Worrying Tottenham statistic should keep Ange Postecoglou up at night

Tottenham Hotspur have not had a good start to the season. In fact, Spurs have won just one game out of four. Without a doubt, the result which stung the most would have been losing to Arsenal at home.

This is because Tottenham made chances in the game but they failed to capitalise on them. Furthermore, they were hit by a common theme, conceding a goal to a set piece which could have been avoided.

In the 64th minute, Bukayo Saka swung in a cross, which was met by Gabriel Magalhaes.

From a Tottenham perspective, this could have been avoided. Cristian Romero was caught sleeping and Guglielmo Vicario didn't know where to put his attention.

That said, is it cause for Tottenham concern?

Worrying Tottenham statistic should keep Ange Postecoglou up at night

The answer is a resounding yes. Tottenham Hotspur need to do better at preventing goals from set pieces. While they defend well in open play, costly mistakes from set pieces are their downfall.

In fact, a statistic pointed out by a Tottenham fan on Reddit personifies this better than anything. Tottenham are seventh in Europe (not just the UK, the whole of Europe) for goals conceded from set pieces since the start of last season. Tottenham have conceded 17 set piece goals in this time.

Overall, Tottenham have conceded four goals so far this season. It is by no means disastrous but they must fix up their defence before the situation exacerbates. After all, it is an average of one goal conceded per game.

Having Micky van de Ven back in the starting lineup did help Tottenham. However, the centre-back could not prevent a corner (albeit, most of the blame should be pointed towards Romero here).

As a great manager once said; attack wins you games but defence wins you titles. Considering Ange Postecoglou speaks a lot about winning trophies in his second season, he needs to start showing he is GENUINELY capable of it.

Tottenham Hotspur have a great team. They invested heavily into the squad and have a nice balance of experienced and young players. So, the blame cannot be on investment.

Alas, is Postecoglou under pressure? No, I do not think he should be under pressure either. After all, Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the Aussie boss is a key part of the future plan at Tottenham.

However, it is in his best interest to change the plan and start picking up results. I don't think any Tottenham fan would mind if this meant negating the pretty play and instead focusing on scrappy results.

The best place to start is to take away the fear from defending set pieces.

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