Son blasts ‘soft’ Spurs after making unwanted PL history،
LONDON — Striker Son Heung-Min said Tottenham were too “soft” after suffering a 2-1 defeat to West Ham after initially taking the lead, becoming the first team in Premier League history to losing points after a winning position in five consecutive matches.
Spurs took an early lead through a Cristian Romero header in the 11th minute, but failed to further capitalize on their first-half dominance, with West Ham scoring two counter-attacking goals in the second half thanks to Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse.
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (US)
“We lost the match, which is unacceptable,” Son told Amazon Prime in a post-match interview. “You take the lead five times in a row and losing the match I think is unacceptable and as players we have to take responsibility.
“It was always difficult to play against West Ham, but look, we were soft. Especially in the Premier League, even if you win 2-0, 3-0, you don't know what's going to happen in the end. “
Asked if the team's failure to put teams away was psychological, Son said: “Not at all. But like I said before, the players have to take responsibility, and the fans don't deserve that. When you lead 1-0 early, you should bring even more energy. We didn't do that and that's why we lost.
The result marks the first time since 2008 that Spurs have suffered three consecutive home defeats.
Manager Ange Postecoglou said his team needed to start getting results and made it clear his team was more focused on winning than playing an entertaining style of football.
“It's another game where we dominated a football game and we didn't turn it into something more… we have a long way to go as a team,” Postecoglou said during a post-match press conference.
“Being good means we are 3-0 up. It's not about playing good football, it's about winning football matches.
“I've said it from the start, that's all I wanted to build teams capable of winning games. Leading 1-0 at half-time was not a good performance from us. We would have had to lead three, four and zero in the first half.”
“I think at the moment we are going through a period where we are supposedly playing good football, but I don't see it,” he added. “What I see is that we are not showing any real, clear conviction in what we are doing.”
Injured Spurs were without nine first-team players for Thursday's match, including defender Micky van de Ven and playmaker James Maddison.
The result means Tottenham remain fifth in the Premier League on 27 points after 15 games, a marked difference since late October when Postecoglou's side were five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
