I’m not a magician, says Postecoglou, as Tottenham crash
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Tottenham's damaging 2-1 home defeat by Wolves leaves them two points behind fourth placed Aston Villa.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Ange Postecoglou admitted he cannot wave a magic wand to revive Tottenham Hotspur’s bid to finish in the Premier League’s top four.
The London side dropped a spot to fifth after crashing to a 2-1 home defeat by Wolverhampton Wanderers on Feb 17, leaving them two points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, who won 2-1 at Fulham.
Tottenham have failed to score in the first half of their last five home matches and Postecoglou said the only solution to their issues was to knuckle down on the training ground.
“We will work hard, we’ve got two weeks to prepare for our next game (against Crystal Palace) and there’s no point feeling sorry for ourselves,” said the Australian, whose side’s Premier League match against Chelsea this weekend has been postponed as the Blues are playing in the League Cup final against Liverpool at Wembley.
“You take the blows and you’ve got to move on irrespective of what’s happened in the past. You’ve got to make sure you’re ready for the next game.
“There’s no tricks, it’s hard work. I’m not a magician, I’m a football manager. It’s hard work which these guys have done all year.
“Like I said, we’ve got to this point which is pretty decent on the back of some hard work and that’s what we’ll keep doing.”
Tottenham, who struggled in the absence of injured full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie, went behind in the 42nd minute when Joao Gomes headed Wolves into a deserved lead off a Pablo Sarabia corner.
Dejan Kulusevski levelled 34 seconds after the restart for Tottenham, only for Gomes to grab his second after an excellent solo run by Pedro Neto in the 63rd minute.
At Craven Cottage, Ollie Watkins underlined his England credentials with both goals in Villa’s victory.
He scored either side of half-time to take his Premier League tally to 13 goals, before Rodrigo Muniz halved the deficit in the 63rd minute. Unai Emery’s side had to dig deep but held on to leapfrog Spurs into the Champions League qualifying berths on 49 points.
Praising his players for their resilience in securing the three points, Emery said: “All the players weren’t complaining, they were focusing on the game plan. We reacted after their goal, keeping the same mentality, keeping the same game plan we prepared before the game.
“We were close to scoring the third goal but they created one chance and it was a very good save from Emiliano Martinez.”
Watkins told the BBC: “I thought we were going to score three or four. That wasn’t the case. Fulham responded really well and put us under pressure. It’s a massive three points, especially after a home defeat by Manchester United.”
AFP, REUTERS
