LONDON — Ange Postecoglou said that he was frustrated with his team’s “inability to stay disciplined” after Spurs completed a second half comeback to beat Brentford 3-2 in a bad-tempered match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday.
Spurs were forced to come back from a goal down after Neil Maupay put the visitors in front, but it was the Brentford forward’s imitation of James Maddison‘s darts throwing celebration that Postecoglou’s players seemed to take exception to.
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“I think we started the game well and started with a good intensity and good tempo. Obviously, they scored and then we lost our way,” Postecgolou said.
“We just lost focus. I was a bit frustrated with our inability to stay disciplined and it was just too many stop-starts and it kind of plays into their hands, [there were] a lot of set pieces and throw ins. We spent more time talking to the referee than playing the game and I was just be frustrated that we lost real clear focus.”
Maddison was seen confronting Maupay as the former Everton forward made his way back to his own half in preparation for the game to restart.
Asked whether Maupay’s celebration had fired up his team Postecoglou said: “I hope not because that’s exactly what I’m talking about… I’m not a fan of it.
“I don’t like the whole bravado of pushing people around. If you’re that brave about things then my players and their players can get into a UFC cage and I’ll see how brave they are.
“We’re out there to play football and that’s what I want our guys to do. Focus on playing football and they shouldn’t get motivated by things that aren’t really that important to us.”
Asked whether he understood Spurs’ anger at Maupay’s conduct, Brentford head coach Thomas Frank said: “If that is what is irritating them then they have a problem, I must say.”
