Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has called for more clinical finishing from his players as they look to close the gap on the Premier League’s elite.
The North Londoners stumbled to a to a frustrating 1-1 draw against Leicester at the King Power Stadium on Monday night, despite enjoying 71% possession.
Postecoglou Frustrated With Spurs Wastefulness
Tottenham registered ten shots in the first half, more than any other Premier League side managed during the Premier League opening weekend.
Pedro Porro’s goal gave Spurs the lead, but they should have been comfortably ahead with a larger goal cushion at half-time.
Despite dominating possession, Tottenham were unable to capitalise on their superiority as Leicester equalised through Jamie Vardy in the 57th minute. The Foxes’ striker made the most of their only shot on target to frustrate the visitors.
Spurs could not respond with another goal and had to share the spoils with the Foxes. They touched on an unwanted milestone in doing so, as it was the first time they managed to defeat a newly promoted side since Ange Postecoglou took over last season.
Postecoglou cut a dejected figure on the team bus, conceding that his side must be more clinical if they’re to compete with the league’s top dogs.
“I thought we started the second half well, I think for 15 minutes we were on top,” the Aussie told talkSPORT after the match.
“We were just really wasteful in front of goal, we just didn’t take the opportunities.
“We weren’t clinical enough, we made some poor decisions, we lacked composure in and around the box.
“And in a game of football, it’s always a danger that the opposition will go up once and score and that’s exactly what happened.
“They get a bit of momentum from that and we lost a bit of composure and finished strong.
“But like I said, you can’t keep giving up chances like we did tonight and hope to get a better outcome.”
Postecoglou went on to stress that Spurs’ eye-catching football is meaningless of they can’t pick up maximum points.
“You play that football for an outcome, you don’t just play it to look nice,” he pointed out.
“If we’re going to go to the next level as a club, then as a team we need to have that [cutting edge].
“There were times last year where we were very similar, we kept oppositions in the game because they just weren’t ruthless enough with our decision making in the front third.
“We need to be better, our football will take us so far, but if we want to bridge a gap with the top teams, then we need to be more decisive.
“I can’t fault the performance of the players.
“But at the same time, as a team, when you don’t get the result you want, you’ve got to take that as a collective disappointment.”
Postecoglou will be desperate to steady the ship when Spurs host the struggling Toffees at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
