Ange Postecoglou responds to a Sky Sports journalist after being asked why his message “didn’t get through” during Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.

Ange Postecoglou could not contain his rage as he watched Tottenham collapse at Chelsea, later admitting they had bigger problems than being vulnerable from set pieces.

Postecoglou questioned his players’ mindset after a pitiful performance at Stamford Bridge with the Spurs boss as angry as we saw on the touchline.

Despite being decimated by injuries, Chelsea made the most of two free-kick chances with headers from Trevoh Chalobah and Nicolas Jackson inflicting a third successive Premier League defeat on Tottenham, who now face a fight to finish fourth ahead of Aston Villa.

Postecoglou accepted responsibility for his players, saying: “It’s up to me to fix this problem.” We had bigger problems tonight than set pieces. We lacked confidence and conviction in our game.

“I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence, but we’re not playing with the mindset we need to play the football we want.” It was not enough and I must take responsibility for that.

Tottenham suffered a third consecutive Premier League defeat, damaging their top four hopes

Once again, Spurs were unable to protect themselves from trickery – just days after Postecoglou declared he would not change his mindset.

“When we put in a performance like we did in the first half, it meant my message wasn’t getting through.”

When asked what that message was, Postecoglou replied: “Come on mate, we didn’t play well, do you want me to write you a file explaining where it went wrong?”

“I feel like we’ve lost a bit of confidence and belief in our football, and it’s up to me to change that.

“It wasn’t about conceding the (first) goal, it was our approach to football and we were nowhere near good enough. That’s on me.

“We have been in a difficult situation for a while now, this is part of our challenge and our growth.

“We have to go out there and play and sometimes you have to fight. We were poor today

On dropping James Maddison, Postecoglou said: “It’s fair to say it didn’t work.”

Australian-Greek coach questioned his players’ mindset following humiliation

Micky van de Ven admitted it would be difficult to dream of the Champions League next season

Postecoglou made his feelings known to his players in the first half as he grew angry on the touchline.

He shouted: “Stop passing it around!”, pointing to Pape Matar Sarr and Cristian Romero.

Micky van de Ven was more reflective about his side’s three-game winless run after the final whistle, saying the thought of missing out on the Champions League places would be “difficult”.

“After this match, I don’t want to admire the Champions League because we didn’t have a good performance. It’s going to be difficult now,” he said.

“We can do much better than today. I don’t want to say our confidence is gone, Sunday (against Liverpool) is a big game. We will come back to this match and bounce back better for the weekend.

Referring to the team’s hoodoo, Van der Ven added: “We know what to do, but every ball goes in at the moment. It doesn’t fall on our side.

Postecoglou was sharp with a journalist during his post-match interview as it took time for tempers to calm down

On the other hand, Mauricio Pochettino (left) had a dream evening on Thursday in west London.

“This can’t happen, two more goals from set pieces.”

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with the way his players responded to their injury crisis, including Cobham graduates such as Alfie Gilchrist, Conor Gallagher and Chalobah.

“For me it was the best match,” Pochettino said. “I am happiest after this.”