Ange Postecoglou reveals who is to blame for Tottenham's defeat to Chelsea

Ange Postecoglou admitted he must be held responsible for Tottenham Hotspur's disappointing 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Thursday evening.

Spurs had their moments but were largely kept at arm's length by Chelsea, who won the game thanks to goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson, and Postecoglou was even caught on camera screaming at his players to "stop passing f**king backwards" as they fell to their third consecutive defeat.

After the match, Postecoglou did not shy away from the gravity of the situation and confessed he deserves to take the blame for Spurs' slump.

"We didn't play anywhere near the sort of football and didn't have the mindset that I expect us to have," said Postecoglou.

"That's on me and I've got to take responsibility for that ultimately as I'm the one who is putting them out there and preparing them for it. We were so far off it. I've got to look at myself and see how I'm preparing this team for it."

Postecoglou went on to highlight several areas in which Spurs fell short at Stamford Bridge.

"We lacked a real sort of conviction and positive mindset in our football," he explained.

"We didn't really have any fluency, any sort of aggression with and without the ball. It's a bit unlike us because if nothing else we've always been competitive, especially in the first half it was missing today."

The Spurs boss added: "My responsibility is preparing the team every game to make sure we reach certain levels. We didn't do it today so that lies at my feet and I've got to fix that."

Aston Villa have a seven-point advantage over Spurs in the race for Champions League qualification, and know that five points from their final three games will likely be enough to seal fourth place. Postecoglou's side have a game in hand, but currently have an inferior goal difference of eight and are on a run of three straight defeats.

READ THE LATEST TOTTENHAM NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS & GOSSIP