What Ange Postecoglou told his players after defeat to Crystal Palace and admits to big Tottenham problem

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou says the only thing he couldn't stand in their 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace was the fact that many of his players were just standing around for most of the game, which he made clear to them afterwards.

Jean-Philippe Mateta scored the only goal in South London, as Tottenham suffered their third league defeat in nine games and missed an opportunity to close the gap at the top of the league table.

Spurs have been inconsistent this season, beginning with a draw at Leicester before a home defeat to Arsenal that was incredibly hard for the fans to take.

To their credit, they have responded well every time they have fallen short, and speaking to the press after the game, manager Postecoglou revealed that it was a disappointing performance, but he couldn’t understand why some of his top players were doing so much ball-watching.

He said at Selhurst: “No. It was a big game for Palace; they were always going to be desperate to get a win, and that happens. I just thought there was a lot of standing around today, which I hate, I’ve said that before. But I guess it’s just the nature of the way the game went.”

Postecoglou also complained about the attitude of his players after the defeat to Brighton, and when asked if it was a similar feeling today, he said: “No, it was a different game. It was a game where we needed to stay composed and not fall into the trap of trying to play the game that Palace ultimately wanted to play. It turned into a battle—duels, stop-starts, waiting around. We need to be much more clear-headed about how we deal with that rather than fall into the trap of doing what we did today.”

Spurs have boxed themselves into a very tight corner with this defeat, as their next game is against Manchester City in the League Cup, followed by another massive league game against Aston Villa.

Big questions need to be asked, especially with summer signing Dominic Solanke not firing on all cylinders and why the defence looks very vulnerable, particularly from set pieces.

What has been promised by manager Ange Postecoglou is that he will deliver a trophy this season, as that is his trademark. But on this form, it will be a tough ask, as they are unable to perform when the stakes are high.

How they respond on Wednesday will tell us just how good they are.