And so it comes…it took 8 competitive fixtures, but our first defeat of the season has finally arrived at the hands of Sporting CP, who now top Group D after 2 matchdays after overcoming Spurs with a late 2-0 victory at Estadio Jose Alvalade.
Now, tempting though it may be to go off on a tangent about how we’re boring to watch, Conte’s failure to rotate the team or make timely substitutions, or even how our midfield is one-dimensional, I won’t dwell on any of these issues tonight. These are all valid arguments regarding our consistent shortcomings, but I’m going to focus on certain specifics that occurred to me throughout proceedings over in Portugal.
Interestingly, tonight, unlike the Marseille match last week, and the West Ham match the week before that, playing through the press against Sporting here wasn’t an issue. It was more taking the extra touch when we didn’t need to once we had broken through Sporting’s press, or carelessly playing the ball out of play when promising options arose.
Now, I dislike pinning collective failings on individuals, but tonight, some players weren’t good enough in this regard. While the likes of Royal, Bentancur, and Hojbjerg will no doubt face an earful of criticism for their slopiness, as will our backline for our defensive no-show for the last five minutes, I’d like to focus on our attackers’ shortcomings in Lisbon.
I thought Sonny was particularly culpable of taking unnecessary touches and dithering on the ball tonight, losing the ball 14 times (via SofaScore). He looks really bereft of confidence right now, bless him. I don’t know whether he needs a game or two on the bench, as Richarlison and Kulusevski have been better in every game this season than him, or if we simply persist with him until his drought inevitably ends. Either way, he doesn’t look right at present.
Moreover, Kane was uncharacteristically sloppy – something I found somewhat curious, given that Sporting didn’t give him as much attention as he usually warrants. Indeed, he hardly got the Bissouma-treatment we saw in the Brighton game back in April, but under minimal pressure, he misplaced so many of his passes from the start.
Indeed, as per SofaScore, his passing accuracy read 66% (23 accurate passes out of 55), and he lost possession 19 times. Worryingly, he was not the Spurs player who lost the ball most frequently – this was Perisic with 22, but still, when considering how the foundation of our attacks rests primarily on Kane’s shoulders, this isn’t promising reading.
Another issue going forward was the mistiming of our runs in behind Sporting, of which Richarlison was the prime culprit, with 3 of our 5 offsides coming from him (again, courtesy of SofaScore). For instance, Richarlison’s two moments in the first half: the disallowed goal, and the instance just before that when Kane slipped him through and he fluffed his squared ball across the keeper to Son. A split second of patience and there are two goals right there!
To Sporting’s credit, they were very disciplined with their defensive line, and it’s something they’re clearly well-versed in under a diligent coach in Ruben Amorim, but such a high-line really ought to be a fertile breeding ground for clear goalscoring opportunities from our end, given the quality we have up top. It was so disappointing seeing us fail to utilise this space.
Despite all of these issues, we somehow managed to create a plethora of chances, none of which we could capitalise on. This takes me back to the issue I’ve brought up so often this season that I’m sounding like a broken record if you pardon the cliche: clinical finishing.
Ultimately, the chances were there tonight. However, it was the lack of clinical finishing that let us down again once the opportunities presented themselves – Richarlison’s two headers, Perisic’s header, Royal being played in, Kane’s powerful angled effort, and his failure to connect with Perisic’s sumptuous ball later on in the match. I could go on, but regardless of who you play in the Champions League, you must take your chances, or you will be punished, something Antonio Conte alluded to in his post-match reflection tonight via Football.London:
“The level of the Champions League is high. It’s very high. you know that to play in this competition you have to reduce the mistakes, because at the end you can pay. Tonight we paid a lot and now we are talking about a loss against a team that showed to be used to playing in this competition.”
Indeed, punished we were, and key to this was another familiar failing of ours: defensive frailties from set-pieces. West Ham, Chelsea, and Paulinho’s opener tonight – that’s 3 of 7 goals we’ve now conceded in 8 matches coming from set-pieces. Not good enough for a side harbouring serious ambitions of challenging the big boys and taking home some silverware.
In spite of Lloris’ two magnificent saves – the one in the first half from Edwards, and the one just before the corner that led to Sporting’s opener – I don’t think Sporting threatened sufficiently, and the final scoreline flattered them. That said, I don’t think we deserved to win at all – a draw, while not ideal, would not have been a bad result, and probably, a fair one.
Whichever way you look at it, it’s a match we must learn from, and rather than view it as a crisis (a la Zagreb in the dying embers of the Mourinho dynasty), let’s use this as a learning curve. While losing to Mura in the Conference League last November was an embarrassment beyond all measure, we were all the better for it, and improved immeasurably. Indeed, we took things up a notch while players adapted to Conte’s methods, and didn’t lose a game until we faced Chelsea in the League Cup several months later.
Let’s not dwell on the negatives, let’s hope the players learn from tonight and use it as a wake-up call and allow it to kick them on. Leicester at home on Saturday is a great opportunity to move on and put tonight behind us. COYS!
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The match was so bad that no one wants to comment on the thread?
Can anyone name a single player on our team who can hold his head hight after this one? Just one? Any one?
Probably Lloris if anyone mate!
The best player on the pitch used to be ours–Marcus Edwards. Poch shipped him out, no?
A new semi-automated offsides system in the PL next season?
Cameras and computers decide all about off sides calls except whether the off side player interfered with the play or not. That will be decided by a toss of the coin. Woops, I mean the decision of a tosser. Decisions by on field officials are like tosses of a coin, and those officials affectionately are called tossers, but that may be only a vigorous hand gesture.
They call it artificial intelligence, but since it mimics human behavior it really should be called artificial stupidity.
Another ghastly performance from a team short of ideas and a coach stuck in a rut of boring, negative,defensive tactics.
Best player on pitch was an ex Spur. We have no one in midfield just two utility players. Huge gap between defence and attack.
Subs bench has no game changers but at least give someone else a go. Our esteemed coach does not seem to have a clue. Lots of histrionics but no tactical noise.
This is not Spurs.So disappointed that we have become so awful to watch.
We now have a whole season of this rubbish with no youngsters to light up the gloom.
Great stadium, fantastic training facilities but useless team and clueless coach.
TK, Hugo Lloris is the only Spurs player who can hold his head high with those two world class saves. Our majorly talented front three really tanked all opportunities presented to them. Let’s see if they pull it together on the weekend.
Does conte trust his bench, bissouma will slowly fall from the great player he was. Conte seems to have taken this team as far as he can,
Is any manager in the world ever going to be good enough for you?
Conte has lost once all season and somehow “he’s taken this team as far as he can”. I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry.
If we’re going to lose one, it may as well be early in the CL group stages I suppose. Plenty of time to recover. Still, a very complacent performance with 2 cheap goals given away at the end.
As I said on the other thread, Royal was at fault for both goals and if he isn’t going to offer anything offensively and make mistakes defending, there isn’t much left. I’m not blaming him for the result – but he was part of the problem.
It’s no good having a deep bench if you’re not going to use it and Conte deserves questioning there. Having said that, no coach can do anything if we collectively switch off at the end of the game.
et’s hope this serves as a wake up call.
Its perhaps not surprising that the first loss of the season was in Europe. Conte’s European record is nowhere near as good as his record in domestic football, whatever country he’s managed in. Its more the manner of the loss. Sporting looked a good, well organised team and a step up on Marseille. But we actually played reasonably well and did create chances no one could get on the end of. To then lose from a sucker punch right at the end of the game was hugely frustrating. If Edwards had produced a finish to match his dribble at the end of the first half I’d have just said “too good”. But he didn’t and there’s no way you should fail to defend a corner in the 90th minute. The second goal was irrelevant. Once you go a goal behind in injury time all you can do is try and get an equaliser. If you let in a second it doesn’t change the result.
It is not Conte who should be sacked but every other coach who fails to beat us. We are so ordinary and so easy to nullify. I can only think that Conte’s reluctance to rotate is because those on the pitch need the practice. I hear all the pundits say it’s the sign of a good team to be winning when playing badly. What crap! Luck only runs so far and weve had ours.
Although we were unbeaten up to yesterday, we have scraped most results. Our play has been dismal and defensive yet Conte insists on picking the same eleven.
We have very little on the bench but at least give Bissouma and Djed Spence a go. There is already talk that Spence will be looking for another club in January because he wants first team football like last season.
We only have one youngster Harvey White who has been sat on the bench for 2 seasons now…great for his moral!
As I have said before…great stadium, superb training facilities, but no decent young players, no attacking midfield player, stubborn coach from yesteryear and a mediocre crop of players.
Conte is full of histrionics but short on tactical nouse and substituting.
The players must be wondering about him. This is not the Spurs way.
If Djed Spence, a player who has never proven anything at any level higher than the Championship, doesn’t want to bide his time , fight for his place and earn his playing time, he may as well go. I don’t want him. It’s probably just a rumour anyways but if true, he needs a massive reality check. Talk about your ego getting in the way.
Bissouma is a good player but he has hardly set the world on fire in his Spurs appearances so far.
Love totty – You really have a very tenuous grasp on reality don’t you ? All teams that actually win things have the mental strength and discipline to win when they are playing badly. Luck has nothing to do with it.
The reality JOD, is that we have an average team that so far has ridden it’s luck to amass some decent points in the PL whilst playing badly. Do you really expect that to continue?
I wouldn’t blame Djed Spence. Who wants to play for a club that just sticks with the failures.
I blame the animated Conte who keeps on with the same boring tactics. Admittedly, we don’t have mush on the bench but at least give someone else a go. Bissouma has had little chance but surely he is less boring than Hojberjg and Bentacur.
Spence has got to be better than Emerson Royal who can’t cross, can’t pass and can’t shoot. Every game he is our worst player scoring 4 out of 10.
It is not surprising we never produce academy players of quality. Who would want to sit on the bench all season like Harvey White?
I cannot remember us playing such dull and uninspiring football. We are so boring.
Who are the failures you are referring to? The group of players who miraculously finished in the top 4 last year, and are currently 3rd in the league, unbeaten in the PL and 1 point of the lead?
As far as failing goes, that doesn’t seem so bad…
Ah well, we got beat, a bit of luck on their side, it happens!
Lost our unbeaten run, at least it was in Europe!
Still a way to go in Europe, so fingers crossed.
Why is Kulu dropped for Richi, should be Son at the very least!
Other than Lloris, even he was to slow distributing the ball to players, Kulu in his short time on the pitch was my Spurs MOM!
Hopefully lessons will be learnt, not holding my breath at that! lol!
On to The Foxes on Saturday Evening! COYS
BS. The failures I am referring to are the bunch of uninspiring players we have at the moment.
We used to be a club that valued entertaining, attacking football. Now we just scrape through with poor, defensive set ups. It probably is the coach at fault who seems to promote this awful way of playing. There is no joy or flair in our play. The team seems stifled by negative play.
Where is the great passing, dribbling, shots from distance, good crosses. We do not seem to have the players capable of producing much more than boring play.
Spurs were a glory team. Now we are just mundane. Our position flatters us. Watch out when we play the top teams.
Bissouma also thinks he has made the wrong decision in joining Spurs. He was Brighton’s star player alongside Cucurella last season and yet we continue with Bentancur and Hojbjerg who are offering nothing in midfield at the moment.
What is the point in buying decent players to sit on the bench, match after match.
Time for a new approach and new coach with attacking flair. Conte is not the man.
Agree ww.
Uninspiring players like Son, the reigning PL top scorer? Kane,, who has just scored 5 goals in 6 league games? Hojbjerg, who was Madrid’s plan A to replace Casemiro?
OK, they’ve had a bad game. History would suggest this is a temporary problem.
There is a time to criticise the club. Last season under Nuno was terrible. But to criticise Conte and the team now on the back of one defeat, just because the football isn’t as entertaining as you’d like, feels very petty to me. But to each their own.
Have to agree with you there BS, time will tell! COYS
Our team has been playing football in a plodding, boring manner, and yesterday was spectacularly unsuccessful doing so. But it’s a long season and now is too early to come to drastic conclusions. One thing is for sure–continuing to play as we are isn’t tolerable. But I’m not ready to see Conte go and replaced by another… ? Espirito Santo? I’m afraid we’re stuck with what we have for now and let’s cross our fingers that the downturn is brief. After that? Who the eff knows?
But Kane, Son, Richarlison etc., were not very good yesterday, and how can they do other than play better than this?
Give Spence and Bissouma a chance…they can’t be worse than what we have been playing with.
Apparently, Marcus Edwards would like to return to Spurs. No chance with Conte in charge. Only defensive work horses need apply.
Let’s hope we don’t lose to Leicester. It wouldn’t surprise me.