EPL

Ange Postecoglou urges Tottenham to bounce back from West Ham defeat

By Sports Desk December 07, 2023

Ange Postecoglou called on wasteful Tottenham to not feel sorry themselves after they suffered a fourth defeat in five matches with a 2-1 home loss to West Ham.

Injury-hit Spurs appeared on course to claim a first win since October 27 at half-time after Cristian Romero returned from suspension to score in the 11th minute.

David Moyes’ side produced an impressive second-half turnaround, with Jarrod Bowen netting on the road again after 52 minutes before James Ward-Prowse fired a 74th-minute winner after an error by Tottenham defender Destiny Udogie.

It extends Spurs’ winless run to five matches despite them taking the lead in each of those fixtures, which is a new Premier League record but Postecoglou urged them to bounce back on Sunday when Newcastle visit north London.

“There’s no point in feeling sorry for ourselves, looking for a cuddle anywhere,” Postecoglou insisted.

“There’s only one way to change our circumstances and that is to come here on Sunday and put in a performance. Not just play good football but go out there and show some conviction about ourselves as a team.

“Sometimes we can disguise how we’re going by playing some nice stuff but like I said from day one, that’s not what I’m about.

“I want to win and that’s why I came to this football club and that’s the message.

“We’ve still got a long way to go, I’ve said that from the start. We’re still right at the beginning of what we need to create and days like today just give me further evidence and fuel of how much we need to do.”

Spurs produced another impressive first-half display, which has become a trademark during the past month but they only had Romero’s goal to show for it after several openings were squandered, while Lo Celso’s late cross was deflected onto the woodwork by West Ham captain Kurt Zouma.

It was a different story in the second period after the Hammers levelled through Bowen, but Tottenham substitute Richarlison did send a free header wide from six yards in the 70th minute when the game was finely-poised at 1-1.

Postecoglou admitted: “I think it’s another game where we’ve dominated a game of football and haven’t turned our dominance into something more tangible and kept the opposition in the game.

“I thought we were really poor in both boxes tonight – both with our finishing and both goals were terrible to concede.

“Us being good means us being 3-0 up. This isn’t about us playing good football, it’s about us winning games of football. That’s what I’ve said from the start.

“1-0 at half-time was not a good performance. A good performance would have been 3-0 or 4-0 up, as was the case against Villa, and when you don’t, and give up goals you shouldn’t like today, then you get what you deserve.”

West Ham boss David Moyes was delighted with his team after they earned a fifth win in six games with Bowen netting on the road again.

The England international only returned from a knee injury in Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace and while he missed a late chance in that draw, he bounced back in this derby to score in a seventh consecutive Premier League away game.

“Jarrod was a little bit off it at the weekend and he’d been out three or four weeks, so he looked a bit rusty,” Moyes reflected.

“When it fell to him, I thought, ‘oh wow he’s got himself another goal,’ and
obviously I want Jarrod to keep doing it for us, but also as long as he keeps doing it, he will keep in Gareth’s (Southgate) mind as well because he’s someone who can play forward or wide and score goals.

“In a competition this summer where you are going to need people to score goals, hopefully Jarrod will be part of that, but as long as he keeps scoring for me at the moment that’s the most important thing.”

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