One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Spurs failed to capitalize on last week's momentum as the top 4 chase grinds to a halt

Well, we knew it was going to be a stretch to make top 4 anyway, probably requiring four straight wins to finish out the season. But the 3-1 loss today to Leeds probably rules out any hope remaining, especially with Chelsea and Liverpool notching wins and West Ham still to play tomorrow. I just hope we can manage Europa League qualification and not that newfangled Europa Conference... thing.

Simply put, the lads just didn't look up for it today. There were lots of lackluster performances to be found all across the lineup, with Lloris, Son, and Kane the only players who can really hold their heads high after that disappointing result. I did think Dele had been one of our brightest players up until he was subbed off in the 67th minute, since he contributed the assist for Son and the would-be assist for Kane's goal that was ruled offsides and would have liked to see him complete the full 90, but perhaps his fitness is still not there after such sporadic playing time up until the last two weeks.

Speaking of Kane's offside would-be equalizer, the VAR decision was a real momentum killer in the match. Of course, we would like to demand a stronger mentality from the squad in moments like this (and have seen that spirit of mettle displayed on a few occasions this season), but that was not the case today. Had the call gone our way, there could have been a decent chance of us going on to find a game-winning goal. It's hard to look at the image above and not believe that Kane was level with Leeds' defender, but Paul Tierney in the VAR room disagreed. You have to think that if the on-field ref had not raised his flag, the VAR review may have gone the other way. I am really pulling for Kane to claim the Golden Boot this season, and I hope he can shake off the disappointment of his last two performances and rally to finish the season with a few goals.

Before the match, Tottenham announced that this match was Eric Dier's 200th Premier League appearance with the club. He did not exactly cover himself in glory for the occasion. He had a hand (negatively) in all three goals we conceded, which is so extremely frustrating after he had seemed to be turning a corner with his last few performances. I find it kind of heartbreaking when a player who is so clearly devoted to the club on a personal level just can't seem to justify his place in the lineup week in and week out (see also:  Harry Winks).

Aurier was back to giving away needless fouls, Reguilón was... well, not sure what he was doing exactly, but it wasn't good, and Alderweireld failed to impact the game significantly. I'm glad that I'm not the person making transfer decisions for the club this summer because my god, do they ever have a task before them. Something has to be done about the defense if we want to be serious about challenging for titles next season.

Not that the midfield was much better. Whereas in the Sheffield United match we did a good job of maintaining possession and keeping the run of play higher up the pitch, Lo Celso was all over the place today and pretty much left Dele to his own devices (who mostly managed to compensate as best as he could, but it shouldn't be that way).

I hate to be that person who talks about another club they support, but... I'm going to do that for just a moment, bear with me. When I think about what makes Bayern Munich so successful (when the roster isn't besieged with injuries that is) (and okay, besides Lewandowski being one of the best strikers in the world alongside Harry Kane), a big factor is the crucial partnership between Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka as the midfield pivot. I'm pretty sure they could sense where the other one is on the pitch even with their eyes closed, that's how strong their connection is. They maintain a balance of attacking and defense between the two of them that seamlessly ebbs and flows over the course of the game.

I bring it up because due to the constant tweaking of Spurs' midfield lineup this season across all competitions, we've been unable to form that kind of consistent partnership. As well as Dele did individually today, he clearly hasn't had enough game time with Lo Celso to have a good understanding with him. Højbjerg has been our most consistent presence in the midfield, but I think his issue is that he's played too many minutes this season and is just plain worn down. As strong as he was for us earlier in the season, making us all think he was an early Spurs Player of the Year contender, he's been less and less effective in recent weeks. I want to share some kudos to PEH for taking to heart Ryan Mason's encouragement to the team to be more attacking; he's definitely been more active in the final third these past few games. That being said, his shot accuracy and decision-making in the box have left a lot to be desired. Room for improvement next season!

You may have noticed the conspicuous lack of Bale mentions in this issue--he was quite inconspicuous on the pitch today, sadly. His individual performance was symbolic of the overall team effort, a huge letdown after the take-no-prisoners approach they displayed in the Sheffield United match. Just like there wasn't any apparent reason for Bale to have such lopsided performances from the last matchday to today's match, it's baffling sometimes to puzzle out just why Tottenham can seem like a well-drilled, potent attacking threat one game and then struggle to create anything in the next. *sigh*

I'm not even going to attempt to understand Mason's substitute decisions/timing today... seriously, let's just move on.

To prevent this from becoming too much of a bummer read, I wanted to reflect on the fact that it's two years to the day that Lucas pulled of his miracle hat trick against Ajax. It's easy to feel down about the club with all of the ESL crap, uncertainty with the manager hunt, and inconsistent form on the pitch, but this anniversary reminded me what's really important as a fan:  belief. Every season is going to have low points, and this season we seem to have had more than our fair share. But there will always be those moments of magic to look forward to on the horizon. I'm disappointed that our top 4 hopes seem to have been crushed for good, but I'm still going to get behind the team for the last three matchdays. We can worry about the manager situation and transfer rumors in the off-season. We'll be seeing some of these players for the last time in a Spurs shirt (some for good reason), so let's support them while we can.

Time for revenge on the wolf pack

Remember all those frustrating draws we had in the first half of the season? Our last meeting with Wolverhamtpon was one of them. For what it's worth, we'll be hosting them this time (though still no boost from having fans in attendance until the Aston Villa match).

I wouldn't wish this on any opponent and take no pleasure in saying it, just pointing out facts:  Wolves are the walking wounded at the moment. Jiménez has been out since December with his terrible head injury and as far as I've heard won't be fit in time for these last few matchdays, while Neto was injured more recently and underwent knee surgery. They also have a few defenders definitely out for our matchup, and Moutinho is a game-time decision with an ankle injury. For Spurs, it doesn't look like Davies will be returning by the end of this season, either.

I was taking a look at the team stats and noticed that Wolves are 4th in the league for crosses attempted, and we all know Spurs have struggled to defend off crosses all season, so that's something to look out for. But some reason for confidence:  they've scored less than half the amount of goals Spurs have all season, with only 7 coming from their non-injured forwards.

You just never know which Spurs team is going to turn up these days, the ruthlessly efficient counter-attack or the molasses midfield, so all I'm going to hope for is that Kane can notch a goal and keep his lead over Salah, and that Sonny continues his goal-scoring streak from the last two games. And maybe another appearance of "happy" Bale? I don't ask for much.

COYS