by Ange Postecoglou has slammed an “unacceptable” second-half performance by Tottenham in their 3-2 defeat at Brighton and admitted it was the worst defeat of his tenure at the club.
Spurs were on course for a sixth successive victory in all competitions when Brennan Johnson and James Maddison scored before half-time to put them 2-0 up at the Amex Stadium.
It made it six goals in six matches for Johnson, but the Seagulls transformed after the break with Yankuba Minteh able to reduce the deficit in the 48th minute.
The impressive Georginio Rutter equalized 10 minutes later with a fine finish before former Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck completed the comeback by heading home the winner after 66 minutes.
While Tottenham produced a dominant first-half performance, they finished second and were a shadow of the team that had come into this game on the back of fine road triumphs at Manchester United and Ferencvaros.
“It’s probably the most disappointing defeat I’ve suffered since I’ve been here, in terms of how we did it and it’s something I have to evaluate,” Postecoglou said after his 51st match at the head of the Spurs.
“We didn’t do what we needed to do at this level, it’s not negotiable. We just weren’t competitive.
“We didn’t win our duels, we lacked intensity, we didn’t deliver the things we needed at this level, the basics of the game, and we paid the price.
“Wherever it comes from, it doesn’t really matter, it doesn’t matter. This is ultimately unacceptable.
“You can kind of understand that you’re not going to win every game, but there’s the way you lose games.
“And it’s the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve lost the game like this. And like I said, unacceptable.
“I can do a lot about this. That’s why I’m in this role. If I couldn’t do anything about it, I’d ask someone else to sit here.
He added on the BBC: “This is a terrible loss for us, as serious as it is, and there is only one way to fix it and that is my responsibility.
“(It’s) probably the worst defeat since I’ve been here.”
Spurs started like a train at Brighton with Timo Werner, Dejan Kulusevski and Maddison unable to make the most of openings in the opening 10 minutes.
The visitors were leading after 23 minutes when Dominic Solanke broke away from Johnson, who continued his streak with a fine left-footed finish.
After Welbeck sent an effort wide shortly afterwards, Tottenham were 2-0 up when Werner cut back for Maddison and his low strike passed through the hands of Bart Verbruggen.
Johnson could have added a third before the break, but Brighton boss Fabian Hurzeler sent on Pervis Estupinan at half-time and the left-back immediately combined with Kaoru Mitoma to allow Minteh to strike home. House.
The 48th minute effort came after an error from Destiny Udogie and the Seagulls equalized when Mitoma played in Rutter to drill into the bottom corner with 58 minutes on the clock.
Welbeck completed the comeback after good wing play from Rutter, who got the better of Udogie and Rodrigo Bentancur to allow former England international Welbeck to head in from close range after 66 minutes.
Hurzeler downplayed his role in the comeback, saying: “I’m really proud of the team’s reaction because even at halftime they took responsibility, they showed character, they showed personality and the reaction was excellent in the second half.
“We have great characters in the team. In the end, it’s my responsibility to help the team to stay positive, to find the right words, to find the right solutions, but to be honest, it was the players’ game in the second half.
“They deserved it, they worked hard, they were more ruthless, they were more intense and they worked hard to achieve the goals.”
