Last night’s Champions League Semi-Final first leg clash at White Hart Lane between Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax would’ve been called a true game of two halves, had we managed to take one of our chances in the second period to tie the scores up.
There’s no denying Spurs were incredibly poor in the first 45 minutes, and the formation and our injuries certainly didn’t help, however, some players still need to look at themselves as we know they can do better.
1-0 at the halftime break in the game, and we did significantly better in the second half, but without a cutting edge.
The night could’ve been worse, and we had the chances to tie it up – it’s in our hands in the second leg and although it’ll be difficult, few believe we can be that bad again. Rest and recuperation added to a few more options coming back and there’s every reason for confidence.
Statistics website Whoscored understandably had Donny van de Beek as their star man and Ajax received the far better player ratings given we almost began the second half from minus numbers.
There will be those who certainly disagree but Fernando Llorente took Man of the Match with a score of 7.25 and he was followed by Toby Alderweireld (6.97), Christian Eriksen (6.83), Davinson Sanchez (6.77) and Lucas Moura (6.76).
I’m amazed, given the game more turned on Moussa Sissoko’s introduction, he didn’t rate higher, as we certainly seemed to galvanise and get more of a grip on midfield once he was there.