Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest saw Spurs crash out of the League Cup at the first hurdle thanks to well-taken goals from Rennan Lodi and Jesse Lingard. Before previewing tomorrow’s match with Leeds, I would like to reflect on several matters from the loss at the City Ground.
Let’s start with the positives – firstly, the strong team that was put out. Now I know the fact that we lost with our first-choice XI doesn’t make for great viewing, but part of instilling the winning mentality that Conte wants is to see each game as must-win, something that as a club we have not been doing in recent years (see Nuno with the Conference League).
Second positive – Fraser Forster’s debut. Making six top saves, with four of those coming from Forest’s efforts inside the box (via SofaScore), I thought he was by far and away our standout performer and the primary reason why we only conceded 2 goals.
I also thought that Djed Spence looked bright off the bench in the brief outing he got, coming close with a header that was smartly tipped over by Wayne Hennessey and going on a rampaging run past several Forest bodies late on – alas, it didn’t amount to much, but it was refreshing to see.
Now onto the negatives. The latest of many leggy outings from our lot has made it clear that the playing and coaching staff need the World Cup to come to reset, on and off the pitch. Those that haven’t been called up can benefit from more intensive time with Antonio Conte and his merry men, while those at the World Cup may benefit from having a break from the club environment.
Indeed, the lack of available options for Conte to rotate did not help. Conte (via Sky Sports) himself has spoken of his excitement at using this break to assess his squad and see what can be done to improve it, as was the case last January: “It’s important to have a good evaluation of the first part of the season. I have seen a lot of positives, but injuries and having to play every three days, we have struggled a lot,” said Conte.
Indeed, as much as having a mid-season World Cup irks me, we have been losing momentum in recent weeks, and the timing of the World Cup feels like it’s come at a good time for us to take stock of the first half of the season, reassess everything, and build from there.
As fans with little knowledge of the workings of the team’s training methods, we must bear in mind the reasons why we’ve been performing in fits and spurts until now, and a massive part of this has to be energy conservation – with limited squad depth, it would be foolish to go out all guns blazing every game, irrespective of the opposition.
Let’s not also forget that the players are suffering from the effects of Gian Piero Ventrone’s death (something else Conte alluded to today via the Evening Standard), and grief is such a powerful influence on anyone in any walk of life that it would be foolish to dismiss it when evaluating our players’ recent struggles.
Notwithstanding those factors, the displays have been frustrating of late, and if the leggy performance on Wednesday wasn’t bad enough, seeing the draw the following day made things all the more frustrating – with Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Everton, Villa, Brentford, and Leeds (to name a few) all being knocked out, and Manchester City being drawn against Liverpool – this competition genuinely presented itself as a great opportunity to register some silverware.
Granted, even if we had made it past Forest, I’d still have fancied City to win a trophy they’ve won prolifically over the years, but notwithstanding that, the lack of Premiership opposition at such an early stage of the League Cup meant that we had a wonderful chance to really assert ourselves on the competition.
This is the most frustrating thing about Wednesday’s defeat, but overall, it is not the end of the world. In such a concentrated fixture list with a squad lacking in quality depth, something simply had to give – the players are giving everything, and the coach certainly did his part in fielding a strong XI. It just wasn’t to be – onto Leeds, and here’s hoping we go out with a bang. COYS!