Heung-min Son blasted Tottenham’s “unacceptable” run of squandered leads in the Premier League and called his team “soft” after West Ham roared back to claim victory in Thursday night’s London derby.
A 2-1 defeat means Spurs’ superb start to the season has now fizzled out into a run five games without a win, Ange Postecoglou’s side picking up just a point in that period.
Remarkably, Spurs have led in all five of those matches without going on to claim victory, a new unwanted record in the Premier League, and captain Son bemoaned his team’s inability to kill off games.
"Losing that game is unacceptable,” the Korean said. “We have got the lead five times in a row now. West Ham are always tough to play against but we were soft.
“In the Premier League, you don't know what will happen in the end. You have to kill a game. It's unacceptable.
“Players have to take responsibility - the fans don't deserve this. You have to play with more energy, especially at home. Whether we deserve it or not, we have to move on and bounce back. It's disappointing for the fans.”
Spurs led 1-0 through Cristian Romero’s first-half header and might well have been out of sight by half-time but squandered a host of chances before strikes from James Ward-Prowse and Jarrod Bowen turned the game on its head.
Postecoglou was also scathing of his side’s lack of attacking “conviction” and warned his team that playing good football means nothing if they cannot turn their style into wins.
“One-nil up at half-time was not a good performance,” he said. “A good performance was to be three or four up and put the game to bed. When you don’t and you give up goals that you shouldn’t, you get what you deserve.
“We’re going through a spell where we’re playing so-called ‘good football’ but I don’t see that. All is see is us not showing any clear conviction in what we’re doing. It’s like we’re thinking the ball will go into the net by itself and it won’t.”
