REVEALED: The unwanted slice of Premier League history that suggests Ange Postecoglou hasn’t yet banished Tottenham’s ‘Spursy’ ways
- Tottenham have gone five games without a win since losing to West Ham on Thursday.
- The poor streak contrasts with their first 10 games of the season.
- IAN LADYMAN Reveals A Manager’s BEST Weapon Against a Journalist – Listen It all begins
Tottenham fans who had begun to believe that Ange Postecoglou had driven their Spurs out were forced to reconsider their decision.
After an outstanding start to the season under the Australian – which has seen him go 10 games unbeaten, spend time at the top of the Premier League table and win three Coach of the Month awards – reality is starting to set in.
Spurs’ 2-1 home defeat to West Ham on Thursday night was Spurs’ fourth defeat in five games. This terrible sequence saw them drop to fifth place, nine points behind leaders Arsenal.
Worse, they have now made an unwanted part of Premier League history.
Spurs became the first team in the Premier League era to fail to win five games in a row, despite leading 1-0 in each game.
Tottenham suffered their fourth defeat in their last five matches against West Ham on Thursday.
Tottenham’s fortunes have turned around under Ange Postecoglou after a brilliant start.
They have now made unwanted Premier League history after losing the lead.
They also became the first team in Premier League history to lose three home matches in a row, despite leading 1-0 in each.
The bad story started for Chelsea on November 6 when, after Dejan Kulusevski gave them a sixth-minute lead, they suffered a 4-1 defeat after two players were sent off.
If that result seemed anomalous, they then gave up a third-minute lead handed to them by Brennan Johnson and lost 2-1 to Wolves in the next game.
On 26 November, Spurs suffered the same fate after Aston Villa overcame a 22nd-minute deficit to claim a 2-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Last Sunday, Spurs put Manchester City ahead thanks to Son Heung-min’s sixth-minute strike but ultimately drew 3-3.
To be honest, it felt like a win after Kulusevski’s last-gasp equalizer gave them a point.
But then on Thursday night history repeated itself again. Christian Romero’s 11th-minute goal saw them lose the London derby to West Ham after goals from Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse changed the match.
Spurs were 1-0 up after just 11 minutes when Christian Romero scored from a corner.
The Argentine scored a goal on his return to the team after serving a three-match suspension.
Jarrod Bowen equalized early in the second half as David Moyes’ side improved significantly.
It was Bowen’s ninth Premier League goal of the campaign and continued his excellent season.
Afterwards, Son accused the team of being “soft.”
“Losing this game is unacceptable. We have already been in the lead for five times in a row. West Ham are always difficult to play against, but we were soft,” the Spurs captain said.
“In the Premier League you don’t know what will happen at the end. You’ll have to kill the game.
“This is unacceptable. The players need to take responsibility – the fans don’t deserve that.”
The manager was understandably annoyed after his team’s defeat, saying in the post-match press conference that he was unhappy with his team’s current inability to turn smart play into three points.
“The fact that we are good means we are 3-0 up. It’s about winning games. The only thing I care about is winning. The score 1:0 after the break is not the best result for us,” he said.
“A good option would be to be 4-0 up and call it a day, and when that doesn’t happen you give up goals you shouldn’t have.
James Ward-Prowse scored the winner for the Hammers after his first-time shot hit the post.
This caused excitement on the road as the Hammers beat their London rivals.
“We are going through a period where we are playing so-called good football, but I don’t see it.
“We don’t really have any clear conviction about what we’re doing, almost thinking it’s going to go online on its own, but you have to have the determination to do it and keep it from going online.”
“Sometimes we can hide how we’re going to play by playing something good, but that’s not what I’m about, I want to win. That’s why I came here and that’s the message – I have a long way to go.
“We are at the very beginning, and days like today provide even more insight into how much we need to do.”
Spurs will hope to return to winning ways when they host Newcastle United on Sunday.
