Postecoglou stubbornness bogged down three consecutive losses

"Is it a set piece again?"

Tottenham Hotspur's losing route is obvious. It is homework these days to allow a goal from a set piece rather than a field goal. Following the North London derby, problems were repeated against Chelsea.

Tottenham lost 0-2 to Chelsea in the 26th round of the 2023-24 season, which ended at Stamford Bridge in London on the 3rd. Tottenham, which has been mired in three consecutive losses at the end of the season, failed to close the gap with Aston Villa (67 points) in fourth place as it remained at 60 points with 18 wins, six draws and 10 losses for a long time.

Due to conflicting opinions between the coach and the players, they could not unite as one. These days, Tottenham is in conflict with set-piece tactics. While the team has been criticized as a weakness due to its lack of well-organized defense in set-pieces throughout this season, Coach Angé Postecoglou does not put much emphasis on it.

Tottenham's set-piece has not been weak from the past. This is the part that has changed since Postecoglou took charge. Antonio Conte, a former coach, valued set-pieces very much. Conte joined hands with set-piece expert Giovanni Bio ahead of last season. The Italian coach, Bio, was famous for being a set-piece master with 4,830 set-piece tactics alone.

Currently, there are no staff members who only handle set pieces. Postecoglou seems to think that he lacks concentration. Regarding the two runs conceded in the match against Arsenal when the controversy over set pieces began in earnest, he said he needed to concentrate on defense. "There are many things we need to fix. We need to reduce the allowance of time and space for our opponents. We need to look at the bigger and wider picture while improving other details," he said, refusing to accept criticism limited to just one set piece.

"It's not the first time I've been asked about set pieces in my career as a coach," he said. "There's a reason why I don't take this issue seriously. I'm going to make a team that can succeed someday, and the way is not just set pieces."

The problem is that players are nervous. Immediately, Son Heung-min said, "Ahnall was very strong against aerial balls. If a set-piece goal is conceded in such a game, the situation will go through difficulties," adding, "I felt that I had to focus on set-pieces in big matches from now on. I need to be strong. Everyone needs to take a step forward."

Dejan Kulusevskiy said, "There was not much difference from Arsenal. However, the opponent team was more organized and calm. When I saw the loss from the corner kick, I felt that I had to strengthen in difficult situations such as set pieces. I should not have allowed the goal too easily." Defender Mickey van der Pen also said, "I am disappointed that we conceded two goals in the set piece. We have to train hard and work hard."

When there was a disagreement over the set piece, "Spursweb" said, "Tottenham's set piece problem is clear. Coach Postecoglou is always defensive about this question, but he is hoping to make a different decision internally."

In the match against Chelsea in a chaotic situation, he conceded two goals in the free kick alone. In the 24th minute of the first half, he missed Trevor Chalobah in the free kick defense and lost a point, and he was also hit by a set-fir in the second half. There was an unexpected variable that hit the post, but he failed to display concentration on the second ball.

In the end, Tottenham, which ignored the voices of the squad, increased its number of set-piece goals to 14 this season. This is the fifth Premier League club to allow more goals at set-piece this season.

According to the soccer statistics magazine Huskored Dotcom, Nottingham Forest had the most goals with 22 goals, followed by Luton Town (17 goals), Sheffield United and Burnley (16 goals). When it comes to set piece defense, the team is at the bottom of the standings. 토토사이트