‘I have never played the victim’: Postecoglou snaps at reporter after Spurs implosion
“I have never played the victim. At the end of the day I still believe the responsibility lies with me to get this right and that is where I sit with things. Whatever the circumstances are, and it is fair to say it is a challenging situation for sure, a lot of it is out of your control as a manager when you losing the amount of players we are at the moment.
“But I still have to steer us through and if I start worrying about myself and the cards I have been dealt with it is a dereliction of my duty and my responsibility. It is not how I see it. I see it as these are the cards I have been dealt and it is up to me to get us out of it and I have to be good enough to do that.”
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy watches the game.Credit: Getty Images
Spurs are still in all four competitions and despite recent results, injuries and defensive calamities, Postecoglou remains confident the season can still prove successful in terms of silverware and or European qualification. Whether he stays in charge to see it through, Levy and the club’s hierarchy will decide.
Asked what provided motivation in such a worrying run, Postecoglou added: “The club, our fans, our season. We are still in four competitions this season. We are in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, we have a couple of big European games coming up, and we’re still in the FA Cup.
“Obviously our league position is not great to say the least. We need to improve that and eventually our players will come back. It is a significant talent that will come back. It is not like this is what it is, there is motivation to get through this so that when we do get our players back we can get something significant out of our season.”
It was a drastic understatement when Postecoglou admitted Spurs “were not great” in the first half. Their defence was all at sea. Dominic Calvert-Lewin ended a 16-game goal drought with a well-taken goal from Idrissa Gueye’s pass after 13 minutes.
Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin beats keeper Antonin Kinsky to score the first goal of the match.Credit: Getty Images
They went missing again when Iliman Ndiaye exchanged passes with Gueye and charged unchallenged from the halfway line before evading Dragusin’s half-hearted challenge to rifle home the second after half an hour.
And they caved in again just before the break when James Tarkowski headed Jesper Lindstrom’s cross back across the goal, Calvert-Lewin flicked the ball on and Archie Gray, under pressure, inadvertently turned it into his own net with his knee.
It could have been more but Spurs at least salvaged some pride in the second half when a delightful chip by Kulusevski in the 72nd minute gave them a bit of hope before Richarlison converted a cross from Mikey Moore at the far post in added time.
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Those goals prompted more than a little anxiety around Goodison, considering Everton had twice thrown away 2-0 leads to lose 3-2 to Bournemouth and Aston Villa earlier this season.
But they held out for a deserved victory that eased their relegation worries and their high-tempo, energetic display pointed to a brighter second half of the season under Moyes.
