Tottenham Hotspur 3-4 Chelsea: The Afterthought
Just when you thought the headline would be “The Robinhood of the Premier League sides,” taking points from the big teams and distributing them to the smaller ones, Spurs capitulated badly. Ange Postecoglou looks close to imploding, Spurs fans most definitely have, the boos getting louder with each passing game. So, what did we learn from the London derby?
Soft Underbelly…
It has been a theme under Ange Postecoglou this season: Spurs just do not look solid. After a classy start and going two up against Chelsea, Spurs pushed the self-destruct button. It is so easy to just run through the midfield and expose the entire Spurs defence to a counter-attack time and again. It just keeps happening. All it takes is one line-breaking pass
to bypass the entire Spurs press.
There were no full-blooded challenges or the desire to win 50-50; Roméo Lavia was dominating that first half on his own, and that too despite being two goals down! Bissouma and Sarr were second best throughout, and it showed eventually. There is no fire or passion in this Spurs team, a key ingredient missing from winning these derbies.
Calamitous Defending…
At the very least, Spurs could have escaped with a draw in the end, but for some absolutely disastrous defending you will ever see. The Sancho and Enzo goals were avoidable, but still, you can take them as they were both classy finishes. What you cannot forgive are the penalties conceded by Bissouma and Porro. Bissouma’s one was just crazy; it looked like the incident happened in slow motion. Why are you sliding dangerously in your own box? The chances of winning the ball might have been less than 10%.
Pedro Porro barging into Palmer was another moment of madness. These brain-dead decisions are costing the Spurs some crucial points. Every loss is piling up more pressure on the players and the manager. If the Spurs’ defence can’t get their decision-making right, then there are a lot more heartache results waiting to happen.
Rushing Key Defenders Backfired…
One was substituted in the 15th minute, the other in the 79th. Ange rushed Van de Den and Romero for this match and paid the price heavily, as both were substituted before the end of the game. Both defenders went off, one injured and the other due to tiredness. There was no need for Ange to rush them back unless, of course, he was given an ultimatum (Hey, we can only guess).
Ange himself said that the timeline for Van de Den’s return was the Europa League game against Rangers, but then he saw how sharp he was in training, so he started the Dutchman. He has paid the price dearly. Not only did he look rusty (not sharp as the Aussie said), but now he faces the challenge to get his sharpness back quickly because Spurs are running out of players who can play centre back.
Spurs are in a crisis now, and if you were a betting man, you would put a few quids on something big happening in the next fortnight or so.