in third.
Tottenham suffer their first defeat at their new stadium, their sixth defeat in their last 10 league games, as Wet Spam won their Cup Final.
That’s twelve defeats in the league, so far this season, since 2010 they’ve only lost that number once in the league, Poch’s first season. Half of those defeats since the last week of February.
Yet they still stand third in the league because those below can’t capitalise on any of the Spurs slip ups. It’s almost as none of the four fighting for the two remaining top four places actually want one of those top four places.
Spurs looked like their mind was elsewhere for Saturday’s early kick-off. Well, it wasn’t going to be on the mid table, relegation dodgers, when the semi-final of the Champions League is but a couple of days away. Whereas the visitors were again up for the biggest game of their season.
Spurs whole performance was summed up in the 73rd minute when Toby passed out to Foyth, at right-back, the Argentinian taking his eye off the ball let it slip by him into touch. There you have it. It was that type of performance. Every long ball was that bit short it fell to a West ham player. Every short pass was that bit short it allowed the West Ham player to get ahead and get the ball.
At the end of the first half, Spurs had 30% more possession yet just one more shot on and off target. By the end of the game they had 30% more possession, yet had fewer shots both on and off target. With one major on target difference, being the single goal that won it. Well taken.
I suppose, it probably is easier to have shots when you play on the counter and aren’t faced by a flat back ten. But there just seemed to be too much fannying about and very little doing anything. Son and Moura came close, Janssen had a chance cleared off the line. It was a good header from the Dutchman, from an excellent cross by Foyth, after a bit of a rampaging run. But in typical Janssen fashion it just didn’t come off. Still, after nearly three years at the club you feel that bit of luck never comes his way.
Crossing was inept. As were most balls into the box. Eriksen can’t get past the first defender. Danny Rose, well the more he gobs off in the papers the worse his crossing gets. If he put as much effort in…
“Stress and fatigue” claimed Poch. Fatigue yes, down to the bare bones player wise. The stress coming from that tiredness because it can’t come from playing that mob. What stress should they cause?
But in the end it hasn’t cost Spurs in the league, as Woolwich were stuffed and the other pair, Man U and Chelski, bored each other into a draw.
Was it the best way to go into the midweek European game? Knock some of that complacency out of ’em. Because they’re gonna have to be on it against Ajax. It needs a performance like the two against Dortmund and the first leg against City. Concentration, playing as a unit. Need to stop them scoring at the new stadium, like they have done in beating Madrid and Juventus in their previous knockout games. None of the slackness witness here.
Maybe we can tap up a couple of Ajax players while they’re over, tour round the stadium, a promise of both cones and bibs from Levy. Martin Jol says Spurs should take a look at Ziyech, I believe they’ve looked at van de Beek before, quite like the look of him. de Ligt is gonna take more than bibs and cones… after all we’ve done bad with old Ajax players… Vertonghen, Toby, Eriksen and Sanchez in the current squad… van der Vaart previously…