What Ange Postecoglou said in furious X-rated blast at shocked Spurs players in Chelsea defeat

Ange Postecoglou snapped and screamed at his Tottenham players to show some bravery during their damaging defeat against Chelsea.

Spurs were beaten 2-0 by their London rivals on Thursday night in a huge blow for their chances of earning Champions League qualification. Trevoh Chalobah headed in Conor Gallagher ’s free-kick to give the Blues the lead before Nicolas Jackson added a second with a rebound after Cole Palmer struck the crossbar.

The defeat was Tottenham ’s second in five days against rivals following the 3-2 north London derby loss against Arsenal. It leaves them stuck in fifth place, seven points adrift of Aston Villa, and although they have a game in-hand on Villa, fourth looks a long way off right now.

Spurs created little against Chelsea and Postecoglou was furious with the way they played. In the 32nd minute, with the score at 1-0, he was caught by the TV cameras giving his players a blast from the sidelines.

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Aiming his angry instructions at Cristian Romero and Pape Sarr, he screamed: “Pape, stop passing it f***ing backwards! Pass it forwards! You, pass it forwards.” The outburst prompted Gary Neville to remark on Sky Sports’ commentary: “He’s having a right go at Sarr and Romero. He’s snapped!”

“Angry Ange! Honestly I’ve never seen him so angry and animated,” Karen Carney said at half-time. “They kept getting into midfield and giving it away and really it’s about [Brennan] Johnson and Son [Heung-min], they missed the ball and they lost possession and gave away this free-kick that led to the goal.”

Postecoglou did not get the reaction he desired and rang the changes in the 63rd minute, sending on Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Maddison and Rodrigo Bentancur for Sarr, Yves Bissouma and Richarlison. But the triple change did not have the desired effect, with Jackson adding the killer second goal for Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou was an animated figure on the touchline
(Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Postecoglou was still running hot in his post-match interview. "It wasn't good enough and I have to take responsibility for that, it is on me,” he said. “I am the manager and I am the one putting them out there and it was not good enough. When we put in a performance like we did in the first half it meant my message wasn't getting through."

Asked what message he was trying to get across to his players, he replied: "Come on mate, we didn't play well, do you want me to write you a dossier of where it went wrong? I feel like we've lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football and that is on me to change that.

"It wasn't about conceding the [first] goal, it was our approach to playing football and we were nowhere near good enough. That is on me. We've been in a bit of a grind for a while now, that is part of our challenge and part of our growth. We have to go out there and perform and sometimes you have to grind out. We were poor today."

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