is how you react and our reaction wasn’t what it should be.

“It’s a bad day for us and when it’s a bad day the responsibility falls at my feet.”

Brighton, meanwhile, are up to sixth, two points better off.

The game was turned upside down after the break as Tottenham’s defence fell apart under pressure to concede three goals in the space of 18 minutes.

Minteh pulled a goal back for the hosts three minutes after the restart before Rutter levelled from close range. Welbeck then headed Brighton’s third after more flimsy defending by the visitors.

Whatever was said at half-time by Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler worked a treat as Brighton were a completely different proposition.

After five league games without a win, the Seagulls’ second-half display sent their fans into raptures.

“My team deserved to win, they worked hard and focused on the things they could control,” Hurzeler said. “I think Tottenham always have a great start. They play with intensity and we were not ready for that.

“We also created chances but defensively we have to improve. We focused on the positive things, the second important thing was to win the duels to build self-confidence. The players worked hard to gain flow and they used it.”

Match-winner Welbeck was also glad that Brighton improved after they failed to control Spurs before the interval.

“First half was bitterly disappointing,” he told Sky Sport. “The performance we put in was embarrassing and not something we want to be part of.” AFP,