With a hard-fought, but very welcome, victory over Burnley in Monday evening’s Premier League clash, Tottenham Hotspur turn their eyes to Group J of this years Europa League campaign and next up is Royal Antwerp.
With one game played in the group, it’s first vs second on Thursday evening and the aim for manager Jose Mourinho’s boys will be to make it six points from an available six and begin building up a buffer zone on the three sides below us.
There will inevitably be changes to the starting line-up once again, but on an injury front there are doubts about Serge Aurier, Steven Bergwijn and Japhet Tanganga remains out with no return date listed by PhysioRoom.com.
Whether or not either of the first two come back into JM’s thoughts remains to be seen, but we certainly shouldn’t struggle to put out a squad that leaves us confident of yet another three points.
Then, it’s down to how they perform.
Royal Antwerp...
Win
Draw
Lose
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We have gone downhill since the united result,
Im guessing another great performance from our opponents…..
Jose out
Very poor performance. Second to nearly every challenge. Few shots on goal. Another very boring game. Gave a goal away with sloppy defending. We deserved nothing. Yawn.
We were so poor we made them look like Barca. Credit where it’s due though, they outworked us all over the pitch. Don’t think Dele is going to get too many more chances but he wasn’t alone in being poor, even Reguilon had a game to forget and Aurier will probably rest on his laurels if he ever manages to get a telling cross in.
Not sure that making wholesale changes worked, might be wiser to make 3 or 4 changes plus substitutions for rotation, in the first half we looked like a bunch of strangers playing together for the first time which I guess we were.
Well well well !!!
A very well organised team esp after Davies had gifted them the goal .
Not sure that the wholesale changes worked and it would appear that rotation is not working .
Interesting to note that when some the regular players were introduced there was some semblance of unity and forward momentum.
Was our side playing as a team or as 11 individuals esp in the first half ??
Bale hype exaggerated ?? Perhaps RM saw that he had lost a lot and were quite happy to see him go ?
I thought Burnley was bad but this ??
Poor result tonight
Thought Bale, Lo Ceslo, and Dele looked they were playing a friendly. Vinni tried but at times had little support, he should have stayed on the pitch.
With saying that our subs weren’t much better we only really huffed and puffed tonight.
It still took a stupid mistake (possible foul) for them to bag a goal
We desperately need that central defensive duo sorted.
I note the “nay sayers are back out in force” why revel in our defeat its almost as if some of you want us to get beat. I don’t get it. But each to their own.
Bear in mind you lot Ive written you’re name in a book with a line under it.
Poor night tonight. The first since the season started.
Diabolical performance.
Some players’ concentration levels, or motivation for the game, were shocking.
Yes Antwerp worked hard, but that shouldn’t have been a surprise.
A lesson in humility.
Niall – yes the actual goal was gifted to them, but if you’re honest, Antwerp carved out real chances which could/should have led to 2 or 3 goals. The final score flattered us.
The second string was not up to it and that includes Bale, Sanchez, Davies and Winks. And key first string players were below par when they came on. Jose and the players also underestimated their opponents who are on a winning streak and played brilliantly in defence. This is a wake up call regarding the strength of the squad and does not augur well for the rotation that will be necessary if we are to get through our crowded fixture schedule. If it continues we may have to prioritise the competitions we are competing in , maybe giving up on the domestic cups.
The only excuse they might have is having to travel to and from a wet and windy Burnley to a wet and windy Antwerp (no doubt via a rocky flight) within just a few days. But that’s top class football these dayS.
I doubt either trip was much more than an hour or so each way by private jet Stan, hardly taxing for a super fit twenty something year old I would have thought.
I’m wondering if Davinson will ever fulfill his potential and become a consistent performer.
BS
We were poor tonight and I think we under estimated Antwep at home.
As I said we gifted them their goal and that is what counts.
I agree they did have several good chances to put the game to bed.
And they defended as a unit very well.
As I said some of our players turned up as if for a friendly tonight and I think Bale was more worried about getting his hair wrecked never mind injured.
He didn’t really put a shift in was like a ballarina at times.
For me Dele was much the same skipping round the pitch.
Winks and Aurier just ain’t got that bit extra LoCeslo and Vinny lack the sharpness.
I think our subs came on at the wrong time and Vinny should have been on for longer.
I would also argue that LoCeslo stay on and Winks go off for Hoj.
I do think JM got tactics wrong tonight, in initial line up and again in his substitutions as if to make a point.
I will call it out BS when needed.
But I will not revel or even celebrate ANY Spurs defeat just to prove myself and my opinions right.
I think you much like me (I hope) are fair in your opinions with reference to games.
We were bad tonight.
But there are some in these pages who seem to celebrate our losses, I don’t get that m8.
Poor performance. In terms of chances we could well have lost this 4-0. It’s a bad result but not a disaster.
It’s not a disaster Geof but it is a similar story, just when you think we have turned a corner we revert to type and become ‘Spursy’ again. It is so disheartening. 🙁
I don’t believe any real supporter wishes us to lose any match .
However , it is important to keep an objective view on all performances and comment appropriately on each .
Last night was dire and I do feel that making wholesale changes for the sake of rotation did not work with several players quite anonymous . Could it be that they did not have much understanding with each other ?
Negative appraisals of any match are the result of disappointment and frustration .
However with the squad we have we ought to have beaten the Belgians but it does appear that every team who is set up and defends well gives us great problems .
The teams we beat 5-1 ans 6-1 respectively were at the time poor defensively .
Poor performance. Yes the opposition played well, in particular they defended very well. But as a minimum if you can’t win a match don’t lose it and there was no reason to lose that one, it was sheer stupidity. Jose is not a forgiving manager and I’ve no doubt some players will suffer as a result. But that is how a top team functions, if you can’t hack it you don’t play. The problem though is Mourinho can’t just do what Pochettino did and run his first eleven into the ground, he knows he won’t win anything that way. So he has to find a rotation system that works. I’ve said before that we are a work in progress and last night demonstrated that.
Having seen the match, We were unable to breech their bus parking defence, reminded me of Burnley game 2 lines of 4 defenders or 5 and 3 in front. They did well doubling up on sonny, blocking shots / passes and hard running counterattacking and could have had 3 goals easy. Spurs players did not have urgency in passing and crossing very poor., shots wildly off target We got what we deserved…
Now jose has to make sure players cannot think some games are easy.. they are all tough, and a mentality to understand this is vital. So another slip back to spursey form will not be accepted by jose and indeed fans.
Well what the hell happened there, played like a bunch of strangers having a kick about in the local park, esp in the first half, mind the second wasn’t much better, in general it seemed to me RA wanted it more than us, thus continuous running, closing down etc, their defence was exactly what any good/decent manager would spot regards Spurs, is that, mass the back, defend like your life depends on it, because Spurs cannot break that thinking down (still).
RA thoroughly deserved it, maybe a couple more even, so well done to them and back to the drawing board for JM and his squad.
Give JM his credit he admitted making that many changes, for rotation purposes, was a mistake and that he will not be doing that again.
But for me play on the pitch is actually down to the players selected, and in all honesty I am believing that
all the hype has gone to their heads, and maybe just maybe this poor performance and defeat will be a wake up call for them all, well hopefully.
Ah well on to Brighton at home next, prove yourselves lads, games are coming thick n fast. COYS