Everton 3-2 Tottenham Hotspur: The Afterthought
With every passing game, Ange’s future looks bleaker. Ange Posctecoglou’s job is hanging by a thread, and that thread is the League Cup Semifinal. Another dismal performance resulted in yet another loss. So, what did we learn from the Everton game?
Forming a bad habit
Seven defeats in the last ten games for Ange and Spurs. SEVEN. Winning is contagious, but so is losing. Spurs have been facing injury issues for god knows how many months now, but that argument doesn’t hold up when you see dismal performances one after the other.
Granted, it is tough on Ange with so many injuries, but he is still able to put out eleven first-team players every week. It’s not that Spurs have been poor only defensively, they have been poor right across the board. Everything looks disjointed. It feels like eleven individuals are playing together for the first time, in every game.
Even the Australian will be feeling the heat after the Everton game because they have been one of the most bland teams in the Premier League this season yet were made to look like an expansive, quality Premier League side in that first half. Time is running out for Ange and Spurs to get out of this rut because losing is a bad habit to form.
Under-par Son…
Son’s form should be a huge cause of concern to both the manager and the fans. The iconic South Korean looks like a shadow of himself in the current campaign. He looked devastated and exhausted after the final whistle. There was a look of disbelief on his face because he has seen bad times at Spurs, but this just might be the most crisis-affected time he has seen at the club.
What is not helping Son is his own form. It just isn’t clicking for him, and Ange has been trying different things with him to finally make him click in his system. Maybe injuries have finally taken their toll on him, maybe he is in a decline, or maybe it is just one big rut he cannot get out of like his club. But, Spurs need their talisman to find some form, quickly because apart from Kulusevski no one else is standing up.
What next?
The only silver lining right now is Spurs’ run in the League Cup. Going with a one-goal lead in the second leg at Anfield sure seems insufficient, but Spurs have been robust and clinical in the League Cup this season, which is opposite to what they have been in the League.
This might also be the only reason, Ange is still in the job. Levy axed Mourinho before a cup final not so long ago, he wouldn’t want to repeat the same thing this time around in the hope of a new manager bounce. Win the semifinal tie and Ange will feel a lot safer.
Spurs have relatively easier fixtures in the next three games. A good chance to build some sort of momentum before the big games arrive. It is also a chance to get a couple of signings in to help the already-depleted squad. It is a MASSIVE period for Ange because his future is literally hanging on the next few games.