Bright second half not enough for Tottenham
As results go, that wasn’t too bad. Obviously, a 14th loss of the season is mental, especially with there being 11 more games of the Premier League season left. We’re lucky Manchester City didn’t add two or three more before the half because we played way too passively. Thankfully, the second-half performance was better, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. However, let’s dive into the game and discuss some things that stood out to me.
Looking more like our old selves
For a long time, Tottenham have been playing a lot more preserved compared to our usual intense style (eg, Aggressive pressing in the front third), which is largely down to the fact that our players have been too tired, but this game against Manchester City was probably the first time since our Carabao Cup win over Manchester United which was back in mid-december. Which is crazy, but it’s amazing what happens when the team has a full week off, and we have first-team players who can give our top players a rest.
Hard to Tel with Mathys
It’s actually not hard to see that Mathys Tel is still adjusting to life in England. It was a positive sign when he scored his first goal against Aston Villa in the FA Cup, but the premier league is a different beast. I have no doubt he’ll settle in soon, with Dominic Solanke still injured, Mathys will be our starting forward, so game time will come thick and fast for him. He’s shown his speed and willingness to press up front, but his hold-up play needs some work as does his positioning. It’s ridiculous to write him off as he is still 19 years old, but expectations and pressure come when you arrive from Bayern Munich with a buy option of £45 million.
Tunnel Vision for Europa League
Not exactly about the game, but something in the back of players’ minds and something Tottenham fans are holding hope for with the Europa League being the only remaining cup competition left. I know it’s expected every season, but with players returning for our first leg fixture against AZ Alkmaar, you’d think, “surely this is our year”, but we are Tottenham, and we haven’t had the best luck in these competitions. Tottenham have been strong favourites for the Europa League, I don’t know why, as there are still really good teams left, such as Lazio (4th in Serie A), Eintracht Frankfurt (3rd in Bundesliga), Athletic Bilbao (4th in La Liga), Olympique Lyon (6th in Ligue 1) and Fenerbahçe (2nd in Turkish League) and even Ajax (1st in Eredivisie) but no 13th placed Tottenham are expected to steamroll to the final. What I’m getting at is that there is mounting pressure already when we’ve had such a terrible season. I’ll tell you why though: because if we don’t win. You’ll see rival fans, pundits, and mainstream media go in on us saying, “Oh typical spurs, they never win anything, they should’ve won the competition easily”. Don’t get me wrong, I think our squad is good enough to win this comp, but context is very important with our situation and it’s exactly that that no one will acknowledge.
Anyways! I know this is a late match review but better late than never. I’ll be watching the AZ Alkmaar game and you’d expect us to whip them, considering we beat them in the group games but they did beat Galatasaray who also beat us so yeah. Football’s a weird game but I have 100% faith in my team that we’ll get the job done. COYS.
