Chris Sutton believes Ange Postecoglou will be “secretly” angry about one thing after Tottenham Hotspur’s defeat in the North London Derby
Ange Postecoglou has faced plenty of criticism in recent weeks following back-to-back Premier League defeats
Tottenham were beaten 4-0 at St James’ Park two weeks ago and were 3-0 down at half-time against Arsenal on Sunday
Spurs fought back after the break and almost staged a memorable comeback after goals from Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son
But much was made of Tottenham’s vulnerability from set pieces, as Arsenal scored twice from corners in the first half
Postecoglou insisted post-match that Spurs don’t just have problems with set-pieces in defence, suggesting other areas need his attention
The Australian boss said he would devote all his “time and effort” to solving the problem if he thought it would help his team close the gap on the leaders
However, Chris Sutton believes Postecoglou will be fully aware of the need to improve his defense in these situations
Sutton thinks Ange Postecoglou will be ‘angry’ after North London Derby Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, Sutton reflected on Tottenham’s 3-2 loss to Arsenal
“Is this something [landscape] he needs to deal with
Correct
He takes responsibility for that, but there are other areas that he says are also weak that he needs to address so there’s nothing else
That’s what he wanted to say,” the expert said
“Personally I suspect he will be extremely angry at the nature of the goals they have conceded, but it is all about prioritizing this season
We talked about change in football and I think we all agree that Tottenham have improved this season
“Next season Tottenham fans will want to see them progress again and if they want to improve then this is an area I’m sure he knows they need to improve
” What Postecoglou says about the set-piece coach at Tottenham Spurs had great success in attacking set-pieces last season, largely thanks to the influence of Gianni Vio
The Italian permanent coach was recruited to Antonio Conte’s squad but left the club last summer following the arrival of Postecoglou
It’s fair to say that Tottenham haven’t had much fun in this area since then, with teams often showing their weakness in corner kicks
But Postecoglou has given his opinion on the possibility of hiring a permanent coach
“I have never had a specific coach
I always have someone responsible for that,” the Australian told Football
London in March
“I always think it’s better if someone is on the coaching staff because it’s an extension of the way we play football
I don’t separate the set pieces from everything we do, in terms of the team we want to be
Hopefully this is all related
“Here, we split the roles between Mile [Jedinak] and Ryan Mason on offense and defense and they did a lot of work with the analytics group
I’m sure all clubs do that
Some have gone the professional route, I understand that
“That’s not how I work
I always try to create a collegial environment for everything we do, so that nothing is separate
I would not feel comfortable inviting experts in a particular field
Just because of the way I work more than anything else
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