Ange Postecoglou took the blame for his players as Tottenham’s Champions League hopes suffered a huge dent with defeat at Chelsea.
Goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson handed Spurs their third Premier League defeat in a row, on what was a comfortable evening for Chelsea.
Postecoglou’s men are still seven points behind Aston Villa in the race for fourth, but now only have one game in hand, meaning their chances of finishing fourth look slim.
Postecoglou snaps at reporter
Having started the season so well, Spurs are in danger of fizzling out as the campaign draws to a close, and have just two wins in their last seven league games.
The former Celtic boss admitted after the match his team’s performance wasn’t good enough, and he took responsibility for the loss.
“It wasn’t good enough and I have to take responsibility for that, it is on me”, the Australian told Sky Sports.
“I am the manager and I am the one putting them out there and it was not good enough.
“When we put in a performance like we did in the first half it meant my message wasn’t getting through.”
The Spurs manager let his frustrations get the better of him when questioned on what his message was and snapped back at the reporter.
“Come on mate, we didn’t play well”, the 58-year-old said.
“Do you want me to write you a dossier of where it went wrong? I feel like we’ve lost a bit of belief and conviction in our football and that is on me to change that.
“It wasn’t about conceding the first goal, it was our approach to playing football and we were nowhere near good enough. That is on me.
“We’ve been in a bit of a grind for a while now, that is part of our challenge and part of our growth. We have to go out there and perform and sometimes you have to grind out.
“We were poor today.”
Defeat for Tottenham means their former manager Mauricio Pochettino has now done the double over them following Chelsea’s 4-1 win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium earlier this season.
It doesn’t get any easier for Spurs as they travel to Anfield on Sunday, while Chelsea face another derby as West Ham visit Stamford Bridge.