Further Obstacles

The injury crisis deepens, but Spurs get a comeback goal to secure a draw at Stade Rennais

I'm a little late with this Rennes vs Tottenham Hotspur recap, so let's keep it short and sweet with some bullet points. To set the stage first, Spurs were playing away in France against our toughest opponents in the ECL group stage, and Rennes were certainly up for it. Their, ahem, aggressive tactics took out a couple of Spurs players during the course of the match and they were up 2-1 heading into the final quarter of the match, but a rare goal from Pierre-Emile Højbjerg enabled Spurs to draw the match and head home with a point.

The good

∙ While Lucas didn't get on the scoresheet, technically, it was his shot that forced the own goal from Rennes. If we can just get more end product out of Lucas, he could prove to be a very important player this season. I still wish we had Gareth Bale as another option at right-wing, but at least we have the memories.

∙ Despite the setbacks of Bergwijn and Lucas both having to leave the match through injury, the team showed some mettle and was able to salvage a point from the match. The referee for this match put in one of the worst ref performances (is that even a thing?) that I've ever seen, so only having two injuries honestly feels like a positive. It could have been much worse. Most importantly, Kane was subbed out before he could get hurt.

∙ Ndombele finally featured. I remain unconvinced that he is going to be the silver bullet that many Tottenham fans think he will be, but as long as he's on the team, he needs to be contributing. There's no denying his talent, it's just a matter of motivation and cooperation with the manager, at this point.

The bad

∙ Gollini was not great. It appears that he also struggles with shots from distance, much like Joe Hart. But there's still plenty of time for him to learn under Hugo, and at the end of the day, he's only on loan. If he doesn't end up being worth the permanent transfer, it won't happen.

∙ Doherty was woeful, as usual, and Davies still looks far off his former standard. When Reguilón is not on the pitch, we're not getting much out of our wingbacks offensively. And it remains to be seen who will be favored for the right-back position long term, Tanganga or Royal.

∙ There's no denying that creativity is a huge problem for this Tottenham squad. Bryan Gil shows some promise, but he's still developing. While Ndombele also had some bright moments, he always feels a little disconnected from the larger game, to me--like he's playing on an island. Not what we need right now. There's a big opportunity for Lo Celso to clinch a starting spot if he can come into the team and make a difference going forward, but he's been inconsistent in a playmaker role, too.

So, not the performance we would have liked to see, but a decent result considering the circumstances and no reason to panic this early in the group stage. I still think it's soon to be judging Nuno harshly since he's had to deal with some significant injury misses in the squad, and all of the games where we've dropped points have been played with a starting XI that's far from our ideal XI. But we need to start scoring more regularly, and soon.

The worst possible timing for a London derby

Not that I think there would ever be a good time to face Chelsea this season, but this is definitely the worst timing.

Personally, I can't see us getting a result unless Son is back in the lineup. Fingers crossed that he is fit. Dier is a big question mark too, but hopefully Romero is ready to step up and seize his moment, as it were. With Bergwijn and Lucas also doubts for the match, we could see Bryan Gil given a chance to start (not the match where I would have chosen for him to have his first PL start, but for the thousandth time:  nothing about this matchday is ideal), or Dele shifted into the forward line while Ndombele replaces him in the midfield. I could just as easily see Lo Celso being the man to enter the midfield instead, because despite his recent shenanigans on international break, I get the impression that Nuno trusts him to deliver more than he trusts Ndombele. Tanganga is, of course, suspended due to his red card against Crystal Palace (only a one-match suspension, on the plus side!), so Royal should be starting at RB, and Reguilón at LB. The Skipp/Højbjerg midfield pairing has been fairly effective, so I wouldn't tinker with it until proven otherwise. Kane and Hugo are obviously both a given.

Even if we didn't have all of that to deal with, it was already going to be a difficult match with the form Chelsea have been in. Lukaku is scoring consistently for Chelsea like he never left. I gather that Mateo Kovačić has been integral to their success in recent games, too. Chelsea have only conceded one goal so far this season, and have scored nine themselves. They're just doing well at everything. What a difference having a competent manager has made to the team Spurs drew with in the first half of last season.

I will sign off now in hopes that someone will actually read this before the match 😛 All we can do is hope that the injury gods are looking more favorably upon us tomorrow, and an unsettled squad can nevertheless come together to put in a spirited performance, with a little help from a lively home crowd.

COYS