With Tottenham Hotspur’s hugely disappointing defeat to Bournemouth in last Saturday’s penultimate Premier League action, everyone has taken their opportunity to have their say and apportion blame.
It was a bright first 45 minutes and an easy argument can be made suggesting we should’ve been out of sight really before we suffered the double red card blow with Son Heung-Min and Juan Foyth both being sent from the pitch. But we didn’t take those chances, and late on in stoppage-time they got the goal to take all three points.
With the Champions League Semi-Final tie against Ajax not yet over, third place remains in our hands but now goes down to the final game of the campaign against Everton, so there are now question marks about whether we can rally once again and get ourselves over the line.
Sky Sports Sunday Supplement panel obviously poured over the debates – is it fatigue, a lack of investment, simply being Spursy and the Daily Express’ Matt Dunn felt our efforts across the year had now caught up with us, and having failed to make the breakthrough in the game, frustration had led to our double red but he was confident top four was still ours and that Wednesday’s game and a potential Final could still be on the cards.
Daily Telegraph panellist Jason Burt felt the blame could be squarely laid on a lack of investment over the summer and January transfer windows, adding that our luck with injuries this year had finally tipped the balance, praising manager Mauricio Pochettino for getting us to where we are.
Joe’s Melissa Reddy went further on that score and pointed out that if we want to close the gap and take the next step, Pochettino must be backed.
“It’s non-negotiable – they have to. Spurs have been operating in this fantasy world because of Pochettino’s management and his ability to get the best out of the players in the most difficult of situations and scenarios and that can’t be a norm – that has a limit. You can’t continuously perform miracles or exceed expectations. I think the message Pochettino is sending is that it is absolutely ridiculous that Spurs are third in the league with a squad that had zero investment and in the Champions League semi-final. But if they really want to be properly competitive at this end and not just hanging on, they have to invest. You’ve got to go all out and compete properly. They need to be serious over recruitment, not haggling over slight differences in wages or paying an extra £5m, you’ve got to do it if you want to close that gap.”
There will be few who disagree with that assessment, but plenty who question whether it will happen.
“Absolute Legend” – Former Spurs Player Delights These Fans With Class Prank