(Reuters) – Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said on Friday his side’s consistently dominant performances can steer them to a much-needed second win in the Premier League this season at home to Brentford despite not having the results to show for it.
Postecoglou’s men are bracing for five games across all competitions over two weeks following a lacklustre start to the season. Spurs welcome Brentford on Saturday off the back of one win from four league games, a home victory against Everton.
Tottenham were held to a draw at Leicester City and lost at Newcastle United but perhaps the most crushing result was a home defeat in a tight north London derby, settled by Arsenal’s set piece prowess, which is proving to be Spurs’ weakness.
Tottenham had 64% possession and 15 shots on target compared to Arsenal’s seven in their 1-0 defeat. Asked if he felt pressure ahead of facing Brentford, Postecoglou said he was resolute in his ways and had a long term vision for the team.
“Doesn’t change, it’s the same whether you win the first four. I’d hate to think ‘you’re going into this game thinking you can lose it’ We’re at home and we also played well in all those four games,” the Australian coach told reporters.
“Performances have been really consistent in terms of dominating games but we haven’t really got a reward for our dominance and that’s the area we’re still trying to focus on in terms of the front third to make sure we get rewards for our good play.”
Australian Postecoglou, the first Spurs manager in five years to last a full season, added: “I know I will not be here forever but I work like I will be.
“Every decision I make is made off that backdrop. If you get caught in timeline scenarios, you make results that short-term might feel good, but long term you will not get to where you want.”
Postecoglou said injured midfielder Yves Bissouma and forward Timo Werner are available winger Wilson Odobert has been ruled out of Saturday’s game after sustaining a hamstring injury in Wednesday’s 2-1 League Cup third round win over Coventry.
He added it was too early to judge Tottenham’s 65 million pound ($86.33 million) record signing Dominic Solanke, who was sidelined by an ankle injury but played just over an hour on Wednesday, after three appearances for the club without scoring.
“We did look at (former Brentford striker) Ivan Toney but as I have said Dom was the one I wanted and it took pretty much the whole summer to get him in.
“If he has gone 15 games without a goal then I can answer that question or 15 games where he hasn’t contributed, but I just think (you need to) take a breath.”
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(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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