LONDON — Ange Postecoglou lamented his Tottenham Hotspur side’s wastefulness in front of goal during their 2-2 draw with Roma in the Europa League on Thursday, but added he still feels his side are in a “strong position” in the competition.
The result leaves Spurs ninth in the Europa League table, one place outside of the automatic qualification spots for the round of 16.
Mats Hummels‘ stoppage-time goal earned the Serie A side a point, 86 minutes after the defender had given away the penalty that Son Heung-Min had converted to give Spurs the lead in the opening stages of what was an entertaining game in north London.
Evan Ndicka‘s headed equaliser initially brought Roma level before Brennan Johnson swept home Dejan Kulusevski’s cross for what seemed like the winner before Hummels’ late strike.
“Frustrated with the way the game ended, obviously. We should have killed it off a lot earlier,” Postecoglou told a news conference after the game.
“We should have killed it really off in the first half with the chances we had, and at 2-1 you’re always kind of keeping the opposition in the game and they’re throwing men forward. So, disappointing we weren’t able to see the game out, but ultimately [we’re] still in a decent position.”
Spurs ended the game with 24 shots on goal, with Kulusevski, Pedro Porro and Dominic Solanke all hitting the woodwork.
“I think tonight our football was still good but … We just lacked a little bit of that clinical edge to finish the game off. But overall, this whole European competition for us, we’ve had some challenges within the first five games,” Postecoglou added. “So we’re in a strong position and that’s the main thing.”
Roma had 18 shots of their own and saw three goals disallowed for offside. Postecoglou was asked about the high-risk style of play deployed by his side and whether they needed to place a greater focus on simply ensuring they secure positive results in their upcoming fixtures, but the Spurs boss said he would not seek to change his ethos.
“No. Why can’t it just be entertaining? Isn’t that why we all come? Would you really prefer us to kind of sketch out a couple of 0-0 draws and a 1-0 win and we get through? I don’t know, I’d much rather we are exciting to watch,” Postecoglou said.
“Maybe it is edge of the seat stuff and sometimes you don’t get the reward like we could have tonight, but I think if you want those kind of games mate, there’s plenty in world football you could watch every weekend. I’d like to think when you tune in to us, you’ll get entertained.”
Roma head coach Claudio Ranieri admitted that he did not foresee his side producing the level of performance they managed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“Today we pulled off a very good performance,” Ranieri said. “I wasn’t expecting it, especially in the second half. I thought that maybe we could struggle more, but we kept pushing.”
The Italian side have endured a tumultuous season as they sit 12th in Serie A 13 games into the campaign. The former Leicester City manager came out of retirement and was appointed as Roma’s third head coach of the season on Nov. 14 following Daniele De Rossi’s exit four games into the season and the 12-match reign of Ivan Juric.
Ranieri admitted that Roma were one of only two sides who he would have considered coming out of retirement for.
“Let’s first see how the season ends before saying that it was the right decision [coming out of retirement to take the Roma job],” Ranieri said. “This time I really thought that I could travel around the world … Because as a coach you only attend hotels, airports, stadiums.
“When I retired, I said that probably a national team could have been a good option, but I knew in the bottom of my heart that there were two teams that if they had ever called, I couldn’t say no. And Roma was one of these obviously, but I would like to make clear that I really hoped that these two teams never called me because it would’ve meant that they needed me.”
Ranieri confirmed the other team he had in mind was Cagliari, who he has coached on two previous occasions.
Spurs face Rangers in their next Europa League fixture on Dec. 12, while Roma host Braga at the Stadio Olimpico.
