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Football fans have criticized Tottenham Hotspur following their defeat against Fulham in the Carabao Cup.
Ange Postecoglou's men visited the Cottagers for a second-round cup clash on Tuesday, August 29. They fell behind in the first half after Micky van de Ven put the ball into his own net before equalizing in the 56th minute via Richarlison's strike. Spurs eventually lost the game 5-3 on penalties.
Postecoglou rested Son Heung-min, Cristian Romero, Guglielmo Vicario, Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison, Destiny Udogie, and Yves Bissouma for the match. However, van de Ven, Ben Davies, Emerson Royal, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Ivan Perisic, Giovani Lo Celso, Manor Solomon, and Richarlison all started.
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Despite arguably having enough experience to deal with a largely full-strength Fulham side, Tottenham fell on penalties to exit the Carabao Cup early. This led to fans slamming the team on X (formerly Twitter), with one of them writing:
"TOTTENHAM BOTTLED LIKE USUAL 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭"
Another referenced talismanic forward Harry Kane's exit earlier this summer while tweeting:
"No Kane no partyyy"
Here are some more reactions from fans:
Tottenham recorded 60% possession against Fulham, but took four shots fewer (10 vs 14) and got only three shots on target. They created just one big chance and won only 45 duels to the hosts' 59.
In the penalty shootout, Spurs substitutes Son, Kulusevski and Maddison converted their spot-kicks, but Davinson Sanchez missed his. Andreas Pereira, Raul Jimenez, Harry Wilson, Joao Palhinha, and Kenny Tete all scored for Fulham in the shootout to seal a memorable Carabao Cup victory.
"Disappointing outcome for us" - Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou on their loss to Fulham
Speaking after the game on Tuesday, Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou acknowledged that his much-changed team started slowly. While he felt the final result was disappointing, the Australian tactician lauded the character and resilience Spurs showed on the night.
He said on the "Review Show" on SPURSPLAY (as quoted by the club's official website):
“It’s a disappointing outcome for us, obviously, being knocked out. We started pretty slowly, which wasn’t a total surprise considering the changes I made to the team, a lot of these boys haven’t played a lot of football recently.
“I like the fact we hung in there, that we showed some character and personality... We were never totally in control of the game, I don’t think they were, either. It was a typical cup game where both teams had their moments. In those situations, you need to take them.”
Postecoglou concluded by stating Tottenham will look to bounce back this weekend:
“It’s not just about the football, the character we show, the personality we show when things get tough. I liked the way we hung on in there. For us, the dressing room, disappointed, but resilient. We have to take these knocks, get up and go again on Saturday.”
Spurs will next take on Burnley at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday, September 2.
