I’ve come to talk about you again.
Nobody statistically has done Spurs more than Spurs, as for the 10th time in the Premier League they coughed up a two goal lead to lose, 3-2 at Brighton, being the first to reach double figures, as the cracks weren’t papered over.
I’ve been saying Spurs have been getting away with it, once somebody could score they stopped getting away with it. Ange had three league games, and three cup games to save his job before the latest international break, winning five of the six helped but it could have been oh so different.
It’s all about cow’s arses and banjos. Who can hit ’em and who can’t. It started with a struggle of a win over lowly Championship side Coventry, who had more shots and more shots on target than Spurs. There was a good win over Brentford after an early setback. The first European outing saw Qarabag register more shots and the same amount on target without getting a goal, the second game saw Spurs out shoot Ferencvaros, just, but saw the Hungarians register quite a number of attempts while only taking one. In between saw a domination over one of the most toothless Man U sides you’ve ever seen.
Three of those games could have had an outcome that was as embarrassing as this latest capitulation. As embarrassing as those that went big at half time, seemingly forgetting their years supporting a club that’s turned this into an art form.
It might have helped if Ange hadn’t hindered Spurs yet again with picking a Starting X, rather than an XI. He did that Werner thing again. Why? Is it in the vain hope that Werner won’t stink the place out to prove that Ange is not a patsy in agreeing to his loan move? Because it’s not working, it certainly wasn’t working not even 20 seconds into the game when the German had the perfect opportunity to cross the ball over to Johnson for an easy chance. And completely butchered it.
22 minutes in and Spurs had the ball, well not in the net but across the line, Werner’s header from Porro’s cross bouncing around before Maddison bundled it over, but the fullback had been marginally offside. It wasn’t long after, when they did finally open the scoring. After Udogie had helped win the ball, Maddison played it to Solanke, whose through ball to Johnson was perfect and the winger had his sixth in six.
Spurs were on top but Brighton had they chances the biggest one coming 10 minutes later. When they just ambled up the park with no attempt at any sort of challenge from Spurs, put the ball out to the left, without any attempt to stop it at source or destination, then the cross went in to find Welbeck all alone in front of goal for an easy equaliser, after he’s been ignored by a daydreaming Romero – more on that later – but side-footed his shot wide. Brighton were more in it by now and this was when Spurs doubled the lead.
Now doubt Ange is clinging to the fact that Werner got an assist thanks to his… nothing else on… sideways ball to Maddison – again Solanke was playing the creative role with his ball through to Werner – the shot was placed, not that strong and the keeper should have done a lot better with it. But, while everything looked rosie and people were jubilant at the scoreline, it was only the second shot they’d managed to get on target.
They would only manage another one shot on target for the rest of the game. That coming from Udogie.
The Brighton manager made a change at half time, it was only a like for like change but it was a change. Ange stuck with what he thought was working, yes Werner returned for the second half.
Solanke kicked off the second half – more on that later – and within three minutes the home team had halved the deficit. Udogie gets all the blame for the back post swinger but where was Romero? In a no man’s land doing nothing. Not marking anyone, not stopping the cross. Daydreaming about Madrid. Others are blamed for the equaliser that came 10 minutes later, while it was all Brighton, the assist was played by Mitoma, who Romero had covered and then decided to wander off from. Yes van de Ven and Udogie didn’t cover themselves in glory, but there was someone who could have stopped it at source.
The winner came less than 10 minutes later. Again Udogie is blamed for first giving away the thrown then being weak in not stopping the Brighton player from getting the cross in but Romero is stood in the middle of the goal, flat footed, not expecting any kind of cross, he doesn’t react until Welbeck has run a yard past him and headed it into the net. When he holds his hands up to blame anyone and everyone else.
The captain. Daydreaming about being in Madrid.
It was at this point a damning stat came up. By the 78th minute, Solanke had touched the ball five times in the second half, four of those touches had come from kick-offs. 78th minute, that was when Ange finally figured out Werner wasn’t working. While it was working for Brighton their manager made changes. While it wasn’t for Spurs, Ange stood there and did nothing. Moore eventually made it on with 5 minutes to go, at the expense of Maddison. If Ange is for all out attack, why when he needed goals did he bring on Bissouma and Sarr, more defensive minded midfielders while taking off an attacker even if it is Werner, and then take off a creative player like Maddison?
But apparently it was all the players to blame. Well, yes, they hold their fair share of the blame but Ange doesn’t bother about defending. His plan is to let Micky cover the whole of the Spurs’ half and hope he gets them out of jail. They don’t know how to stop crosses, they don’t know how to mark players or stop shots. And to think, none of the goals came from a corner.
They got away with it during this good run. Vicario’s shot stopping combined with some inept finishing from opponents. Don’t let them tell you this was one slight blip, it wasn’t this is what could have easily have happened in a number of those other games during that winning run, if banjos could hit cow’s arses.