Ange Postecoglou SNAPS at a Sky Sports reporter after he was asked why his message 'wasn't getting through' during Tottenham's 2-0 defeat by Chelsea

Ange Postecoglou could not contain his rage as he watched Tottenham crumble at Chelsea, admitting afterwards that they have bigger problems than being vulnerable from set-pieces.

Postecoglou questioned the mindset of his players after a pitiful performance at Stamford Bridge with the Spurs boss as angry as we have seen him on the touchline.

Despite being decimated by injuries, Chelsea capitalised on two set-piece opportunities with headers from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson inflicting a third consecutive Premier League loss on Tottenham, who now face a fight to finish fourth above Aston Villa.

Postecoglou accepted the blame on his players' behalf as he said: 'It is on me to fix it. We had bigger issues tonight than set pieces. We lacked belief and conviction in our game.

'I don't know if it is low confidence but we are not playing with the mindset we need to play the football we want to. It wasn't good enough and I have to take responsibility for that.

Ange Postecoglou could not contain his rage as he watched Tottenham crumble at Chelsea

Tottenham suffered third consecutive Premier League loss, damaging their top-four hopes

Once again Spurs were unable to protect themselves from set-piece trickery - just days after Postecoglou said he wouldn't be changing his mindset

"Come on mate, we didn't play well" 🗣

Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou isn't pleased with his sides performance 👇 pic.twitter.com/IU9MxvBOwV — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 2, 2024

'When we put in a performance like we did in the first half, it meant my message wasn't getting through.'

Asked what that message was, Postecoglou said: 'Come on mate, we didn't play well, do you want me to write you a dossier of where it went wrong?

'I feel like we've lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football, and that is on me to change that.

'It wasn't about conceding the (first) goal, it was our approach to playing football and we were nowhere near good enough. That is on me.

'We've been in a bit of a grind for a while now, that is part of our challenge and part of our growth.

'We have to go out there and perform and sometimes you have to grind out. We were poor today

On dropping James Maddison, Postecoglou said: 'Fair to say it didn't work.'

The Australian-Greek manager questioned his players' mindset in the wake of the humbling

Micky van de Ven agreed that dreaming of the Champions League next term would be difficult

Postecoglou made his feelings known to his players in the first half as he lost his temper on the touchline.

He screamed: 'Stop passing it backwards!', while pointing at Pape Matar Sarr and Cristian Romero.

Micky van de Ven was more reflective on his side's three-game winless run after the final whistle, saying that the thought of missing out on the Champions League spots would be 'difficult'.

'After this game, I don't want to look up to the Champions League because we didn't have a good performance. It's going to be difficult now,' he said.

'We can do much better than we did today. I don't want to say our confidence is gone, Sunday (against Liverpool) is a big game. We'll take a look back at this game and bounce back better for the weekend.'

Referencing the side's set-piece hoodoo, Van der Ven added: 'We know what to do, but every ball goes in at the moment. It's not falling on our side.

Postecoglou was snappy with a reporter in his post-match interview as it took time for tempers to cool down

By contrast, Mauricio Pochettino (left) enjoyed a dream-like Thursday evening in west London

'It can't happen, two goals again from set-pieces.'

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was thrilled with how his players stepped up amid their injury crisis, including Cobham graduates such as Alfie Gilchrist, Conor Gallagher and Chalobah.

'For me, it was the best game,' Pochettino said. 'It is the most happy I am afterwards.'

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