Ange Postecoglou urged Tottenham to cut the sloppiness out of their game after they moved back to the top of the Premier League with a comprehensive 2-0 win over Fulham.
Goals from Son Heung-min and James Maddison extended Spurs’ unbeaten start to the season but Postecoglou was not entirely satisfied. The manager was not happy with his side’s performance in the second half and he urged his players to improve before visiting Crystal Palace on Friday.
“We had a really encouraging start to the season with results and performances,” Postecoglou said. “We had to work hard tonight. I thought we had to be patient. Fulham were very well organised. Our pressing was outstanding. But I am really disappointed with the second half. That’s the worst 45 minutes we’ve had with the ball all year. We have to stay disciplined with our approach.
“I’m not trying to make a point. We took some liberties. We took some extra touches. I’ve been around long enough to know if you try and take liberties you’ll get dragged down quickly. I’m not going to let the fact we won the game disguise the opportunity we have to improve. There was no reason for it. My role is to give the feedback to the players. They want to get better and improve. It would be so easy for me to sit here and say ‘We’re a great team’. We have to be better. Absolutely we can.”
Victory gave Spurs 23 points from a possible 27 with seven wins and two draws so far this season – and Postecoglou the best start by a new Premier League manager. The Australian has a point more than Guus Hiddink managed in February 2009 after his first nine games in charge of Chelsea.
Fulham paid for two mistakes from Calvin Bassey, who gave the ball away for both of Spurs’ goals. The west Londoners remain 13th and Marco Silva was encouraged by his side’s display. “We were punished by some mistakes we made,” Fulham’s manager said. “We had some dangerous moments on the counter and we should have punished them in these moments. After the second goal we had enough chances to make it 2-1 and go at them again but unfortunately we didn’t score.
“I hope the goals will come but the good thing is we have been creating more in recent games. The way we created against Tottenham is a good sign.”
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Silva stood by Bassey after the defender’s distribution cost Fulham. “We encourage our players to build from the back,” he said. “It is our way and it can happen. We have to understand the moments, of course. We conceded a similar goal at the start of the second half. Unfortunately we were punished for the same type of goal.”