Postecoglou: Terrible Brighton defeat is as bad as it gets

Ange Postecoglou has called Tottenham Hotspur’s second-half collapse against Brighton & Hove Albion “unacceptable” after they squandered a two-goal lead to lose 3-2.

Spurs appeared to be in cruise control after a dominant opening 45 minutes in which they led thanks to efforts from the in-form Brennan Johnson and James Maddison.

However, they allowed Brighton to stage a stunning comeback after the break. Remarkably, Spurs have now lost 10 matches in the Premier League that they were leading by two goals, three more than any other side in the competition's history.

'Worst defeat since I've been here'

"Disappointing. Frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. Worst defeat since I've been here. Unacceptable second half,” Postecoglou told Sky Sports.

“Nowhere near where we should be. We got carried away with how were were going.

"We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we've not done that while I've been here. We paid the price.

"The problem is we are travelling along too smoothly, football and life will trip you up if you get too far ahead of yourself.

"There is no message. It is a terrible loss for us - as bad as it gets. Only one way to fix it and that's my responsibility.

"We lost all our duels and if you're not competitive it is not going to work - we were not competitive.

"They all go international duty the majority of them. They will process it individually and I will process it when everyone gets back."

'We lost control after conceding first goal'

Spurs came into Sunday’s match on the back of two impressive league wins over Brentford and at Manchester United, but Maddison feels the Brighton loss is a considerable setback.

“We couldn't deal with the momentum shift. We lost control of the game when the first goal went in," he said.

“We dealt with momentum poorly and couldn't get any control of the game - when they were coming at us it felt like attack after attack. We couldn’t deal with it and they managed to score three goals.

“We have been on a good run, but it feels like a couple of steps back today. We were saying all the right things to not get complacent, but words mean nothing if you don't go out and show it."

'Inconsistencies will cost Spurs over the season'

Former Spurs player and manager Tim Sherwood believes Postecoglou's side need to show more consistency in their performances.

"Inconsistency is what's going to cost them over the season," he said.

"In the first half they found it quite simple. In the second half, there were slight tweaks from the manager [Fabian] Hurzeler, and they controlled it."