My Kingdom for a Functioning Midfield

Both Spurs matches this past weekend were lost in the midfield, but there are plenty of other factors to consider as we head into the second half of the season.

In this issue:  Aston Villa recap | NLD recap | Existential crisis, manager edition | Previewing the Men's match at Manchester City  

Let's start with the less dire situation, the Women's team. Okay, the result itself was bad, but there were still reasons for optimism looking ahead.

Aston Villa 2 - 1 Tottenham

There was some uncertainty regarding which players would be available for selection because Rehanne Skinner had hinted in her pre-match press conference that there were some new fitness issues. In that same press conference, she also indicated that Kit Graham is still not close to returning from her ACL injury, and likely won't be back until late February now. On the flip side, Ria Percival is progressing through her rehabilitation at a faster-than-expected rate, so we could possibly see her back in the matchday squad before Kit. Silver linings, I suppose?

Also from the press conference (an overwhelming amount of information and non-information, honestly), Rehanne seemed to dispute that Beth England's transfer fee was, in fact, a record for a deal between WSL clubs. All right then... Elsewhere in transfer talk, the gaffer wouldn't make a firm statement on whether Esther Morgan would be staying with the club for the rest of the season or going out on another loan. There's still half of the month left to make that decision, but with Gracie Pearse out on loan at Bristol City (where she's already made her first start), it would seem more prudent to keep Esther around for defensive cover.

Otherwise, the only known selection dilemma was that Ashleigh Neville would be serving her second match suspension out of three for her red card against Everton (she'll be out for Leicester this weekend, too).

We ended up with a starting XI of Korpela in goal; Ale, Zadorsky, Bartrip, and turner in defense; James, Spence, and Cho in the midfield; Ubogagu and Ayane on the wings; and Beth England as striker. I was delighted to see Beth starting on her debut, and she did not disappoint.

The overall team performance itself was disappointing in the first half, however. We failed to get anything going on the attack and had to withstand a flurry of chances from Aston Villa. Our opponent's rhythm was slightly broken up by Amy Turner's departure from the game (it sounds like illness was the cause rather than an injury); Kerys Harrop replaced her and went into the left-back spot while Asmita Ale shifted over to right-back. There was definitely an improvement to our possession after this change, but when Spurs scored the first goal of the match in the 28th minute it still felt like it had come against the run of play. The move itself was a nice linkup between Chioma Ubogagu and Kerys on the left flank (a partnership that has proven fruitful a couple of times already this season), and Kerys delivered one of her expertly placed crosses into the six-yard box for Beth to turn into goal. Aston Villa's keeper Anna Leat got hands on the ball, but Beth had enough power behind her shot to find the back of the net. It was our first big chance of the game, and the efficiency to convert it was refreshing to see, as well as an indicator of the quality Beth brings to Spurs.

Unfortunately, the Tottenham lead did not last for long as Kenza Dali scored for Villa just six minutes later. Kirsty Hanson was able to shake off Molly Bartrip as she approached the 18-yard box and laid the ball off to Dali for a long-range shot (sadly, a continued weakness for Tinni Korpela in goal).  Things got worse when Rachel Daly (still joint-top-scorer of the league) put Villa in the lead four minutes later, again with an assist from Kirsty Hanson and even more difficult to stomach from a defensive perspective. Rosella Ayane gave away possession after a half-hearted pass back to Asmita, who attempted a last-ditch tackle to slow Hanson's progress towards the goal. Angharad James also threw out a leg to block Hanson's pass to Daly but was unsuccessful, and Daly met the ball just to the left of the penalty spot for an easy shot. It's hard to say who was intended to be marking her, but it looks like Molly neglected Daly's run while she tried to anticipate the cross into the box from Hanson. Cho So-hyun was not far behind Daly but didn't make much of an effort to intervene. Both goals were examples of possession being lost in the midfield and the whole team not being in the proper shape or positioning to recover. It's times like these when we miss the presence of Maéva Clemaron and Ria Percival holding things down from midfield.

In credit to Rehanne, she made the most of her sparse bench (just four outfield players again, one of whom—Harrop—had already entered the match in the first half) and was proactive in starting the second half with some fresh legs in the form of Celin Bizet and Eveliina Summanen, replacing Ubogagu and Cho, respectively. Our buildup play was a lot better in the second half as a result of these changes, with Eveliina looking much closer to the player we came to know and love last season, while Celin has provided a fresh spark to the right winger position—albeit a little unpolished. I also thought Celin's presence as a counterpart to Rosella (who had shifted over to left winger when Chi subbed out) enabled Ros to play her game better, and we saw some decent passes from her.

Right near the end of the match we saw a hint of what Drew and Beth can create when they combine, and Beth nearly equalized to salvage a point out of the game. I won't be too harsh on her for missing that chance, though, because the rest of the team still needs to step up and ensure she has more than just a couple of opportunities score. Drew was then replaced in the final Spurs substitution of the match by Nikola Karczewska, who only had a few minutes to try to make an impact. I would have liked to see the change happen much sooner, because Drew's energy levels were clearly flagging in the final ten minutes. Of course, Niki's own fitness has been a concern throughout the season and has neccesitated Drew playing such heavy minutes.

Angharad was another player that seemed to suffer a dip in effort in the later stages of the game, which is slightly concerning after having such a long break since the last match. To be fair, many of Aston Villa's players also tired noticeably in the second half, so perhaps rust was a factor all around. I still feel like I want more from Angharad than we've seen so far, especially after she impressed so much in pre-season. She hasn't quite been the dynamic box-to-box midfielder I thought we had signed after seeing her in those Women's Cup friendlies.  

A quick aside:  Mark of the Get Goalside newsletter asked me what my ideal starting XI would be for Spurs Women, assuming no injury concerns (wouldn't that be nice, eh?), now that Beth England has joined the side. I thought I would share it here for posterity. The first lineup is working with the freedom of no injuries, and the second is a realistic lineup with the current injury constraints (ignoring Ash's suspension).

What changes, if any, would y'all make? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

So, big picture:  it was not a good result in the scope of the season so far (five straight losses in the WSL, and only one goal scored during that stretch), but at least it was an improved performance that can be built upon—particularly as we start to get more players back from injury (and Ash from her suspension). I still believe the crisis of results that we're in is somewhat understandable (if not excusable) because of the injury pile-up, but there's no denying that things have to improve, and soon. We risk losing the reputational ground we gained last season by finishing 5th, and none of us want to see the club become a place that top players don't want to be. Signing Beth England was a good first step towards signalling that the ambition to be competitive near the top of the table is still there, but more must be done, preferably starting with the remainder of this transfer window.

The next match against Leicester is going to be crucial in that turnaround—especially since the next three WSL matches after that are all against top 4 opposition, when it will be hard to pick up points. Leicester just so happened to get their first win of the season this past matchday, so that ups the stakes even higher. We could get dragged into a relegation battle if we aren't careful. I'll preview that match in the next issue since it's not till Sunday, and we have a lot to cover before then with the Men's team.

Where to even start with the Men?

Somehow the issues feel so much more troublesome than those of the Women's team, perhaps because the Men's team (in theory) should be much farther along the path to challenging for titles at this point. I find it much easier to understand Rehanne Skinner and her squad having some growing pains when the team is literally only in its fourth season in the top flight. Last season was undoubtedly a situation of overperformance and now the team has slightly regressed to the mean through a mixture of bad injury luck and squad underperformance in key matches.

With the Men's team, I think it's fair to wonder if the late push for top 4 last season was a bit of a miracle. It surely involved more than just Conte and his players doing their full-out best; we also needed Arsenal to make a couple of mistakes along the way. Regardless though, it did seem as if the team should have been poised to build on that strong finish with some smart transfers and enter the 2022/23 season as a team that was solidly in the top 4 conversation, if not challenging for titles. Early results were favorable if not convincing, but the sheen of invincibility has long since worn off and we're lucky if the team can limit their average performances to just one half of a game.

Which brings me to the North London Derby.

Tottenham 0 - 2 Arsenal

We're lucky it was only two goals, let's be real. What a terrible birthday for Eric Dier.

In some ways, our starting XI was better than could have reasonably been expected, since Dejan Kulusevski was a doubt to play and Richarlison was also a surprise inclusion on the bench. But I had some concerns about Deki's actual fitness to play (indeed, he took much long to work his way into the game than we typically see from the Swede), I wasn't wild about the prospect of Ryan Sessegnon starting over Ivan Perišić, and we all know Son Heung-min has not been a reliable starter this season. The other cause for concern was Pape Sarr getting his first PL start—not because of my actual faith in his ability, which he has proven over his last couple of appearances, but because it felt like he was being set up to be a scapegoat if things went wrong. And sure, there have been plenty of examples in Tottenham history (which I am not totally ignorant of despite being a newer fan) of players scoring on their full PL debuts, even in high-pressure derby matches. I'm just not sure this was the time or the place for Sarr specifically.

The main reason for that being that our two-man midfield was never going to have much success against Arsenal's three-man midfield, particularly since Sarr and Pierre Emile-Højbjerg had not yet played a match together and lacked familiarity. Arsenal have been so successful thus far this season in part because they are a well-drilled unit that has built up its team chemistry gradually over the course of the last few seasons. And considering that the midfield battle has been so key in recent NLD matchups (I'm looking at you, Nuno), it's borderline unforgivable that Conte decided this was the best formation to go with. The man could not possibly be more stubborn.

There was still a slight chance we could overcome the midfield imbalance if the tone had not been set early on by Hugo Lloris' own goal in the 14th minute. Typing those words physically causes me pain, just as the goal itself did. Truly, it would have been easier for Hugo to capture the ball than for him to do... whatever it was that he was doing. I don't think we can ignore the steep drop-off in Hugo's form any longer. It's not good enough for him to have one good (or even decent) game in a run of five. Similar to Son's situation, it's become untenable, and they cannot be starting games. The problem is that I'm not sure Fraser Forster is at PL-caliber goalkeeping level anymore either, so this leaves us with a predicament that's very difficult to remedy in a January transfer window (just ask Bayern Munich).  

Then, in one of the most predictable moments ever, Arsenal's captain Martin Ødegaard was left in acres of space outside the box to shoot past Lloris (who should have done better on this goal, too). Arsenal basically were able to cruise for the rest of the match, including the entire second half , which says more about our current state than it does about them.

Perišić and Bryan Gil were probably our most effective substitutes, but there wasn't enough spirit in the team overall to get back into the game—which is a depressing thing to have to say about the most important derby match of the season, and the home fixture no less. Richarlison only showed that he still has some issues with keeping his temper during heated matches. He was involved in the ugly scenes after the final whistle wherein he and Aaron Ramsdale got into a disagreement, and as Ramsdale stepped away he was attacked by a Spurs fan coming down from the stands. It was just a terrible ending to a terrible match.

There isn't much more to say about the match itself. We were outplayed in every aspect, from effort to tactics to mentality.

Existential crisis, manager edition

So here we are again, a club in crisis with the manager on the hot seat.

Usually my stance is that managers deserve more time at clubs in general (the constant managerial changes in the Bundesliga, for example, are so extreme that it's referred to as the "managerial merry-go-round"), and to be talking about Conte's future every few games is not healthy for the club or for fans. So I think I am at the point now where I am firmly #ConteOut.

I could give a long, drawn-out explanation of all the reasons why I think moving on from Conte is the best course of action, but this issue is already quite long, so it's time for bullet points.

Why Conte needs to go now:

• Results and performances are trending down, while the teams around us are trending up; a new manager bounce could help salvage top 4 chances this season, while inaction could lead to a mid-table finish and missing out on European qualification.

• I have very little faith that the team's actual performances will improve as long as Conte is still here, barring massive investment of players (which is unlikely, since the board and Conte can't even agree on a new contract for Conte, let alone commitment to his vision), because Conte is too rigid in his preferred system and tactics; he's proven time and again that he's not a flexible manager, and the NLD was a perfect example, from team selection to in-game management. He's not even doing a good job of motivating the players at the moment, and if he doesn't have buy-in from the team, that's a major concern—and one that's unlikely to improve.

• A couple of issues back I wrote this:

I suppose the main argument in favor of appointing him was that he would transform the club through sheer force of will and the influence of his impressive reputation.

He hasn't, and it's clear he's never truly received full trust or a free rein from the board. The relationship isn't working, but I suspect it was doomed from the start. As Gareth pointed out on the most recent The Game Is About Glory podcast episode, the Conte appointment was seen as a shortcut to success by the board. Both parties entered the arrangement with the wrong expectations and the wrong understanding of what both sides could offer each other. If they're never going to see eye-to-eye, it's time to end the relationship.

It just feels like something has to give, and my original gut instinct when Conte joined the team—that he was a poor fit—seems increasingly accurate these days. We need a manager who is a cultural fit for Tottenham Hotspur. We need a manager who will be committed to developing players, not just buying improvements to the squad. And we need a manager who can adapt and meet new challenges head-on, not stubbornly stick to their go-to methods that have become stale. I don't think I need to say who the obvious choice is, but he is currently unemployed...

I mentioned previously that I do have some additional thoughts around ENIC/the board, but will probably save that for this month's bonus post for paid members, so get in on that now if you're interested. I actually think it's a lot more nuanced than the managerial situation for a variety of reasons.

Entering the Etihad with a point to prove

It's been two days now without a club statement (well, about Conte anyway—they did condemn the fan that attacked Ramsdale, and rightfully so), so let's operate under the assumption that the match at Manchester City will be too soon for any potential new manager bounce—though it could hasten it, if the result doesn't go Spurs' way.

My biggest concern going into this match is that Conte will continue to select a starting XI that ignores the reality of the squad's fitness and form. Now that Deki has had a game back he can surely handle starting this next game better, but Conte should be realistic about his limitations—and also not forget that Gil is capable of contributing meaningfully as a substitute if given a proper run out, not just stoppage time. I am hoping that Rodrigo Bentancur will be available for this match to play alongside Højbjerg, because although PEH didn't have a good game in the NLD by any means, he and Lolo have had a good partnership for the most part this season and are still the preferred midfield duo for me; I know better than to hope that Conte will run out a 3-5-2 formation, so a midfield-2 it is. I mentioned in the NLD recap that I don't think Hugo should start, and I still think that's true even against a team like City where we can't afford too many tweaks in preparation. Forster is just going to have to step up. And I will fully admit that my beloved Son needs to be benched, even though he always seems to score against City. Give him significant minutes off the bench to do so if needed, but it's time to see what Richarlison can do with an extended run-out (hopefully that includes staying calm in the face of provocation).

On Manchester City's side, it looks like they don't have many injuries to contend with except for John Stones being day-to-day and Rúben Dias getting close to a return from a hamstring injury. City have had their own recent struggles on the results side of things, including an embarrassing 2-0 loss at Southampton that knocked them out of the League Cup, as well as a (controversial) 2-1 loss in the away Manchester derby. Overall there has been a sense that City have lost some of the fluidity and magic that has characterized Pep Guardiola's side throughout his tenure, and we have had a decent record against them in recent years anyway, so this could be a good time for the matchup despite coming off a crushing derby loss of our own. However, Erling Haaland still leads the league in goals and will be a new challenge for Spurs' defense to contend with—particulary his aerial threat. That has not always been a strong suit for our center-backs, Dier especially.

Harry Kane is still looking for those final two goals to surpass Jimmy Greave's Tottenham goals record, so keep an eye on that.

COYS

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