Tottenham shot themselves in the foot, says Postecoglou after Bournemouth loss

Ange Postecoglou claimed Tottenham were masters of their own downfall in their 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth in the Premier League.

Dean Huijsen headed home the only goal of the game from a corner in the 17th minute to inflict a sixth defeat of the season on Postecoglou’s Spurs, who ended with an xG of only 0.58 despite having more than 65% possession.

Indeed, Bournemouth had 21 shots and saw two goals disallowed for offside, albeit Spurs also had a would-be equaliser ruled out when Son Heung-min was flagged.

But after his team followed up a disappointing home draw against Fulham with a toothless display on the south coast, Postecoglou did not hide his frustration.

“It is not good enough. We again fell into the trap of starting the game really well, we were in control, and then we conceded a really poor goal,” Postecoglou told Amazon Prime, after a defeat that pushed Tottenham into 10th place with 20 points from 14 games.

“Then we kind of lost our way a little bit and allowed Bournemouth to play the game that they wanted to. We had our moments in the second half, but we could not get a goal.

“I don’t know if they had more urgency, but we have this sort of propensity to shoot ourselves in the foot when we should be controlling games.”

Bournemouth, meanwhile, climbed into the top half of the table with their fourth win in five matches at the Vitality Stadium.

“Bournemouth are hard to beat here and what you should not do is give them a goal that gives them the momentum they need,” the Tottenham head coach said.

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— AFC Bournemouth (@afcbournemouth) December 5, 2024

Spurs will next face second-placed Chelsea, who are unbeaten in their last six league games, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday.

“They are all big games coming up. We have to get ourselves out of the space we are in at the minute where we can’t get a real grip on the season,” Postecoglou said.

Meanwhile, Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola was full of praise for 19-year-old Huijsen, who had made his third league start of the season in place of Marcos Senesi.

“He was very, very good defensively and he got the goal. Obviously, we can use his height in the set plays. He is confident on the ball too. He is good news for us,” said the Spanish tactician.

“He needs and is demanding opportunities and I think he will get them more now. Marco [Senesi] is injured, so he will get the chance more and more. It is good for us that he has found the level.”

Huijsen became Bournemouth’s youngest-ever goalscorer in the Premier League at 19 years and 235 days and the third-youngest Spaniard, after Cesc Fabregas and Stefan Bajcetic.

“Our defensive performance was most pleasing. We did not give them many chances at all. Everyone defensively was very good,” Iraola said.

“Luckily we finished the job, but there were moments when we thought that if we did not kill them they would punish us,” he added.

Bournemouth are next in action against Ipswich Town at Portman Road on Sunday.