Another game without scoring in the first half saw Tottenham Hotspur struggle to salvage all three points against Luton Town on Saturday, with Son Heung-min ultimately proving to be the hero after Tahith Chong’s early opener.
But speaking post-match, Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou played down the significance of failing to score in the opening period – insisting that ‘the disappointing thing about the first half is the goal we conceded. Our football was good.’
‘We created good chances, 1v1s , we hit the post, they blocked quite a few shots and they defended desperately. I think overall there was nothing wrong with our football. The goal we conceded, yeah that was poor and that’s something we need to address.’
Asked for this thoughts on the match as a whole, Postecoglou accepted that ‘we made the game pretty difficult for ourselves. We certainly had enough chances and we controlled the game pretty much from start to finish, but obviously when the scoreline is as it is, [it’s a] disappointing goal we conceded.’
Embed from Getty Images‘That was the highly disappointing point of the day. I just thought it was preventable – but aside from that, I thought the lads handled it really well in the second half.’
Brennan Johnson was introduced at the interval on Saturday, replacing Dejan Kulusevski. Postecoglou explained that ‘we felt that in the first half that Deki [Kulusevski] was probably coming inside a little bit too much, and we felt that Timo [Werner] was certainly getting some opportunities down the left-hand side. If we got Brennan on the right-hand side, he could equally be a threat.’
Johnson’s Cymru side narrowly missed out on EURO2024 qualification during the recent international break, with a penalty shootout defeat to Poland bringing their hopes of a fourth major tournament in eight years to an abrupt end.
Postecoglou was asked how Brennan Johnson and Ben Davies have reacted since, but insisted that football is ‘a hard business’ that ‘you’ve just got to deal with.’
Embed from Getty Images‘I know you want me to give them all a cuddle, mate. I know you are always concerned about our players, but I just don’t have the time,’ the Australian told a reporter. ‘I don’t have the time. There are 25 beautiful souls in my dressing room and I just don’t have the time to get around to them. It’s football you know. It’s a hard business – there’s ups, there’s downs and you’ve just got to deal with them sometimes.’
‘Brennan, obviously like Benny [Davies], felt the pain of missing out on a major competition but being a professional footballer, you use that as motivation to go out there next time. I am sure Brennan has got another couple tournaments in him and next time he’ll try to become the one that gets them there.’
