Ange Postecoglou slams 'set-piece narrative' and points blame for Arsenal goal

Ange Postecoglou defended his set-piece record (Image: Getty)

Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou fumed at the "narrative" that he does not care about set-pieces. His side were undone by a brilliant Bukayo Saka corner as they lost the north London derby 1-0 at White Hart Lane.

Gabriel was left unmarked five yards out to head home the only goal of the game.

Cristian Romero was tasked with picking up the Arsenal defender but he lost his man after being nudged in the back.

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Postecoglou has previously come under fire for not fixing Spurs' poor set-piece record and he was not happy with being quizzed on their fragilities.

“I know, I know, for some reason people think I don't care about set pieces and it's a narrative that you can keep going on for ages and ages," he said.

"I understand that. Like I said, we work on them all the time like we do for every other team. You know that they're a threat, as I said, for the most part, we handled them really well today, but we switched off for one and we paid a price and you learn from that and you move on.

"But it is what it is, you know, it's my burden to carry mate and I'm happy to do that. It's not like, like I've always said, for me, there's a bigger picture that's at play here that's much more important than the finer details of us getting to where we want to. For us, the way forward is to try to turn the football we're playing now into something meaningful.”

Explaining what went wrong for the goal, he added: "It wasn't just Romero, a couple of others switched off as well...we paid a price for it.

Gabriel headed home the only goal of the match (Image: Getty)

"It's very disappointing in a big game for us and our supporters. We didn't deliver so you have to take the pain from that.

"It has been the story of our season so far, we played in their half and created chances but we lack a bit of belief in the final third. That's what we need to fix. It was always going to be decided in moments and they capitalised on theirs.

"It's me who has to give the guys the way forward. It's not for a lack of trying by the lads, we are just going through this early part of the season where we are playing well but not getting rewards for it.

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Spurs skipper Son Heung-min was equally as annoyed with the poor defending that led to the goal.

He explained: "We dominated the game, the football was there we just conceded from a set-piece again. We did it last season and it is really frustrating. I am sure the fans are also very disappointed. We have to improve, 100%, it's a tough moment and we have to stick together.

"We are getting into the final third but the players have to take the responsiblity to score. It is the hardest part of football, making the right decision and being clinical.

"We will bounce back strong, there is a long way to go."

Ange Postecoglou slams 'set-piece narrative' and points blame for Arsenal goal

Ange Postecoglou slams 'set-piece narrative' and points blame for Arsenal goal

Ange Postecoglou slams 'set-piece narrative' and points blame for Arsenal goal

Ange Postecoglou slams 'set-piece narrative' and points blame for Arsenal goal

Ange Postecoglou slams 'set-piece narrative' and points blame for Arsenal goal