Chris Sutton thinks Ange Postecoglou will be ‘privately’ angry about one thing after Tottenham Hotspur’s North London Derby defeat.
Ange Postecoglou has faced his fair share of criticism in recent weeks following consecutive defeats in the Premier League.
Tottenham were thrashed 4-0 at St James’ Park two weeks ago and found themselves 3-0 down against Arsenal at halftime on Sunday.
Spurs battled back after the break and came close to mounting a memorable comeback after goals from Cristian Romero and Heung-min Son.
But much has been made of Tottenham’s vulnerability from set-piece situations, with Arsenal netting two goals from corners in the first half.
Postecoglou insisted after the game that Spurs don’t just have a problem with defending set-pieces, suggesting other areas require his attention.
The Aussie boss claimed he’d put all his ‘time and effort’ into fixing the issue if he thought it would lead to his side closing the gap on the top sides.
Yet, Chris Sutton believes Postecoglou will be fully aware of the need to improve their defensive work in these situations.
Sutton thinks Ange Postecoglou will be ‘livid’ after North London Derby
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, Sutton reflected on Tottenham’s 3-2 defeat to Arsenal.
“Is it something [set-pieces] he needs to address? Yes. He’s taken responsibility for that but there are other areas which he says they’re weak in as well which he needs to address so there is no one thing. That was the point he was making,” the pundit said.
“Privately, I suspect he will be absolutely livid about the nature of the goals they conceded but it’s all about prioritising in the main this season. We talked about the change of football and I think we would all agree that Tottenham have progressed this season.
“Next season, the Tottenham fans will want to see them progress again and if they want to progress it’s an area which I’m sure he knows they have to improve on.”
What Postecoglou has said about a set-piece coach at Tottenham
Spurs had plenty of success when it came to attacking set-pieces last season, mainly down to the influence of Gianni Vio.
The Italian set-piece coach was brought in as part of Antonio Conte’s backroom staff but left the club last summer following Postecoglou’s arrival.
It’s fair to say that Tottenham haven’t had a lot of joy in this department since, with teams often exposing their weaknesses from corners. But Postecoglou has already stated his view on the possibility of hiring a set-piece coach.
“I’ve never had a specific set-piece coach. I’ve always had someone who’s responsible for that,” the Aussie told Football.London in March.
“I always think it’s better if that’s somebody who’s a part of the coaching staff because then that’s an extension of how we play our football. I don’t separate set pieces from everything else we do, in terms of the team we want to be. It all hopefully links in.
“Here we’ve split the roles between Mile [Jedinak] and Ryan Mason in terms of attacking and defensive set-pieces and they put a lot of work into it with the analysis staff. I’m sure every club does. Some have gone down the specialised route which I understand.
“It’s just it’s not how I work. I always try to create a collective environment for everything we do, so that nothing is separated. I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing in specialists for one particular area. Just for the way I work more than anything else.”
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