Postecoglou is wrong – Spurs huge setpiece problems are costing them

Spurs suffered their second London derby loss in four days, thanks to familiar faults.

Tottenham dominated this Premier League encounter from the moment Trevoh Chalobah nodded Conor Gallagher’s dead ball home.

Spurs had already suffered one of their worst losses of the season when Nicolas Jackson looped in a header after Cole Palmer’s free-kick hit the crossbar.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has said at least four times that he does not care for expert set-piece coaching.

The unrelenting verbal volleys the Tottenham manager hurled at his players from the Stamford Bridge touchline in a humiliating 2-0 defeat proved otherwise.

Chelsea’s headed finishes from Chalobah and Jackson bring Spurs’ total set-piece goals surrendered this Premier League season to 16, accounting for almost a third of all league attempts leaked by the north London club.

Added to the two goals Tottenham surrendered from corners against Arsenal on Sunday, there is no doubt about Spurs’ set-piece problems.

In the build-up to Stamford Bridge, Postecoglou used Billy Joel’s song You May Be Right to defend his laissez-faire set-piece philosophy.

After Spurs’ tenth league loss of the season, the charming Aussie was likely left recalling American hitmaker Joel’s back catalogue once again, stating Don’t Ask Me Why.

Spurs will be upset that they squandered the first of their two games in hand against Aston Villa in the hunt for fourth place in the Premier League.

Spurs managed to improve their top-four opponents’ Premier League status despite the fact that Villa were playing in the Europa Conference League that night.

Marc Cucurella’s block on Brennan Johnson for Chalobah’s first was so ineffective that it’s surprising the referees bothered to look for a probable foul with VAR.

Check they did, but all it provided was more pain for a sloppy Spurs team that fell victim to their set-piece inadequacies once again. Even Johnson saw his feeble objections to fourth official Tim Robinson were ineffective.

Heung-min Son and Dejan Kulusevski were practically embracing as Jackson’s header found the back of the net for Chelsea’s second goal. After a night to forget in West London, the senior Spurs pair might have used some consolation.

Tottenham’s lack of alignment extended beyond set pieces.

Chelsea took advantage of Spurs’ systemic defensive weakness four times in the first half. Spurs’ formation collapsed with a simple reverse pass into Chelsea’s inside-left channel.

The spacing between Cristian Romero at right centre-back, Pedro Porro at right-back, and Pape Matar Sarr at right midfield was so off that the Blues were able to pass through the gaps practically effortlessly.

Micky van de Ven was forced to clear off the line after Nicolas Jackson poked the ball past Guglielmo Vicario’s knees in the first of such attacks.

Spurs rallied enough to create space for Sarr to attack, but the Senegalese star stumbled and clipped the ball wide. Romero nodded wide with the goal at his mercy, but Spurs could have few complaints after trailing 1-0 at halftime.

A small resurgence after the break only enhanced the prospect of a comeback, with Spurs being much too exposed in defensive transition and Chelsea squandering many half-chances.

Jackson was allowed to twist the knife on Spurs once again, adding to his hat-trick in north London in November. To quote Billy Joel once again, considering their seven-point deficit with Villa, Spurs can expect to finish fifth.

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