Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham are winless in their last four games (Photo: Getty)
An ‘angry’ Ange Postecoglou told his Tottenham side to ‘just play’ at half-time of their dramatic 3-3 draw at Manchester City on Sunday.
That’s according to Dejan Kulusevski who scored a 90th minute equaliser to rescue a point for Spurs at the Etihad.
In a dramatic game, the away side took an early lead through Son Heung-min before an own goal from the captain and a tap-in for Phil Foden gave the home team a deserved lead at the break.
The Citizens dominated much of the game and could have gone into half-time with a more substantial lead but uncharacteristically poor finishing let them down.
‘The coach [Postecoglou] was angry with us at half-time – he told us to just play,’ Kulusevski told Sky Sports post-match.
‘We would like to win as we had enough chances in the second half. It was an unbelievable performance and we need to play like that all season. I’m really proud of the guys.
‘It was really hard. It was too bad we conceded the third goal as we might have won the game. If we can get better mentally then we’ll be at the top come the end of the season.’
Dejan Kulusevski scored Tottenham’s equaliser in the 90th minute (Photo: Getty)
Asked to elaborate on his team talk, Postecoglou added: ‘There would probably only be a few words I can say! Joking aside it was more trying to get the players to believe in themselves rather than anger at them.
‘I’m always mindful that from where I am on the touchline it seems simple but out there against an unbelievable team it is difficult. It was a case of whatever happens I will take responsibility, particularly if it doesn’t go well. But just go out there and believe in yourselves.
‘How you react to the tough periods factor in how you are measured in the course of the season. We stuck to our guns and our beliefs, we aren’t out of the tough period yet, we’re going to be thin going into January but how you react is important for what we are trying to build.
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‘It was an entertaining game, plenty in it. We were lucky to be in it by half-time, City could have blown us away in that period, a bit similar to what happened to us against Villa last week.
‘We hung in there, second half were a lot better, a lot more control and a lot more belief in the team. We got our reward for that which is great for the lads.’
Spurs are now fifth in the league, six points off leaders Arsenal, and are next in action on Thursday when they host local rivals West Ham.
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