Postecoglou explains why he still won’t focus on defending set-pieces at Tottenham
Ange Postecoglou has dismissed suggestions that focusing on defending set-pieces will solve Tottenham’s problems on the pitch after today’s North London Derby defeat to Arsenal.
Not for the first time this season, Spurs waved goodbye to precious Premier League points due to their inability to keep the ball out the back of their net from defensive set pieces.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg diverted the ball past his own keeper from a set-piece to put the Gunners 1-0 up, with Kai Havertz later heading home from a corner to put Arsenal 3-0 up.
At the other end, Cristian Romero was guilty of missing a couple of fantastic headed chances for Spurs, with one crashing off the bar and another drifting just wide.
Arsenal boast an impressive record from set-pieces this season and also have one of the best defensive records, showing just what a weapon consistency from corners can be.
Postecoglou doesn’t want to focus on set-pieces
However, Postecoglou believes there are more important things to focus on before he starts tinkering with more specific parts of Tottenham’s game like set-piece defending.
He told the press today (Football London): “Yeah, no because it’s understanding where you are as a football team. If I thought fixing defensive set pieces was the answer to us bridging the gap then I’d put all of my time and effort into that. But that’s not where we’re at.
“For us, it’s about, when I was focused on the details of, not just set pieces but a lot of moments in games where we don’t sense that you give good opposition the time and the space to do things then they’re going to hurt you.
“I think they maybe had four attempts on goal in the first half and we conceded three. I don’t think it’s about one part of it, I think it’s a bigger, broader picture than that, but our defensive set pieces for those two were very poor. But there’s a lot more than that to fix.”
Spurs Web Opinion:
I do see what Postecoglou is saying. He wants to focus on the bigger picture and perfecting a style of play before focusing time and energy on smaller parts of the game. He sees Tottenham as a long-term project and fans need to be patient before the Lilywhites become the full package.
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