Postecoglou blames poor finishing for Spurs’ recent struggles،
Ange Postecoglou says poor finishing is undermining Tottenham's Champions League qualification hopes after a fourth defeat in five matches against West Ham.
Spurs have made an impressive start to the season, overcoming the departure of star striker Harry Kane to Bayern Munich by moving to the top of the table early last month after winning eight of their first 10 Premier League games.
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However, they then took the lead against Chelsea, Wolves, Aston Villa and West Ham only to lose – Spurs have now dropped a league-high 16 points from winning this season.
And after seeing his side suffer a 2-1 defeat to David Moyes' side, Postecoglou said on Friday: “A brilliant start last night would have been to take advantage of the dominance we have in the games. But that's not the case. This is not the case. It continues During our oppositions in the match and especially in the second half, we had some defensive errors and a team like West Ham will always punish us.
“For football to be brilliant it has to be there in its entirety and I don't know how many times I've said it, I always think in our front third we have a lot of work to do.
“Unfortunately it's costing us at the moment in terms of results. That's the challenge for us, we have to keep persevering and try to become better in these areas.
“For me, I don't have a three or five year plan up my sleeve that is guaranteed to be successful, what I do have is a plan that I think will get us to where we need to be. How much how long it will take, I don't know.
“It depends on how we maintain the discipline to stay and stay [to] the path. At the end of the day, whether it's this challenge, there will be another one in six months, there will be another one, even if you succeed, there is a challenge there.
“It's how focused you are and how determined you are to follow the path you started. I'm not wavering with that, I just won't budge. I just think that's what I believe is the best way to go.”
Spurs have rejected an approach from Swansea City for assistant manager Chris Davies, but Postecoglou suggested there was still a chance he could leave.
“I had a brief chat with Chris and he knows we have a busy week so we will focus on that,” Postecoglou said. “He's an exceptional individual, he's done a great job with us and a great job in the past. It doesn't surprise me that Swansea or other clubs are looking at him. That's what you want to be honest.
“You want good people and when you have good people, they're going to get attention. From my point of view, whatever happens, it's in Chris's hands. It's his decision in terms of what he wants to do. and obviously the club will take it from there.”
Son Heung-Min is doubtful to face Newcastle on Sunday due to a back problem suffered against West Ham and Postecoglou has admitted his gratitude to Eddie Howe for inadvertently helping his career.
Howe turned down the opportunity to manage Celtic before Postecoglou accepted the job, where he thrived for two seasons before succeeding Antonio Conte at Tottenham.
“Oh [it was] absolutely [a] sliding doors moment,” Postecoglou added. “There has probably been no more important decision for me to be here today than Eddie's decision to take the Celtic job. I didn’t thank him, I probably should.”
