Mistakes at Molineux

The game at Wolves was never boring, we can say that at least.

It was a disjointed performance from Spurs—both physically and mentally—and resulted in a further slide down the table, with Wolves hot on our heels. Rotation to the starting lineup didn't help, but it wasn't the only factor for the loss. The question now is whether Ange Postecoglou and his players can rally to succeed in the Europa League midweek.

In this issue: Wolves recap | Previewing Eintracht Frankfurt | News from around the Lane

There's a fresh injury blow for Postecoglou to deal with for the away leg team selection, along with the usual toss-ups.

And for the news this week, there are a couple of contract updates to note—though not as many from the senior teams as I would have expected by this juncture in the season. We may need to be bracing ourselves for heavy turnover in the summer, especially with Spurs Women.

PL Matchday 32 recap | Wolves 4 -2 Tottenham

Aït-Nouri 2', Spence (OG) 38', Strand Larsen 64', Cunha 86' | Tel 59', Richarlison 85'

I truly don't want to dwell on this fixture for too long since half the players seemed visibly unconcerned about the result, so after a quick look at the starting lineup, I'll break it down into a good old-fashioned pros and cons list.

Starting XI:

More than half of the team that took on Eintracht Frankfurt on the weekend was changed, and three out of four members of the back line were swapped. That being said, because of the injury crisis this season everyone involved has seen significant game time already, so they should have been able to get the job done.

Of course, these obviously weren't ideal circumstances, with everyone affiliated with the club dwelling on the upcoming Europa League game. A few players made a decent argument for inclusion in that starting XI (substitutes included), but more of them underwhelmed.

On a substitutions note, it was good to see Dejan Kulusevski make his first appearance since February 26 and Richarlison build on his bench minutes from the previous game.

Pros:

• Mathys Tel scored in two PL games in a row. It took a deflection this time, but he still showed good movement in the box to be in a position to take the shot.

• Richarlison continues to make the most of his limited game time this season with another goal, albeit a meaningless one for the result. With Dominic Solanke out of form, he can have some hope of a start or two before the season's end.

• We only have to play at Molineux once a PL campaign. Yes, I'm grasping for positives here.

• On a similar note, Matheus Cunha was limited to just one goal since he only played twenty minutes (plus stoppage).

Cons:

• Guglielmo Vicario had a pretty horrid day in goal, though I'm sure the constant changes to the defense in front of him haven't been helping his own form.

• We conceded a very early goal yet again, a worrying trend this season.

• ...And an own goal. It was a classic case of miscommunication between keeper and fullback (Djed Spence in this case).

• We didn't manage the game state well, with every goal we got back quickly followed by another Wolves goal to consolidate their lead. This lack of concentration simply reinforced the reality that this game was not a priority in the context of the week.

SAtP Player of the Match: Mathys Tel

It would be easy for Tel to have become frustrated with his limited game time since joining Spurs on loan, as well as the possibility that he won't be staying after season's end, but he's kept a hungry attitude and is finally starting to get the goal contributions to match.

With the latest injury news, he's now poised to potentially start in the crucial away leg against Frankfurt.

Notable & quotable:

• Although this was the first game where semi-automated offside technology was being used, it didn't end up coming into play. VAR did fail to intervene on a potential penalty for Spurs, however.

• Brennan Johnson made his third assist of the PL campaign and remains third in the team for PL goal contributions.

• We were winless against Wolves this season.

• Mathys Tel alluded to the poor game management in his post-game comments:

It’s about concentration. We have to concentrate from the first minute until the last minute.

Previewing Europa League Quarter-final Away Leg — Eintracht Frankfurt

The frank (no pun intended) truth is that we enter the away leg with three disadvantages:

• An injury to our captain keeping him from being involved
• Lacking a lead to carry into the hostile away environment
• Frankfurt coming off a Bundesliga win while our last result was a PL loss

Any one of those three factors would be a challenge, but taken together, the deck is really stacked against Spurs. It's going to take a show of mentality that I'm not quite sure the team has in them at this point of the season to overcome the odds.

So about that injury: Son Heung-min has a foot injury that he's apparently been playing through for several weeks. Son did not travel to Germany.

Kevin Danso did travel, however, and will likely be in the matchday squad for the first time in five weeks. Otherwise, there are no new updates to the squad fitness report.

We have some decent options to replace Son at left winger, including Mathys Tel and Richarlison, though the latter could also see game time at striker during the match depending on how Dominic Solanke fares. There's also Mikey Moore in the mix, though I wonder if he's been shut down for the season already, to use an NBA term.

The other big lineup question is whether or not Dejan Kulusevski will be risked for a start—and if so, who will he send to the bench? It depends on what the manager wants from him in this specific match (hold-up play on the wing or creativity from the center of the pitch) as well as James Maddison's fitness.

As far as I'm concerned, the midfield and defense are picking themselves at this point, form-wise.

Ange Postecoglou got philosophical in his press conference when asked about the stakes of the game—or if I was being less generous, I could say he got a little too cute.

I don't see it as salvaging the season, I see it as an opportunity to do something special, so it depends on your outlook on life.

Sure, but I think it's a bit naive to ignore the pressure around the dwindling hopes for the season.

As for our overall prospects, I have to be honest and say that we just don't have the feel of a "fated" team at the moment, as many trophy-winners tend to evoke. Anything can happen on the day, but it would be a relative anomaly in our season if we put together a cohesive, 90-minute performance—let alone repeat that feat all the way through another two-legged tie for the semi-final and then a final as well.

If we do lose and get knocked out of the Europa League, leaving only a likely bottom-half-of-the-table finish in the Premier League, the club will have to ask if enough players are still behind Ange to make it worthwhile keeping him in place to finish out the season—or even stay beyond to start the next campaign. I will not be surprised to see him sacked if the outcome doesn't go in our favor.

But it bears noting that the fact the club has let it get to this point is proof that they were actively committing to the Postecoglou project and trying to do things differently than the knee-jerk manager sackings of the past. I don't think he would have lasted this long if it were still business as usual. A lot of fans were distrustful of the club having such resolve, so credit where it’s due.

Let's hope for the best, but also prepare for the worst.

News from around the Lane

• Both Academy U21s teams have played their final fixtures of the season:

• The Women's U21s earned a 3-0 win over London City Lionesses, ending the PGA campaign with 24 points from 16 games, averaging 1.5 ppg.
• The Men's U21s fell to a 4-5 defeat against Everton, though it's worth noting that they battled back from a 0-5 deficit. The team unfortunately finished 21st in the 26-team PL2 table, missing out on the playoffs this season.

• Keeping with the Academy for a moment, U21s goalkeeper Aaron Maguire has signed a new contract until 2027.

• And on the senior side of goalkeeping, Eleanor Heeps has extended her contract with the club until 2028.

Speaking on her new deal, Heeps said:

The Club has really supported my development and I’m excited to continue my journey here... I have worked with some great goalkeepers in my time here and also great goalkeeper coaches, all of those have been really important for my development.

• In his first full professional season, on loan at Notts County, George Abbott has been nominated for League Two Young Player of the Season.

His manager at Notts County, Stuart Maynard, said:

If he keeps showing us the mentality and the desire that he's showing now, I think he has the ability and the application to go play at the very top so I think Spurs have got a player on their hands that I believe that, in the next year or so, potentially, could break into their first team, he has been that good for us.

• While that award is not open to fan voting, you can vote for Spurs Women's End of Season Awards! If Eveliina Summanen doesn't win Best Goal, we riot.

• Finally, kickoff for Spurs Women vs Chelsea at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium has been pushed back to 2:15 pm BST/9 am ET.

All right, deep breaths. We will get through the Frankfurt game one way or the other.

COYS

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