Ange Postecoglou doubles down in stance over Tottenham set-piece problems

Ange Postecoglou has doubled down on insisting his Tottenham side do not have an issue at defending set-pieces.

Spurs twice conceded from corners in Sunday's 3-2 defeat to rivals Arsenal and have shipped 14 goals from set-pieces in the Premier League this season -- the fifth most in the top-flight.

Postecoglou suggested after the north London derby that focusing on dead ball situations was not "the answer" to Spurs improving as a team and he reiterated that he does not see set-pieces as an issue.

Speaking ahead of Spurs' visit to Chelsea on Thursday, Postecoglou said: "I think I've answered this question [about set pieces] and I don't think it satisfies people, but no I don't see it as an issue.

"It's something that we work on along with everything in our game. There are far more important things that we need to concentrate on at the moment in terms of the team we're building. I think people want to be believe, and it can be, that football is very prescriptive. You've got an illness, here's the tablet and you feel better. I've never believed that.

"I've always been about trying to create an environment and a style of football that can win things. I've never worked in a prescriptive manner and I certainly won't be doing it now."

Postecoglou has said he has no plans to follow rival clubs, including Arsenal and Chelsea, in appointing a set-piece specialist to his coaching staff, with coaches Mile Jedinak and Ryan Mason currently overseeing the area in training.

Arsenal targeted Spurs goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, with Ben White attempting to tamper with the Italian's gloves before Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg headed into his own net, and Postecoglou believes there is a lack of clarity on what constitutes a foul on the 'keeper.

"I think he [Vicario] has seen it as a challenge and again it is something even I am struggling with," Postecoglou said. "I watched the Champions League last night and there was a couple of times they went in on the keeper and it was a foul straight away. I don't know. It is a weird one for me.

"We've tried to get clarity on it [from the PGMOL] and I don't think there is clarity on it. It is just a challenge for him to overcome and he's determined to do it. And I know he will because I know his mentality of not looking for excuses, but finding solutions through that. He will do that."

Postecoglou acknowledged that James Maddison was battling for top form after another disappointing outing against Arsenal but said the playmaker was another player suffering from the club's stop-start schedule.

"Yeah, look it's a challenge," Postecoglou said when asked about Maddison's form. "I think just about every player in the squad I've had that question about and I've been pretty consistent in my answers that we’ve had a very disruptive season. He’s another one that's had disruptions.

"First 10 games, he played every game and he was going really well. Then he picked up an injury, missed a lot of football and he's come back but we've had challenges as a team where we haven’t had any real fluency in terms of cohesion, games and starting line-ups. He's had to battle through that like a lot of them.

"That's part of the challenge. For us, the fact that things have not gone smoothly this year means you feel a bit of pain but in the long term you create a stronger and more resilient group and Madders is one of those guys. He's just got to fight his way out of it."