Postecoglou not happy with what 26-year-old Spurs player did v Barcelona – journalist

Tottenham Hotspur wrapped up their pre-season programme with a heart-breaking 4-2 loss at Barcelona.

Spurs came back from one goal down to lead 2-1 for much of the game at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

However, three late goals saw Tottenham lose to Xavi’s outfit, who lifted the Joan Gamper Trophy instead.

Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in the third minute, firing past Guglielmo Vicario from Raphinha’s delivery.

However, Oliver Skipp went on to net twice for Spurs, much to the delight of the travelling contingent.

Tottenham led until the 81st minute, when Ferran Torres tapped in from close range following Lamine Yamal’s cross.

Ansu Fati and Abdessamad Ezzalzouli then put Barca in front and established a two-goal cushion in injury time.

‘Did not seem impressed at all’

Despite the disappointing result, there were certainly positives for Ange Postecoglou to take.

At the same time, there were a few moments that left the Tottenham head coach visibly frustrated.

One of those came in the first half, when Guglielmo Vicario pumped the ball up to Richarlison, who then gave away possession.

Alasdair Gold, writing on football.london, described what he saw from Postecoglou on the touchline after what the 26-year-old did.

“There was one moment in the first half where Postecoglou was visibly frustrated with his team’s play,” he wrote.

“After Vicario had pumped the ball forward and Richarlison’s header on gifted possession back to the hosts.

“Far from the way he wants his team to play football, the Australian did not seem impressed at all.

“As was the case on Sunday when Hojbjerg booted the ball clear when he had time to pass to a teammate.

“However, he will have been incredibly impressed by his team’s play on 24 minutes as Oliver Skipp netted an equaliser from close range.

“Building play from the back, Spurs worked the ball upfield and Ivan Perisic’s clever reverse ball set Reguilon free down the left.

“Giovani Lo Celso hit the post from the resulting cross, with Skipp ready and waiting to convert to level the scores.

“The hard work on the training pitch is very much paying off and the players are buying into it with the team playing some incredibly good attacking football.”

Our view

All in all, it has been a very positive pre-season for Tottenham.

Postecoglou really does look like the man to drag Spurs up by the scruff of the neck back into the big time.

Obviously it’s not going to be an instant fix.

The Tottenham boss has done a good job of ironing out some flaws, but it’ll take time to sort Spurs out.

Also, it’s worth remembering that Spurs’ team wasn’t at full strength, and their two new signings didn’t play.

It’ll be good to see Micky van de Ven and Alejo Veliz get integrated into the team and up to speed.