Tottenham Hotspur boss Ange Postecoglu said critics of his side’s inability to follow up last weekend’s rout of Manchester City with a win were looking for “easy targets” after Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw by 10-man Fulham.
Spurs were scintillating when they won 4-0 at defending champions City, but could only draw against Fulham despite taking the lead and having a man advantage for the final stages.
A frustrating draw with Roma in the Europa League midweek, dropping two points to a stoppage time equaliser, had seemingly sapped some of Spurs’ momentum after their win against City.
But Postecoglu said his side’s issue was the number of key players missing, with striker Dominic Solanke missing through illness and goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario injured, and suggested critics were unfairly using Spurs’ success against the club.
“I think it’s too easy to say ‘well, let’s just play like we did against Man City every game’,” he told reporters.
“It somehow again seems with this club that whatever it is that we do well is then used as a millstone to bring us down in every other opportunity.”
Postecoglu added: “I know people are going to keep using City as a reference point, but against City I was able to put on Timo Werner and Brennan Johnson (as substitutes). We had Vicario in goal.
“I guess people are looking for easy targets, but if people don’t understand what we’re dealing with at the moment and how the players are coping with it — well, I think it’s fairly self-evident.
“We’re going to have to have days like today where things aren’t running smoothly, but all you can ask for is for the players to give everything they can and I think they did that and more today.”
With Spurs in seventh but only three points off the Champions League places, Postecoglu said his team were in a promising position for the rest of the season.
“We’re still in good shape,” he told reporters. “We’re in a decent position in the league, we’re still in the Carabao Cup, we’re in a decent position in Europe, so it’s about us maintaining our focus on continuing to develop.”
Reuters
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