Ange Postecoglou said his Tottenham players lacked the “competitiveness” he has seen from them this season as they fell to a 3-0 defeat at Fulham.
Hoping for three points to move them back into the top four, Spurs instead delivered one of their worst performances of the season.
A double from Rodrigo Muniz and a first Fulham goal for Sasa Lukic gave the hosts a handsome victory and saw Spurs unable to kick on after thrashing Aston Villa 4-0 at Villa Park last weekend.
Postecoglou said after the defeat: “It was a disappointing night for us.
“To be fair to the players, it’s the first time this year where I’ve felt, especially in the second half, that we just didn’t [compete well enough].
“We’re in the position we are because every week we’ve been really, really competitive in every aspect of the game and even in our losses I’ve felt like we’ve hit certain markers in terms of our endeavour and competitiveness and I thought that it was missing today and that was disappointing.”
Asked whether he has an inclination as to why his side lacked bite, he said: “No, it’s something that’s been there before so you need to just sit back and analyse it.
“I’m sure we’ll get plenty of evidence as to why and plenty of things to look at, but ultimately whatever recourse we have now is too late for today’s game.
“Fourth is not my end goal. I don’t want to finish fourth if we haven’t grown as a team and developed as a team. If nobody believes me then that’s fine.”
