The Spurs manager spoke to the media after a disappointing defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
BST
Ange Postecoglou has taken responsibility for Tottenham’s inconsistent form after his side were beaten by Ipswich Town 2-1 in North London.
The Lilywhites fell two goals behind in the first half after goals Sammie Szmodics and Liam Delap, with Rodrigo Bentancur’s header eventually becoming just a consolation.
“We didn’t start the game well at all,” Postecoglou said. “It was all sort of passive, without the ball, with the ball. I felt we didn’t get the tempo right or intensity right and then we gave ourselves a mountain to climb.
“Second half we were in the ascendancy and had opportunities obviously but we didn’t do enough with them.”
Having fought back to beat Aston Villa last weekend, Postecoglou was asked whether going a goal behind is a running issue in need of a remedy.
“They’re all different sorts of scenarios. When we went behind against Villa we were playing well. We weren’t playing well today. So you’ve got to look at in isolation today, it was a different scenario for me.
“I don’t think it was anything like last time. We gave ourselves too much of a deficit to try to overcome. Obviously second half we had the opportunities to do that, but we should never have been in that position.”
It is the third time this season Tottenham have handed another side their first win of the Premier League season – first at Newcastle, then away to Crystal Palace and now at home to the Tractor Boys.
Paired with victories against Manchester City and Villa, recent weeks have been largely representative of an up-and-down season for Spurs, where they currently sit on five wins, five losses and one draw.
“That’s down to me. That’s my responsibility. The inconsistency we’re having this year, ultimately it comes down to me and my approach,” Postecoglou acknowledged.
“[It is] something I need to try and fix and see if I can help the players in that area.”
With his first season being largely one game per week, the added task of the Europa League has led to a more congested fixture list to tackle. Though the Spurs boss dismissed the notion of the busier calendar causing problems for his players.
“I shouldn’t think so. I don’t think so. If we were seeing that we’d probably feel it more at the end of games and we’re not feeling it at the end of games.
“We’re finishing games strongly. We can’t start games like that at this level and expect to overcome the gap that exists between us and the other teams.”
In terms of squad fitness, there were already injuries to the likes of Micky van de Ven, Richarlison and Mikey Moore, which ruled them out of Sunday’s match. Late on during the defeat, there were also late concerns for Pape Matar Sarr and Dominic Solanke.
“I think Pape [Sarr] is all right. He just got a bit of a knock. Dom [Solanke] jarred his knee, it was pretty sore but he wanted to continue. Hopefully it is nothing serious.”
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