‘No illusion’ – Postecoglou discusses what went wrong against Man City

In his post-match press conference after the defeat to Manchester City in the FA Cup, Ange Postecoglou spoke very candidly about why his Tottenham Hotspur side struggled to take the game to Pep Guardiola’s men.

The scoreline may read 1-0 at full-time, but it would be fair to say that Postecoglou‘s Spurs side were never truly in the game against Manchester City in this FA Cup fourth round tie.

City had the lion’s share of possession, and their 18 shots (5 on target) completely eclipses Tottenham’s singular effort on goal (BBC Sport).

Ultimately, Spurs never really got going in the game, and they were punished late on with Nathan Ake stabbing home the ball from close range to seal the win for City, their first at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Spurs needed more conviction

Never one to shy away from his own shortcomings, Postecoglou offered plenty of explanation for the result in his comments after the game (via Football.London), and discussed just how difficult it is to play against Manchester City.

He said: “They’re a top team. They’re the benchmark. We’re not there yet and we’re under no illusion about that. I just felt that all of the second half was ok, the first half we were just too passive in a lot of our play and allowed them to get a rhythm in their game.

“It’s not what you want against them. It’s very hard to arrest that mid-game. I thought we started the second half better with a bit more conviction about our play but ultimately we were just working hard to stay in the game and that wasn’t going to be enough tonight.”

When asked what he and his side could have done differently, Postecoglou added: “It was about just having more belief and conviction in ourselves in that first 45 minutes. Once they get into a rhythm it’s very hard to wrestle that back off them.

“I thought we did that [belief] in the second half… we created a couple of good moments for ourselves. I thought we defended well. It’s not like Vicario had a million saves to make or that they created a lot against us.

“So it’s disappointing to concede so late but having said that, it’s not what we’re about. We worked hard enough but it seemed we were just working to the maximum to stay in the game rather than getting over the top of them.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Spurs never looked like getting the better of City last night, and to only create one shot is simply not good enough. We lacked the creativity and our attacking moves just didn’t flow like they normally do. But, as Ange says, City are a very good side when it comes to nullifying the opposition.