Brighton 4-2 Spurs | Ange's verdict: "The players gave everything"
Thu 28 December 2023, 22:15|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ange Postecoglou felt we ‘lacked sharpness, particularly early’ but praised the endeavours of the players after our 4-2 loss at Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League on Thursday evening.
Brighton led 4-0 going into the last 10 minutes but we managed to rattle Roberto De Zerbi’s team with a late comeback as Alejo Veliz converted his first Spurs goal off the bench and Ben Davies quickly followed up with a header for 4-2. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg also hit the post, Pervis Estupinan cleared Pedro Porro’s goalbound shot off the line and Destiny Udogie was denied by Jason Steele in those frantic final minutes, but the most unlikely of comebacks wasn’t to be at the Amex.
We came up short tonight, but that type of effort and endeavour has got us into the position we are in at the moment
Instead, Ange was left to reflect on a first half where we trailed 2-0, and the nature of Brighton’s goals as they stretched that to 4-0 after 75 minutes – including two penalties – as we ended up with more possession, more passes and more efforts at goal, to no avail.
Speaking to us at the Amex, Ange said: “From my perspective, all I know is everything they had, the players gave tonight. We probably looked a bit tired, lacked a bit of sharpness, particularly early in the game, and it’s understandable, we’ve been on this run for a while now where we’re asking the same players to keep performing, and the way we play is very taxing physically, we see that every week.
“Again, they gave everything tonight, but it just wasn’t enough. They don’t stop, and at the end there they gave everything, and that’s all I can ask for. That’s what you want. We came up short tonight, but that type of effort and endeavour has got us into the position we are in at the moment.”
The squad now has two full days to recover before facing in-form AFC Bournemouth in our next match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on New Year’s Eve (2pm UK).
Ange added: “We’ll recover and go again on Sunday. We don’t have any players to come back, but I know the players will give us everything they’ve got, and that’s all we can ask for.”
