This CANNOT be accepted! Postecoglou labels Tottenham team ‘nowhere near good enough’ in loss to Arsenal | OneFootball

Ange Postecoglou labelled his Tottenham team “nowhere near good enough” in their defeat to north London rivals Arsenal and says it is “unacceptable” to have lost so many games this season.

An own goal from Dominic Solanke following Gabriel’s header and a Leandro Trossard strike handed the Gunners a 2-1 win after Tottenham had taken the lead through Heung-Min Son.

But despite the narrow scoreline, Postecoglou did not sugercoat his thoughts on the performance.

“Not good enough,” he said. “Especially the first half, we were way too passive and allowed Arsenal to take control of the game. I’m really disappointed, with and without the ball, that we allowed them to dictate the tempo.

“We paid a price for it. The second half was a little bit better but it’s nowhere near good enough.

“It’s not who we are, it’s not the way I set the team up, it’s not the way I want to play to be sitting in there and allowing Arsenal to play to their tempo. It just wasn’t good enough.

“The reality of it is that our results and our form in the league has been nowhere near good enough and that needs to change.”

Postecoglou again diverted the attention back onto his own team when asked about Arsenal’s first goal, which came from a corner that was given despite appearing to come off an Arsenal player last, and also says the second goal was “endemic” of his side’s performance.

“I’ve got to take responsibility for my team,” he continued. “I’ll let the referees take responsibility for their performance. It wasn’t a corner but it’s how things are going for us at the moment.

“That aside, we weren’t anywhere near the level we needed to be in that first half, in such a big game, and we’ve got to understand that what we can control is the first thing we need to focus on.

“That second goal was just endemic of our whole first half. Irrespective of everything else, we just didn’t play anywhere near the identity I want us to be.

“We’re an aggressive team with and without the ball. We’ve shown that. We showed it seven days ago against Liverpool and tonight, especially in that first 45, we were way too passive and that’s not acceptable and when you do that, these kind of things (mistakes) creep in.

“It was a disappointing goal to concede but it’s not like we were playing anywhere near the level we needed to.”

Postecoglou named two 18-year-olds in his starting 11 in Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray but asked whether that can be considered a positive, he insists he wants them to feel the pain of losing just as much as the rest of the group.

“I want them to be disappointed,” he said. “This can’t be accepted by anyone at the club, us losing so many games in a league season is not right.

“I know we’re going through a tough time and we’re asking big jobs but I hope they’re hurting, the 18-year-olds, as much as anyone else in terms of us not being able to deliver on a big night.”