Presser points | Spurs 0-1 Arsenal | Ange Postecoglou

Ange Postecoglou spoke to the media after our 1-0 loss against Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday.

Here's what he had to say...

On the performance...

Ange was asked if it was another game where we had plenty of the ball but didn't create enough clear chances?

Ange: "Yeah, to a certain extent. We had some good opportunities but we created so many more, we just wasted some of our good play. Similar to our other games where we haven't really had that conviction in the front third to take advantage of...whether it's us winning the ball back or getting into that front third and nothing coming of it. You keep opposition teams in the game when you do that."

Arsenal's winner...

Ange was asked how disappointed he was with the defending for Arsenal's goal and then a follow up question asking if we'd improved on defending set pieces overall this season...

Ange: "We handled them well for the most part. We switched off for one and you pay a price. That's what happens. It was always going to be a tight game, fine margins, and it proved to be a key moment. Arsenal are obviously a very big threat at set pieces. It only takes one. It wasn't just Romero, a couple of others switched off as well. The delivery was spot on and Gabriel is always a threat in those situations. We paid a price for it."

Dominic's home debut...

Ange was asked about Dominic Solanke's performance on his home debut...

Ange: "I thought Dom worked hard but, like I said, he hasn't played for over a month, only his second game of the year. I just thought there were a lot of odd times where, you know, if we just had a bit more belief and conviction in that front third that we could have made so much more with our play to create really good opportunities and, and even the ones we did, you know, we didn't again, like I said, we lacked some real conviction in their execution to really make the most of them."

Belief...

It was put to Ange that he'd mentioned a lack of conviction before, so what gave him the belief that that will change?

Ange: "We've just got to keep working at it mate, that's my job. I've just got to keep giving the feedback to the guys, trying to guide them in the right way to make them see that for all their dominance in the game, you need to really be clear-headed in those kind of moments and, that's my role to try to guide them in the right way."

Character test...

Finally, it was put to Ange that after the defeat against Arsenal in April, he spoke about Cuti Romero being 'outstanding' and that he need to get 'a bit of him' into the other players. Did he see more of that character today?

Ange: "To a certain extent. We are a team that is progressing in many areas, with all that progress there are always new challenges and things you need to overcome. When I look at the four games in isolation this year, the football is probably more consistent and compelling than our first four games last year but obviously our results don’t reflect that. So, I think we have made progress in certain areas but there are other areas we need to improve on and that’s my job to fill those gaps as quickly as possible."