With last weekend’s draw against Burnley bringing an end to our run of defeats, Tottenham Hotspur were back in Champions League action and we were looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit against RB Leipzig in the second leg of our Round of 16 tie over in Germany.
Sadly, given our form, I think most fans knew how this game would go for us with Steven Bergwijn the latest to be added to our troublesome injury list, and it only took the hosts ten minutes to open the scoring.
Eleven minutes later Sabitzer had helped himself to a brace and it was basically game over.
There was no grand fight back in the second half, although we did make more of a game of it and create some chances, but the hosts made it 3-0 on the night with minutes remaining and it was the final nail in the coffin.
The Champions League campaign is over and no wins in the last six across all competitions – can we bounce back, we’ll soon find out.
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Have Your Say – How Spurs Have Fallen, It Looks Bleak To Me
Red Bull Arena
Champions League Rd of 16 - 2nd Leg
10/03/2020 9:00 pm
Attendance: 42154
Referee: Del Cerro Grande
| RB Leipzig | Tottenham Hotspur | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabitzer (10, 21), Forsberg (87) | |||||||
| Gulacsi | Lloris | ||||||
| Klostermann | Tanganga | ||||||
| Upamecano | Dier | ||||||
| Halstenberg | Alderweireld | ||||||
| Mukiele | 56 | Sessegnon | |||||
| Laimer | Lo Celso | 80 | |||||
| Sabitzer | 87 | Winks | |||||
| Angelino | Aurier | 91 | |||||
| Nkunku | 59 | Lamela | |||||
| Schick | Lucas Moura | ||||||
| Werner | Alli | ||||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
| Haidara | 59 | Vertonghen | |||||
| Poulsen | Gazzaniga | ||||||
| Forsberg | 87 | Ndombele | |||||
| Adams | 56 | Skipp | |||||
| Lookman | Gedson Fernandes | 80 | |||||
| Olmo | Parrott | ||||||
| Mvogo | Fagan-Walcott | 91 | |||||
Game Statistics |
||
| 13 | Goal attempts | 6 |
| 5 | On Target | 3 |
| 6 | Corners | 3 |
| 21 | Fouls | 12 |
| 2 | Yellow Cards | 4 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 54 | % | 46 |
Very poor performance, with many players below par.
On one hand, it’s difficult to see how Jose’s tactics have anything to do with individual mistakes from the likes of Aurier and Lloris. I dln’t think Jose is trying to coach that into them.
On the other, it’s also fair to point out that Jose clearly isn’t getting the best out his players right now.
At this,stage, I’m at a loss for answers. But I still believe that our problems run far deeper than just the manager, and that firing Jose would only at best be part of the solution, if at all.
This – Jose has been dealt a ridiculous hand with our injuries and I can accept that….but….he seems unable to help himself even then.
Game was long gone at 2-0 – okay we didn’t want to be embarrassed, he can argue he didn’t want youngsters to get the confidence hit…but…if fatigue is our ‘only’ problem, then the HT talk was ‘try and do yourself proud but we clearly have bigger fish to fry this year’ to those who started…and the message to Skippy, Parrott and Fagan-Walcott is ‘do your best, let it be an eye opener of the levels you have to attain, you get no blame come FT’.
I can’t be the only one who would’ve understand that at HT.
Danny…..in our current state progressing in the CL, let alone winning it, was never on the cards before the game started. Our only hope of achieving anything this season after losing to Norwich in the cup was to prioritise a top 5 place, Jose has failed to recognise this IMO and has largely f****d up our season as a result.
I completely agree – this is why I’m annoyed about not giving the young lads the last 45. I understand going pretty strong first half to see if things could go for us…but when the game was over, let them learn so it suits us down the line – can’t complain about options and youngsters not having experience if you won’t give them experience.
Levy is the source of the problem. He only knows money.
This can’t be true? – Source: BBC
Only Aston Villa (42) have conceded more goals among Premier League clubs in all competitions than Spurs (38) since Mourinho’s first game in charge.
That surely can’t be the case DW if , as reported, only two teams have gained more points in the PL since Jose became our manager?
Scored goals, not gained points TQ – unless I’ve now really lost the plot?
Stan has a point about punished for mistakes in the other thread…but all sides say that.
Think it’s time I went to bed!
COYS – one these days we might Do if we Dare?
DW….no you haven’t lost the plot, I wasn’t aware of your stats and can quite believe them, however, what I stated about points is something I have seen reported on here, I think by Belgian Spurs, but the two don’t seem to tally?
Must have missed the points thing TQ, I just picked up goals after the game. I struggle to believe either in fairness, but stats aren’t my strong point usually and I’m too tired to care checking tonight. The only consolation on goals, as I posted, is they don’t qualify goals scored in the same period – so it could be misleading.
Yet another dismal and depressing performance. Poor goal keeping, sluggish defence, impotent midfield and non existent attack. Other than that, we were abysmal. Outclassed and humiliated. Players looked sad and disillusioned. Jose is always miserable and sour faced. We used to be an exciting, progressive club. Now we are an embarrassment. Jose has to go sooner than later. No wins in 6 matches and Rampant Man U on Sunday. Ridiculous substitution with 5 mins of added time. Was this time wasting to prevent another goal against??? Where was Parrott? Lucas was ghastly. Dele looks finished. Winks no progress . Aurier such a disaster. Lloris too many errors.
Don’t be so depressed Wentworth, the Messiah will save us, all he needs is about £500m. :- )
Agree DW – Dele should have come off for Parrott for sure indeed too many games lately – I heard he was in trouble towards the end, even Moura should have got some kind of rest but I guess after last season’s heroics there’s always HOPE and maybe they demanded to stay on when asked if wanted to come off – who knows.
Our season is pretty much over – thankfully we’re safe from relegation – can’t stress that enough.
If that’s true about goals conceded DW just confirms we need to invest in defence in the summer no other answer possible surely. Defensive re-enforcements and a striker.
All things considered, think we were very lucky not to stare down a relegation battle this season – that’s how poor we’ve been for the last 15 months especially in the Prem. Cannot be allowed to happen again – the board need to back the manager in the summer irrespective of CL money or no CL money as the case will be.
It was a dead rubber at half time….I’d have accepted forward planning as we were never going to get back into it. Maybe it’s because my optimistic streak has been drained (or I’m getting slightly tipsy) but I can only think Jose brought on the young lad as a distraction for the press conference. As for goals, that’s what the BBC and Sky are stating – but no qualification of goals scored – so maybe one of those misleading stats….I don’t know, too tired to check and slightly scared to at this moment in time lol
Well, I can say Jose is the most successful manager in my 60 years of supporting Spurs.
He has successfully dumbed down my expectations to the point that I’m not really pissed off that we lost so poorly this evening!
EJ….you’re falling into the same trap as BS and many others, it’s not just about investment, throwing money at a problem isn’t necessarily the answer, there are more factors at play than just this.
Just finished watching the game recording and not surprised by the result .
The thing which is now becoming annoying and depressing is JMs coutenance and his negative after match interview esp as I have supported and argued his case on various threads .
At 15 million quid he is not producing , admittedly under very trying conditions , a coherent team performance .
Surely this must be getting through to the players and heaven help us on Sunday vs United !!!
Sacking him is not the answer but he must lose some under performing players in the Summer but will Levy allow those to leave if he can’t get his inflated price for them ??
RBL were far better than us but we didn’t compete after goalie mistake and it is difficult not to see us slide down the table .
Sorry for the rather rambling post but am so frustrated and can’t see a way forward if we continue to perform like this !!
Sorry guys but I’ll have to buck the trend. I thought it was a good game of football. We started on the front foot as required and our intensity and passing was much better than in recent games. We did not stop competing. There was some excellent link-up play from our lads. It was never going to be easy and, over two games, we lost to a better team. That’s fair enough. Strangely we lost 3-0 but played far better than losing the first leg 1-0.
If we lose to United our season is virtually over …. now there’s a happy thought!
Thinking ahead, the way Lo Celso is performing I can’t wait to see him playing just behind Kane and Son.
Just like you Geoff I thought we started well enough then the whistle blew. I still think our DM is poor other teams go through us like a knife through butter. Aurier needs to go he got away with the first offside one then did a virtual carbon copy for their second. New goalie please add this to our RB, DM, LB, LCCH. And CF. All we seem to be able to do is get it to their 18 yd box then…. Nothing. Thought Dier and Toby were OK Tananga did alright, LoCeslo worked hard as did Lamella Lucas and Dele I’ll defer comment. The rest can go they aren’t good enough for Spurs. In fact they could nearly all go
Niall …. I’m just trying to ‘big up’ any positives I can find. The game was certainly better than I expected (okay, so like most of us, I’ve lowered my expectations). The rest of this season and the next TW is all about preparing for next season.
Well Geof, therein lies the conundrum. We started the game more positively, went for it, and got opened up like a school team and thrashed thoroughly. Surely that has to factor into Jose’s “negative tactics” rant from many. They wanted us to be more open, we were and this is what happens. Hope they’re all satisfied.
TQ2Spurs – I never said throwing money at it is the only answer. That money has to be invested wisely.
But fixing this mess is going to require massive investment and if you think coaching alone can fix the mess we’re in, I don’t know what to say.
BS….I did say ‘there are many more factors at play’ so no, it isn’t just down to coaching and nothing to do with investment, it’s a combination of many things.
Danny – very easy to pick apart all team decisions, but we don’t know what’s at play. Senior players wanting to play in the CL, players like Lamela needing minutes to build up match fitness, young players who in the eyes of fans, deserve more playing time, but who behind the scenes may or may not be putting in adequate levels of effort on the training pitch etc. Hard to know unless we have all the facts.
Regarding the stats listed, the confusion comes from comparing apples and oranges.
With our point at Burnley, it was Jose’s 27th point gained in the PL since his appointment. Since his appointment, only Liverpool and City have gained more points than us. In the PL, despite some perceptions, we are actually doing well enough.
However, the stat about goals conceded doesn’t just look at the PL – it looks at all competitions. So all of the goals conceded in the domestic cups and the CL would count in that stat as well. It’s a rather misleading stat for me, because in that period, we have played far more games than Villa, so of course we’d concede more.
So both stats aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.
Appreciate the clarity – I hadn’t chased it down, it just jumped out at me as I read it.
Fair points and I do accept the behind closed doors angle, but when it comes to Parrott and the totally unqualified and poor reports in my humble about his outside associations (all conjecture, typical press unnamed source and then, not even a proper quote) – why was he on the bench to begin with?
Jose has never been a youth manager in my eyes, but it seems like a missed opportunity to rest people, and give others some encouragement and extra experience.
We have 5 of our 1st team players out injured, 6 inc. Tanguy’bele fitness / unsettled, goalkeepers lloris / vorm errors. this will seriously affect any team in the world. Players confidence is now rock bottom, Jose trying to deflect blame from himself, Levy saying no CL will see changes at WHL. THFC is in a very serious situation. I would not be surprised if we lose next 2 PL games MU & WH at WHL which will place us in relegation like form.
What can be done? very difficult to answer at this time… Perhaps a closed doors meeting at Enfeld with all 1st squad players, coaches / management (levy ?) They can all have their say, and perhaps will clear the air of the cloud of bad feelings. We should then see everyone on the same page, and improve squad performances to end of the season. COYS
DW…. why is there a message at top of my post ? saying awaiting moderation. ……. message reads….
This is a preview your comment will be visible after it has been approved.
Is this the cause of the delay in all posts not appearing when sent… Vital Football directives?
block 108…..it could be playing a part in the issue but assuming all posts are moderated it wouldn’t explain why posts on page 1 aren’t delayed along with the first post only on subsequent pages. I’ve said before, considering that this issue has now been affecting the site for over 3 months we deserve an explanation from the top at Vital including what they are doing to fix it.
No, we’ve always had an overzealous ‘spam’ function – the two aren’t related – but with me not being around as much when a post does daftly get caught, there’s more of a delay before I can approve.
The spam function catches me at points, it doesn’t discriminate lol
Looks like JM will have to wait another season before he brings a trophy to North London for the first time this decade. Meanwhile we’ll just have to make the most of the one trophy we have from the previous decade!
Every time I watch Spurs at the moment its like being at a brothers furneral except they keep burying him over and over again! Daniel Levy said in a recent Spurs Supporters Association meeting that he doesnt care what the fans say or think of him, I quote; “water of a ducks back”!! As long as we keep rocking up to the stadium and paying at the gate he’s happy. 1 Trophy in 20 years of ENIC rule, its time for ENIC and Levy to go.
Geof – sadly our last trophy dates back further than the previous decade (2010-2019). We have gone 12 years without one.
That’s not fair BS…….didn’t we recently win a trophy in a pre-season international tournament? 🙂