ANGE POSTECOGLOU said yesterday he does not believe Tottenham have a set-piece issue.
Spurs lost 3-2 at home to Arsenal on Sunday and two of the goals conceded were from corners, which takes the overall number of goals they have shipped in the Premier League from set-pieces, excluding penalties, to 14.
It has become a topic of discussion around Tottenham in recent months after goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario struggled from set-pieces in matches with Manchester and Everton earlier this year.
Ahead of today’s trip to Chelsea, Postecoglou insisted: “I’ve answered this question and I don’t think it satisfies people, but no I don’t see it as an issue.
“It’s something that we work on along with everything in our game. There are far more important things that we need to concentrate on at the moment in terms of the team we’re building.
“I think people want to be believe, and it can be, that football is very prescriptive. You’ve got an illness, here’s the tablet and you feel better. I’ve never believed that.
“I’ve always been about trying to create an environment and a style of football that can win things. I’ve never worked in a prescriptive manner and I certainly won’t be doing it now.”
Spurs goalkeeper Vicario has enjoyed a fine campaign since he joined from Empoli in June, but he has also faced plenty of analysis on TV around his set-piece struggles.
Postecoglou added: “I think he has seen it as a challenge and again it is something even I am struggling with. I watched the Champions League last night and there was a couple of times they went in on the keeper and it was a foul straight away.
“I don’t know. It is a weird one for me. We’ve tried to get clarity on it and I don’t think there is clarity on it.
“It is just a challenge for him to overcome and he’s determined to do it. And I know he will because I know his mentality of not looking for excuses, but finding solutions through that. He will do that.”
Tottenham will be without Ben Davies (calf) and Timo Werner (hamstring) for the trip to Stamford Bridge.
Both sustained injuries during the Arsenal defeat and will not play again this season, which could prove to be Werner’s final appearance, although Spurs do have the option to turn his loan from RB Leipzig into a permanent deal.
Postecoglou did not want to be drawn on Werner’s future yesterday and batted away more talk around set-pieces with a defiant message on Tottenham’s progress during his debut season in charge.
“I’ve had the whole gambit. If I was playing bingo, I’d have called it a few weeks ago,” Postecoglou joked.
“We’ve conceded early, scored early, conceded late, scored late, had great starts, poor starts, set-pieces good, set-pieces bad, some good football. It is part of where we’re at.
“But within that, I make it sound as if it has been a real struggle. I don’t think it has been a real struggle.
“I’m still seeing real belief in this group. Even on Sunday, 3-0 down at half-time, the game could have gone very easily a different way but it didn’t.
“I love the spirit this group shows in the face of adversity and all the things that people see as issues for us right now are not at the top of my list.
“At the top of my list is creating an environment for a football team and a style of football that will win us things. We’re on the way to doing that.”
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino said Chelsea’s medical and coaching staff are working to try and understand why the club have suffered so many injuries this season, with as many as 14 players likely to be missing for tonight’s clash at Stamford Bridge.
Defenders Thiago Silva and Axel Disasi are the latest additions to the list since Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Aston Villa, in which Pochettino was forced to name five academy graduates aged 20 and under on the bench.
