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There is nothing like a derby defeat by your biggest rivals to send the mood around a manager spinning in the wrong direction.

Before the international break, the narrative was Tottenham had played well at the start of the season but were unlucky to earn just four points from the first three games - beating Everton, drawing with Leicester and losing at Newcastle.

Although poor finishing from Spurs was again the decisive factor in the 1-0 loss at home to an injury-hit Arsenal on Sunday, manager Ange Postecoglou now appears under pressure from sections of the fanbase.

The Australian has won just 44 points from his past 32 matches as manager after a poor end to last season.

And vice-captain Cristian Romero has shared a social media post by an Argentine journalist saying he played with a fever and that Spurs did not optimise his travel back from international duty.

Amid this backdrop, Postecoglou's previously affable news conferences turned prickly again when addressing Gabriel's winner from a corner.

"I know, for some reason, people think I don't care about set-pieces, and it's a narrative that you can keep going on for ages and ages. I understand that," he said.

"We work on them all the time, like we do with every other team. You know that they're a threat. For the most part we handled them really well, but we switched off in one and we paid a price."

He also added when speaking to Sky Sports: "I always win things in my second year - nothing has changed. I don't say things if I don't believe them."

Ironically, Arsenal highlighted the benefits of sticking with a project manager, especially in a sub-par second season, but there could be a lot of debate around Postecoglou in the coming months.