is Spursy, especially with who scored the winner.
After his impressive winning streak, Cristian Stellini has kept up his losing streak, with a predictable loss to a team that can’t score and a goal that would only come from one of two players.
When you rest your players for the midweek cup game and in the process lose to the lower division team, you have to bounce back, to try and excuse it. There is no excuse but a following win is a must.
But that’s not the Tottenham way.
It was the chance to move far enough away from Newcastle, that their games in hand wouldn’t matter. But now they can still catch up, though they’re on the down, while Liverpool are now within 3 points, with a game in hand and the boost to goal difference that a 7 (seven on the Vidiprinter) nil victory gives you.
The Tottenham way is being all so predictable. Called it twice in the game. Spurs started the game brightly, this could mean only one thing. They wouldn’t be turning up for the second half. And as it went on scoreless, Matt tweeted…
Just need the Arsenal and Wolves winners done and that’s my bingo card complete.
— MattISpurs (@ParkLaneBlock40) March 4, 2023
…you just knew that the Wolves winner one come from one of two players. Moutinho or Traore.
The brightness of the first half brought the predictable no goals. While Wolves hadn’t registered a single shot, Spurs had 11, with three on goal but didn’t really look like scoring. While Kane was being wrapped up by his man marker.
The closest they came was right near the end of the half when Porro’s free kick came off the woodwork. And even that brought a predictable result, because it should have seen Harry Kane move another place down the free kick taking pecking order. But here we are in the second half and the first free kick of the half and Harry is hitting the ball into the wall. Why? Why, when you have Son, Perisic and now Porro is Harry – not scored a free kick since November 2014 – front and centre?
Half time though saw things change, the Wolves manager changed it about at the break, bringing on two subs and changing his formation to match Spurs’ back three. One of those changes saw Harry’s shadow departing, this you thought might be a game changer for Spurs. It was but not for the best.
But half time changes, what strange sorcery is this? It’s something Lopetegui does at Wolves, it’s something Spurs never do. Poch didn’t do it, it was always 60 minutes on the clock before any changes. Mourinho came with the reputation of doing it, early subs, even first half subs some times. But no, not at Spurs. While Conte waits until closer to full time. And normally there’s a defender brought on, especially if goals are required. Conte’s subs again were strange, more on that later.
Spurs’ chances seem to fall to Sonny for most of the game and Sonny looked like the Sonny of this season. Ball under his feet, lacking any confidence, never looking like he’s gonna make the breakthrough. What was it about him putting in exactly the same performance against Sheffield, midweek, that made them start him this game. Yes, I know Richarlison didn’t exactly shine but still.
And there’s the rub with the subs, it was knocking on 80 minutes when Stellini made the first one. And it was Moura for Kulusevski. At that point the Swede had the joint most shots in the game, with Porro. But why Moura. Again didn’t exactly shine midweek, in his first outing for months, but more than that, they’re letting him go at the end of the season, they wanted rid in January, yet here he is making his entrance ahead of a player they went and bought in January and a player they spunked £60m on in the summer.
The former never made it on the park, the latter came on with five minutes to go. With Spurs one down. That one coming from one of those predictable sources.
With Spurs it’s not so much the “law of the ex” but the “law of the could have been”. It’s a decade since AVB wanted Moutinho at Spurs. Levy and Conte have both wanted Traore. Many in the fan base oozed over the oiled one. Because he can run fast. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned here, he has no end product and one goal against Spurs doesn’t disprove that. Yes he took it well, after Forster again palmed a save back into the middle of the area. But it’s his second league goal of the season, his third goal in the last three seasons at Barca and Wolves, where he averages two league goals a season.
Wolves bossed the second half, they pressed Spurs and Spurs crumbled, helped by that fannying about at the back they do, playing themselves into trouble. Conte/Stellin decided just before the goal that the answer was to replace Porro with Emerson. I mean, how many times has Conte done this, with Spurs needing a goal, replaced a defender with a defender. Admittedly he finally brought on Richarlison for Davies but as said, with five minutes to go. What hope has he of getting into any scoring form with five minutes at the end of games?
It’s just so damn dull and predictable. There’s no life to the team, no life to the management. It’s time to just say goodbye to Conte, it’s not a good fit all round. The football is too dull for the fans. The players don’t seem to have bought into it and he was never a fit with Levy. And unfortunately no matter how much people protest or rumours of who wants to buy the club, we’re gonna be stuck with Levy… for ever…