Conte’s rant gets to heart of problem facing Postecoglou

Tottenham boss must fix the soft centre that curses club

Tottenham’s collapse against Brighton on Sunday raised familiar and uncomfortable questions for the club, which head coach Ange Postecoglou will be stewing over during this international break.

Spurs went in at half-time at the Amex Stadium 2-0 up and headed for a sixth straight win in all competitions, but ended up losing 3-2 after a dreadful second-half performance. Postecoglou criticised his side’s “competitiveness”, accusing his players of lacking “fight” and failing “to do the basics” in perhaps his gloomiest press conference yet; the Australian did not seem especially angry, just deeply disappointed.

Postecoglou’s comments can be compared to Antonio Conte’s parting rant after his final game in charge of Spurs at Southampton, when he described his players as “selfish” and effectively disowned the dressing room. Conte was more extreme and had a different motive (sack me!) but both coaches were making the same underlying point about the mentality of their players.