Scoring and Suffering (Sometimes Both)

We got a little bit of everything in the last few Spurs matches:  one win, one draw, and one loss | Previewing the final matchday for Spurs Women and the dreaded trip to Anfield for Spurs Men

Observant readers may have noticed that there wasn't a regularly scheduled post on Monday. The tldr; of it is that I was balancing a) blinding rage at my country's government and b) a long overdue internet speed upgrade, so I decided to wait until after the Women's NLD to send the latest issue. The downside to that decision is that the Sunday matches are a little fuzzier in my brain now, so y'all know what time it is:  bullet point recaps!

Tottenham 3 - 1 Leicester

This result was the bright spot of the weekend. In fact, if we could have just called it a day on footballing activity after this match my happy mood could have remained intact. Unfortunately, the strong result was marred a bit by Arsenal winning their match too, keeping us in fifth, followed by the disappointing result for Spurs Women (more on that next). I just want to highlight a few players' performances, some of them for good reasons and some for bad reasons.

• Romero was my man of the match, with no disrespect to Sonny for his brace. Now that Cuti has gotten his disciplinary breaches mostly under control, he's been able to harness his aggression to great effect. His two back-to-back offensive tackles were hugely important in setting up Son's first goal (which Son duly recognized in his celebration). I would argue that Romero is already in the top five defenders in the PL, and he will definitely be integral to our title hopes next season (yes, I'm going there--Conte would want us to believe!).

• Son continued to silence the haters by securing his best-ever goal tally (19) for a PL season--and there are still four matches to go. He's achieved that feat without scoring any penalties, too. I remain unconvinced that he really is solely right-footed, because the evidence is mounting strongly to the contrary. The two goals he scored against Leicester were both impressive displays of skill, particularly his long-range shot for the second goal, which was a real "wow!" moment.

• Kane did his part to contribute to the win by heading in a corner from Son, but there was another goal partnership that was even more fruitful than the good ol' Son and Kane show. Kulusevski has developed wonderful chemistry with his fellow winger, despite the Swede's short tenure on the team so far. He made an immediate impact when he came on as a sub in the second half, just as he made an immediate impact on our season overall when he joined the team as a January transfer. I do have to wonder what Conte's reasoning was for benching him to start the game, but his substitute appearance proved (not that there was any doubt, honestly) that he should always be starting when fit. This brings me to the negatives from this game...

• Lucas. Oh, Lucas. The time has come for him to be moved on. Nobody wants to say it after the Amsterdam of it all, but he has undeniably dropped off--not that he has ever been a very consistent contributor. The occasional moment of brilliance is simply not enough to warrant a place in a team with title aspirations. I'm sure it can't be a good feeling to see the new transfer overtake his starting spot so quickly, but Spurs have been guilty of being too sentimental too often in recent history and can't afford to let feelings get in the way of smart transfer business this time around.

• I don't think Winks merits a full bullet point, but basically:  ditto. He was largely responsible for Spurs losing the clean sheet in the Leicester match. No one likes to see a homegrown player go, but it is what it is.

Everton 2 - 2 Tottenham

Usually, Spurs Women scoring more than one goal is a sign that we're going to win the match, but Everton had other plans. I would strongly urge y'all not to watch the highlights from this game, because it's a little maddening to see how many quality chances we created and still didn't come away with a win (also, someone at the Everton stadium had a vuvuzela and incredible lung capacity). But once again (for about the millionth time) I will reiterate that Spurs Women have so much potential to be a top team in the WSL--we just need better finishers.

• I've already mentioned my admiration for Asmita Ale in recent issues, and she was a strong performer again in the Everton match, notching her first WSL goal in the 5th minute. Hilariously, she seemed in shock after the ball went in the net. It was an easy tap-in from close range for Ale, but the buildup to the goal was a great example of how the team has improved at creating chances by building from the back, starting with Spencer and ending with the assist from Summanen. I've also been impressed with Ale's vision for line-breaking through passes, and she put in one such pass to Ayane that should have resulted in another Spurs goal.

• Williams put in an incredible performance, opting to drop deep and create chances for her teammates, often by feeding the ball to one of the wingers or to Summanen for them to make the final pass (she also had a great shot herself that forced Everton's keeper Brosnan to make a superb save). Ayane was the recipient of many such golden opportunities, and if her finishing had been more clinical she could easily have had a hat trick on the day. That she finished the match with zero goals goes to show that she is potentially a player Rehanne will be looking to move on next season. She has also been lacking in defensive work rate, which won't help her case with a manager who demands a whole-team effort on defense.

• We haven't seen much of Josie Green this season, but to her credit, she made the most of her substitute appearance to grab an important goal in the 85th minute, an immediate response to Everton's equalizer earlier in the same minute. She set up a give-and-go with Naz, who did well to get around her defender and send in the cross practically on the goal line, while Green made her run into the box to slam it in. Unfortunately, Everton would equalize again in stoppage time to end the game with a draw. It's rare to see this Spurs team so distracted in defense.

Arsenal 3 - 0 Tottenham

Actually, despite this being the most recent match I have the least to say about it. The consequences of Spurs Women's recent fixture pileup were clear to see, with the players looking fatigued far too early and unable to take much advantage of the limited counter-attacking opportunities. It's also telling that, after the halftime substitution that brought on Summanen in place of Simon, youngster Isabella Lane was the first player to get the nod. I think Rehanne already had her eye on the final matchday against Leicester, even though we had held Arsenal to just one early goal and weren't yet out of the game. But you can't blame her; if we secure the win on Sunday, we'll finish the season in 5th, Spurs' best-ever finish in the WSL. Getting a result against this Arsenal team, which has pushed the title race to the final matchday, was always going to be a big ask for our injury-depleted and objectively weaker squad. Williams made valiant attempts to get something going on offense, while Zadorsky and Neville made some crucial blocks and tackles to keep the scoreline from getting too ugly. Spurs had a chance to at least grab a consolation goal in the dying moments of stoppage time when Addison won and took a penalty kick, but her shot hit the post and went wide. It was just that kind of night.

Spurs Women's season comes to a close on Sunday

Before we shift attention to the Men's team, who actually play first this weekend on Saturday, let's wrap up the Women's team talk with a preview of the final matchday, at home against Leicester. Just as we opened the season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we end it at the main stadium as well.

Leicester have successfully avoided relegation and are six points below 10th place Everton, so they don't have anything to play for in this last game. They picked up less than half of Tottenham's points total for the season, largely due to their leaky defense. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Esther Morgan has gotten much playing time on her loan to Leicester. We probably could have used her for some of those games when the squad was stretched super thin.

In our previous matchups this season, we beat them 0-2 away in the league but lost 1-3 at home in the FA Cup. I think we can count on a larger home crowd to give the team a boost this time. Plus, some of the fringe players have got to be wondering if they are in Rehanne's plans for next season and will be looking to impress the gaffer one last time.

There's some interesting symmetry to our league table stats going into the final game, but let's hope that we end the season with one more win than losses and with a positive goal difference. There's no better illustration of the balance between our stingy defense and our finishing woes than the fact that it's coming down to the final game, and we could still end up with a negative goal difference despite our strong season overall if we don't secure the win.

Son vs Salah

Okay, it's a little more complicated than that... but not much. They've both been the most prolific goal-scorers for their teams, and they're the top two candidates in the Golden Boot race. If one has a strong game and the other is kept quiet, that could very well be the difference between the two sides.

I'm not going to lie--the thought of watching this match is filling me with nausea. As if it wasn't enough to mentally handle two NLDs in the space of eight days, the universe just had to throw a dreaded Liverpool matchup in the mix for good measure. If we want to get the top 4 race back in our hands, we have to get a win at Anfield. No easy task. It's hard not to look back on the Brighton and Brentford matches and feel frustrated that we put ourselves in this situation, when we could have instead been sitting comfortably in 4th going into the midweek NLD.

That doesn't mean top 4 is impossible without a result at Liverpool, it will just be out of our hands and reliant on slip-ups from Arsenal. Not ideal.

Contrary to the scenario for the Women's team, the Men are facing an opponent with everything still to play for--quite literally, since they're title challengers for the PL, FA Cup, and Champions League, after having already won the League Cup. There is no way that Liverpool will field an "easy" team for the sake of other competitions, because the PL title is too important to them. And even if they did, some of their squad players are just as formidable as the starters.

However, Liverpool needing to go all out to get a win and stay in the title race can work in our favor. We do better against teams who play openly and leave space for the likes of Son to run in behind. And the last time we played them, we didn't have our secret weapon--Kulusevski. In fact, in the reverse fixture, which we drew 2-2, we started a midfield three of Dele-Winks-Ndombele. Enough said. We have definitely strengthened since then, despite losing our best wingback to injury. We also have Romero back in the fold to give Liverpool's front-three some trouble.

Let's hope that our typical bad luck when it comes to playing at Anfield has run its course. If we could do the double on Manchester City this season, why not take four points total off Liverpool?

Have your say

Spurs Women Blog is running a fun fan survey ahead of Spurs Women's last match. Cast your mind back across the season and put in your votes:

Speaking of the end of the season, it's almost time for the season recap post here on ye olde Spurs Across the Pond. I will of course be putting forth my own awards for Player of the Season for both teams, so send in your nominees now. Feel free to share any questions you have for the newsletter, too, whether that's questions about the past season or the one to come.

COYS