Angie Postecoglou, the Tottenham Hotspur manager, showed another irritable reaction after setting a shameful record.
On the 11th (Korea time), Tottenham lost 0-2 to Crystal Palace in a home match of the 2024-2025 Premier League's 36th round at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England.
With this defeat, Tottenham remains at 38 points (11 wins, 5 draws, 20 losses), sitting in 17th place. Although it is already confirmed that they will remain in the league regardless of the results of the remaining matches, they have fallen right above the relegation zone. It is fortunate that Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton have already confirmed their relegation. Palace, who defeated Tottenham, recorded 49 points (12 wins, 13 draws, 11 losses) and placed 12th.
Under the guidance of Postecoglou, Tottenham started in a 4-3-3 formation. Given that the UEFA Europa League (UEL) final is of utmost importance, they operated a rotation. Mathys Tel, Dejan Kulusevski, Wilson Odobert, Pape Sarr, Rodrigo Bentancur, Archie Gray, Jed Spence, Ben Davies, Kevin Danso, Pedro Porro, and Antoni Kinski were the starters.
Palace, led by manager Oliver Glasner, faced Tottenham in a 3-4-2-1 formation. Jean-Philippe Mateta, Eberechi Eze, Ismaïla Sarr, Tyrick Mitchell, Jefferson Lerma, Will Hughes, Daniel Muñoz, Marc Guehi, Maxence Lacroix, Chris Richards, and Dean Henderson were on the field first.
Tottenham staggered from the start. Just 8 minutes into the match, it seemed they would concede a goal after failing to mark Sarr, but the goal was canceled due to offside, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.
An injury crisis occurred. In the 15th minute, Kulusevski was brought down by an opposing tackle and lay on the pitch for a while. He seemed to signal that he was okay and returned to action, but eventually, he was substituted by Mikey Moore four minutes later.
Palace continued to press. In the 24th minute, Mateta took a powerful shot, but Kinski saved it. Three minutes later, Muñoz's shot hit the post. In the 43rd minute, Lacroix shook the net with a header, but it was canceled due to a handball foul by a teammate.
Palace finally broke the deadlock. In the 45th minute, with just two passes, they completely dismantled Tottenham's defense. Eze then surged in from the left and precisely finished off a pass that came from the opposite side. The first half ended with Palace leading 1-0.
Eze netted a brace. Just two minutes into the second half, he scored again with an accurate shot. Tottenham's defense crumbled once more on a single pass, unable to stop the counterattack.
Son Heung-min returned after a month. He entered the field in the 58th minute, substituted for Porro. This match marked his return after missing eight games due to a foot injury sustained in the quarterfinal first leg against Frankfurt last month.
Palace knocked on Tottenham's door again. In the 67th minute, Sarr headed a cross from the left. However, the ball struck the crossbar. Tottenham's defense struggled to find stability.
Son Heung-min attempted several shots. In the 70th minute, his shot was blocked by the defense, and in the 73rd minute, his free kick hit the defensive wall. He diligently moved until the end, aiming for a consolation goal, but he could not achieve it. Ultimately, the match ended with a 0-2 defeat for Tottenham.
Aside from Son Heung-min's return, there was nothing positive for Tottenham. With this defeat, they suffered an embarrassing 20 losses in the league alone. This sets a record for the most losses in a season in the club's history since the Premier League's inception in 1992. Previously, Tottenham's most losses in a single season were 19, in both the 1993-1994 season and the 2003-2004 season.
Additionally, Tottenham set a tie for the most losses in a single season in the club's history under the 38-match system. Since the 1912-1913 season, when managed by Peter McWilliam, Tottenham had never lost more than 20 matches in 38 games. However, under Postecoglou this season, they are writing the worst record in 112 years.
The problem is that there are still two matches remaining in the league. Tottenham will face Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion in the upcoming matches. Both Villa and Brighton are strong teams competing for European competition spots. Tottenham, focusing all their attention on the UEL final against Manchester United on the 22nd in Bilbao, Spain, faces a daunting challenge.
With three matches left until the end of the season, Tottenham now has recorded 24 losses across all competitions due to the defeat to Palace. According to football statistics agency 'Squawka', if they lose just one more match, they will tie the club record for the most losses in a single season (25 losses) set in the 1991-1992 season. In the worst case, that number could rise to 27 losses.
Postecoglou also acknowledged the powerless defeat. After the final whistle, he reflected, "We did not properly participate in the match. It was disappointing. We never controlled the game. Until now, we have held on well, but that's not the issue. We are not adapting well to various changes."
Postecoglou added, "We did not do well enough. It is clear that we did not reach the required level in the Premier League. We were lacking. The many injuries clearly had an impact, and we did not become a team. I believe we could have performed better."
However, he was somewhat irate when pointing out the record of 20 losses in the league. Postecoglou said, "It is clear why we lost so many matches. If we had focused solely on the league after being eliminated early from the European competitions and the Carabao Cup, we would have been in a higher position."
He showed an irritable response as well. He stated, "People are drumming and excitedly talking about this record. But if people don't understand the correlation between the Europa final and 20 losses, I wouldn't even be able to sit here. That’s not the precise 'Pythagorean theorem.' It's a very simple fact that we would have achieved much better results if we hadn’t made it to the final."
Finally, Postecoglou emphasized, "Whether or not people understand this makes me want to hit our heads. I did not like the way we played today. That's what I'm focusing on. I believe we could have performed better. The performance was not great. That's my responsibility and something I need to fix."
[Photo] ⓒGettyimages (Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution prohibited), Sky Sports, BBC.
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