A reporter found out the hard way why it’s not a good idea to serve up a question in the form of a statement to Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.
Tottenham huffed and puffed but could not find a way past a resolute Crystal Palace as Oliver Glasner’s side recorded their first win of the season.
Postecoglou was perhaps a little fortunate to have even finished the contest with 11 men after Micky Van de Ven brought down Ismaila Sarr but escaped with only a yellow despite being the last man.
But it mattered little in the 1-0 loss for Tottenham, the north London side’s fourth defeat of the season.
Postecoglou largely kept his frustration in check after the game, but in a post-match interview with the BBC, it appeared to bubble to the surface.
The Australian said he’d be ‘very surprised’ if the travelling supporters were ‘happy’, to which the reporter responded: “Because you’re not happy, obviously”.
The question evidently struck a nerve with Postecoglou, who fired back: “Why would I be happy? Is there a question there?
“Why would I be happy about today when our supporters, so our supporters are unhappy, I’m unhappy, the players are unhappy, I think that’s a fair assessment.
The reporter defended his line of questioning by stating he only asked if Tottenham’s level dropped below what Postecoglou expected.
Postecoglou’s response was telling as it pointed towards a trait he will be desperate to stamp out.
“No, but I identified another problem which was we didn’t battle today like they did,” Postecoglou said.
“So I think if you’re suggesting that our fans somehow weren’t happy with today, then I think that’s a fair assessment.
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“I’m not happy, the players aren’t happy.”
In his post-match press conference, Postecoglou added: “It was a game that turned into a bit of a battle, a lot of stop-starting and standing around, and we didn’t deal with that really well at all.
“We didn’t get to grips with the nature of what was transpiring out there.
“They dealt with it better than we did. It was just a game where we needed to stay composed, not falling through the trap of trying to play the game that ultimately Palace wanted to play.
“It was battle after battle, duels, stop-starts and we needed to be a lot more clear-headed about how we deal with that.”
The defeat to Crystal Palace leaves Tottenham eighth in the table with 13 points, four fewer than fifth-placed Chelsea.
Postecoglou’s side must now turn their attention towards a bumper last 16 clash against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night.
