Why set-piece shenanigans are stifling Spurs’ lofty league ambitions

Tottenham Hotspur faced more scrutiny of their set pieces after a 2-0 London derby defeat away to Chelsea condemned them to a third consecutive Premier League loss. Ange Postecoglou’s side’s Champions League aspirations took another seismic hit after goals from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson – both resulting from free-kicks in dangerous areas – helped Mauricio Pochettino to victory against his former club on Thursday.

It came days after Spurs were undone by two more set-piece goals in the north London derby against Arsenal – and their top-four hopes are now hanging by a thread with fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester City still to play.

“We lacked a real sort of conviction and positive mindset in our football,” Postecoglou said afterwards.

“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.”

Back in March, Postecoglou defended his decision not to hire a specialist set-piece coach. Spurs previously employed one under Antonio Conte – Gianni Vio – but his focus was on attacking from set pieces, not defending them.

This season, Postecoglou says he has “split the roles between [first team coaches] Mile [Jedinak] and Ryan Mason”.

“I always think it’s better if that’s somebody who’s a part of the coaching staff because then that’s an extension of how we play our football,” he explained. “I don’t separate set pieces from everything else we do, in terms of the team we want to be. It all hopefully links in.” There has been an argument that Guglielmo Vicario has not received enough protection from referees, but Spurs have also appeared conflicted between zonal marking and man-marking – and familiar issues are plaguing their European push going into the final weeks of the campaign.

Tottenham have conceded from set pieces 16 times this term. Here are the lowlights:

3 FEBRUARY EVERTON 2-2 TOTTENHAM

This was the game where Spurs’

weakness was brought into the spotlight and it was expertly exploited by Sean Dyche. Jack Harrison was perhaps fortunate not to have been penalised for tussling with Vicario, but regardless, Spurs’ defending was dreadful. Everton then equalised in the fourth minute of stoppage time thanks to a faint touch from Jarrad Branthwaite, but questions are again asked of Vicario for not being strong enough.

16 MARCH FULHAM 3-0 TOTTENHAM

With Spurs missing Micky van de Ven, Vicario is only able to parry out Calvin Bassey’s effort with Rodrigo Muniz getting to the follow-up faster than Radu Dragusin on the centre-back’s full Premier League debut.

2 APRIL WEST HAM 1-1 TOTTENHAM

This is all too simple. Jarrod Bowen delivers the corner and nobody is able to beat Kurt Zouma to the ball, who sends it into the net.

13 APRIL NEWCASTLE 4-0 TOTTENHAM

In a St James’ Park horror show,

Spurs had only just been saved by the woodwork after another threatening set piece but Destiny Udogie is no competition for Fabian Schär’s towering header from Anthony Gordon’s corner.

28 APRIL TOTTENHAM 2-3 ARSENAL

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg inadvertently heads past Vicario while jostling with Takehiro Tomiyasu. Ben White is spotted trying to undo the goalkeeper’s gloves as a distraction. Later, Kai Havertz is easily able to glance in the decisive header from a corner that ultimately settles the derby in Arsenal’s favour.

2 MAY CHELSEA 2-0 TOTTENHAM

Chalobah timed his header perfectly from Conor Gallagher’s free kick. Brennan Johnson complained that he was blocked by Marc Cucurella, but that appeal was dismissed after a VAR review. Then Cole Palmer’s freekick rattled off the woodwork and Jackson pinged a looping header in for Chelsea’s second. Postecoglou was upset – so were the travelling supporters.

Four games remain for Mauricio Pochettino to qualify for Europe and save his job – but there could be a twist at the end of the season. Chelsea had been unbeaten in 12 games, but following an FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester City and a Premier League thrashing by Arsenal, reports emerged claiming Pochettino must qualify for Europe to stay in charge after a turbulent season.

Since then, he has taken four points from two teams in the top five and the remainder of Chelsea’s games look appealing.

The top five is out of reach and there are three teams realistically vying for sixth and seventh, which should be enough to qualify for the Europa League or Europa Conference League respectively: Manchester United on 54 points, Newcastle United 53 and Chelsea 51. But, analysing Chelsea’s last games, there is a reason Pochettino may be cheering on Manchester City in the FA Cup final…

CHELSEA v WEST HAM – WIN

West Ham United are imploding. One win from nine games, a manager in David Moyes sliding towards the sack, director of football Tim Steidten asked to stay away from the first-team dressing room while he searches for a replacement. Whereas Chelsea have only lost once in 11 Premier League games and, that brutal Arsenal thrashing aside, are finding some kind of solidity and fluidity. It is the sort of fixture Chelsea would likely have lost earlier in the season.

NOTTINGHAM FOREST v CHELSEA – DRAW

Nottingham Forest are deep in a relegation battle. Will it inspire them to perform? Or will the pressure overwhelm them?

On the surface, things look bad. The club have complained more about refereeing decisions against them than they have wins in 2024. But Chelsea have had a tendency to come unstuck against clubs in the bottom half: 2-2 draws with