Tottenham: Ange Postecoglou admits 'mistake' against Chelsea as he responds to angry supporters | OneFootball

Spurs boss once again spoke in depth on his belief that VAR is harming football

Ange Postecoglou says he made a mistake in celebrating Tottenham's disallowed equaliser in Thursday's 1-0 defeat at Chelsea and revealed he is "falling out of love" with football because of the impact of VAR.

"I made a mistake last night in that I celebrated a goal," Postecoglou said.

"I purposely, I think since VAR came in...I made a conscious decision that I'm not going to really celebrate goals as there's no point as you have to wait for everything to get checked off.

It was another frustrating night at Stamford Bridge for Tottenham

Zac Goodwin/PA Wire

"Last night I felt we needed something and getting that goal which was a cracking goal by Pape but the supporters obviously weren't happy with my decision which is fine.

"My response was to celebrate and to get them to make some noise and get behind the team.

"I thought it was a real momentum shifter in that moment because we did finish stronger. I guess my mistake was celebrating a goal that VAR has defeated me again and I won't be doing that again.”

"As I said after the game when they asked me about the fans, I don’t get affected," the Australian continued.

"I’ve been fighting my whole career and will continue to fight, until I am made to stop by someone. I still believe we have got a massive opportunity for ourselves.

"I am not going to let that slip away - whether from external or internal pressure - I am totally focused on that."

Enzo Fernandez's goal five minutes after the interval condemned Spurs to a 16th defeat in 30 league games this term, although they remain in with a chance of Europa League glory ahead of this month's quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Postecoglou said he understood criticism of his role in Spurs' difficult campaign but urged supporters to stay with the players.

"My role is to produce teams and play the way that gets the support of the fan base behind what I am doing. It is not unusual that they are quite angry and frustrated - I get that," he said.

"At the same time, I understand criticism towards me because I am in charge of the whole thing, but if anyone looks at those players last night and thought they weren’t trying or somehow they resigned themselves to their fate then I am sorry they weren’t watching the right game.

"The players are fighting tooth and nail to try and address our issues within a really difficult season. Also, like I said, take this massive opportunity that is ahead of us. So I feel it is unfair to target the players in this situation."

Postecoglou has been a vocal critic of the technology and revealed he is losing his love for the game because of the impact of VAR.

"I try to design a game plan which has tempo and energy because if you're going to bring people there for an hour and a half of entertainment you want them off their seats," the 59-year-old said.

Postecoglou urged the Tottenham fans to stay behind the players

REUTERS

"There was 12 minutes of extra time last time. It's not like VAR was brought in last month. It's been in for a long time and it's still taking 12 minutes. And everyone's saying, 'Oh yeah but it still came to the right decision'. But like I said that's what people want.

"I don't like it. I am falling out of love with the game because I loved celebrating goals. Last night, I did and I'm paying a massive price for it. I'll make sure I don't do it again but I think that's kind of sad."

He added: "I don't get it as human beings we are just so accepting of everything these days. I don't get it.

"I thought we had a bit more about us as a race and fighting against things that derail the core of what we believe in. It's like these things [picks up a smartphone], we've accepted them in our lives and now we're trying to reel them all back because we know the damage they do. Too late, the horse has bolted.

"The same with VAR and football but we just let it roll on. This is not a new thing with VAR as it has been there for a long time.

"The fact that we're still taking six minutes and the fact from day-to-day, literally day-to-day, that you don't know whether someone is going to intervene or not, literally day-to-day, it seem like everyone is ok with that and that's where the disconnect is for me because I don't.

"I thought it was a cracking game up until that moment when we were all standing around."