Trust the Process

There were simultaneous matches for the Men's and Women's teams this weekend, with perfectly opposite results.

Both of our Tottenham teams had different opponents this weekend, unlike the Brighton doubleheader last weekend, but there was still a weird symmetry to the results. While the Men lost 0-2 to Wolverhampton at home, the Women earned an 0-2 away win at Birmingham City. I will do a brief recap of each game (with the caveat that I was watching them on two different screens, and therefore not paying proper attention to either match), but first I think it would be useful to look at how these results reflect each team's status in the macro sense.

Pochettino warned us years ago that a "painful rebuild" was needed to get the Men's team back on track. If the board had heeded his warning and begun the process immediately, we'd be having a very different season now, in all likelihood. (This is not going to devolve into an anti-ENIC, anti-Levy screed, I promise.) Instead, the club kicked the can down the road and only made incremental changes to the roster, as well as a couple of missteps in managerial appointments. Fast forward to the business end of the 2021/22 season, and Spurs are knocked out of the third-tier European Conference League competition, only alive in one of the domestic cups, and falling behind pace in the race for top 4. The last transfer window was a promising step forward, in the sense that the club finally acted with some (not complete) ruthlessness in terms of outgoings, and brought in a couple of players that should turn out to be smart signings. Despite his visible disappointment at the level that Spurs are currently playing at, Conte seems committed nevertheless to the challenge ahead. I'm still keeping an optimistic outlook on how this season is going to end up, but there's no denying that the club has made it so much more difficult than it needed to be. Taking a reactive approach in so many previous seasons, rather than proactive, has added needless obstacles to the path.

Contrast that with the Women's team, which has shown more ambition in the last two seasons than I think any of us could have reasonably predicted, considering that we only just gained promotion to the top flight in 2019. First there was the loan signing of Alex Morgan. Sure, she didn't play much and was only with the club for a short time, but it was still a signal of intent to raise the profile of the club and show top players that they could envision themselves at Tottenham Hotspur. Then the team's longtime co-managers were let go, and Rehanne Skinner was brought in, along with her impressive pedigree. And during the past summer transfer window, fully half of the player roster was turned over. The new signings have meshed nicely with the tenured players, together forging a resilient team spirit, and while the season hasn't been without its downs, it's been remarkably full of ups. I don't think a single pundit thought that Spurs Women would be challenging for the third Champions League qualification spot, but here we are. It just goes to show what a little belief and investment (albeit more modest than the kind of investment required for the Men's team) can do for a team in the hands of a smart, inspiring manager.

Of course, there are so many complicating factors between the Men's and Women's top flights that make it somewhat unfair to make comparisons. But I do think it's fair to point out that sometimes, you have to be able to spot the moment when it's time to seize the moment and act decisively. Kudos to the club for doing so when it came to the Women's team, and hopefully they'll continue righting the ship on the Men's side.

Now, recaps!

Ashleigh Neville, take a bow

I'll start with the Women's win over Birmingham since there's another international break ahead, and therefore no weekend match to preview.

Rehanne and Conte were both on the lineup experimentation wavelength this weekend, it would appear, because we kicked off the match with a brand new starting XI in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Schnaderbeck got her first start, shifting Zadorsky out to left-back. Neville (rightly) returned to the starting lineup since she's back to full fitness, and played at right-wing (I think... again, watching two games, so I wasn't 100% on the formation) similar to her last sub appearance against Brighton. This meant that Ale kept her starting spot at right-back, and she put in another great shift. Addison and Summanen were the two to shift to the bench from the previous starting lineup.

This formation wasn't quite working against Birmingham, though, and they dominated most of the first half, except for a few chances for Spurs. Rehanne made two changes at halftime, taking Schnaderbeck and Simon out and bringing in Harrop and Summanen. Harrop's left foot proved helpful playing out wide, as did Sumannen's marauding runs into the box from the midfield. Summanen was unlucky not to get her first Spurs goal! We went on to score two poacher's goals from Neville (her second in two games) and Percival. Neville's came from a corner play that she was able to clean up on, and Percival's came from a Williams header that fell at her feet in the six-yard box to tuck away. Spurs finished out the match with that comfortable 0-2 lead and no real pressure from the home side.

A few stray observations:

• Neville could have easily had a hat trick today, with a shot going just wide, another hitting the crossbar, and a third saved by the keeper, all coming after her goal in the 66th minute. Clearly, her new role playing in a more attacking position is suiting her perfectly. She's been the MVP of this season, by a landslide, and it's great to see her making further strides even at this late stage of the season.

• Whatever they're doing in training to prepare for set pieces is working. We have looked very dangerous on corners and free kicks lately.

• Naz really needs to get a goal soon. I've lost count of how many good-quality chances she's had on the counter in the last few matches. Still, she's been contributing with some great crosses, so we can be patient for now as other players continue to step up in sharing the goal-scoring load.

• Williams is also in a goal drought, but has likewise been making her impact felt in other ways. Earlier in the season she was the one constantly hoovering up wayward balls in the box from her teammates, and now they are simply returning the favor. It's all good.

• Was Percival's goal offside? Possibly, but as they refuse to provide adequate camera angles for replays and there isn't VAR, we'll never know. 💁🏻‍♀️

As I mentioned before, the Women's side is heading into an international break, so we won't have any more domestic football to enjoy from them until March 6. That feels like an eternity, but at least we can enjoy the break with the knowledge that we're sitting in 3rd place in the table right now, free and clear! Reading (our next opponent) does have a match in hand, unlike our other top 3 rivals, but we're five points ahead of them now, so it's effectively moot. And if we get the business done and beat them next matchday they'll be out of the top 3 race period. And see y'all, this is why it's important to keep the faith. A couple of weeks ago we were in a bad run of form and it was looking like top 3 was too big of an ask (and who knows, it may still prove to be), but we picked up those last six points that were there for the taking and are back on track just like that. One of the things I love about this Spurs Women side is that they don't take any result for granted and go for it no matter what. We'll call it the Rehanne effect (Conte isn't Tottenham's only charismatic leader).

Flat as a pancake

Unfortunately, that is how I would describe the majority of the Men's team's performance against Wolves. It honestly felt like later matches at the end of Mourinho and Nuno's eras--not that I want to ever recall those painful games where every player looked listless and out of sync. It has been a tough couple of weeks, with our only win coming in that FA Cup match against Brighton, so I can understand the team being a little low on confidence. But god, I hope they snap out of it soon. It's getting to be crunch time in the top 4 race!

Going down two goals early didn't help matters. It's frustrating that in the last two home matches, we've let our opponents bring the game to us, and not the other way around, especially since that home advantage is going away as we head out on a four-game road trip. I'm sure it also doesn't help that the home fans have been pretty vocal in their disappointment. Perhaps it's not my place to say since I'm an American fan who hasn't yet had the pleasure of attending a match at the Lane, but I do wish the fanbase would show a little patience right now. The sky is not actually falling. We just have a couple of injuries to key players (Dier, Skipp), have to integrate two new players, and are still adjusting to Conte's preferred tactics. There's going to be some growing pains. Maybe don't boo the players when they're already low on confidence? Just my feeling.

I also have a hunch that the match would have ended differently if Hugo had not been having such a weird game. It's so unlike him to make the kind of mistake he did on Jiménez's goal, where he should surely have captured the ball rather than opting to punch it out (twice!). I'm not at all concerned about Hugo, he'll be back to his world-class standard on Saturday in all likeliness, but I do think his lapses were a critical factor in the Wolves match.

Of course, it didn't help that the defense was a shambles again. Romero and Sánchez just don't seem to have the same kind of understanding that Dier and Sánchez always have, and even ever-solid Davies was off his game (tension can be contagious). The midfield was also a defensive disaster waiting to happen. It seemed to me like Bentancur (who got his first PL start, wish it were in better circumstances) and Winks were too often negating each other with their movements, and neither seemed particularly alert to defensive threats. I don't think this is a fault of Bentancur's in general, since we saw him react decisively in his first sub appearance to track back defensively and quickly transition into a progressive pass, but there was a lack of communication/understanding between him and Winks in this match, just like there was in the backline. Again:  new players (Romero almost counts as a new player, considering how long he was out injured and that he barely played under Conte before that injury), new relationships on the pitch. These things can take time. And on paper, Wolves should have been a very winnable match, so why not try to work some of these issues out before we have to play, say, Man City? As we do next week...

One last note on the midfield:  I do think we're missing Skipp pretty badly. We like to think that all of our midfielders can be somewhat interchangeable, able to work in different configurations of a pivot or midfield three, but Skipp is by far the most versatile, in my opinion (judgment is of course somewhat reserved for Bentancur, since I haven't seen enough of him yet). The sooner he gets fit, the better. It's also worth pointing out that this was the first time Højbjerg has not played in a PL match except for when he had COVID, and his presence as the first line of defense in the midfield was also missed.

Having Man City up next is, frankly, not the ideal matchup for a bounce-back. But who knows, stranger things have happened when we play the Manchester Blues... Son does love a goal against them. Perhaps having already beaten them once this season will also act as a confidence booster. After the lackluster performance against Wolves, the main thing we want to see is effort and commitment--and probably a willingness to play on the counter attack, since City are, unfortunately, quite good defensively.

Sorry y'all, but that's all I can muster for the City preview. As they say on Stadio, "you knew what this was," with 'this' being the predictable gauntlet of pain and stress involved in playing Man City. There's not much more to say! I'm also seriously considering waking up at an ungodly hour to watch the Women's figure skating short program live instead of waiting for the replay in prime time, so it's time to end this issue of the newsletter and go to bed. Spurs Across the Pond will be back to regularly scheduled programming when the Olympics are over 😉.

COYS