Match Report: Spurs 1 Wolves 2: has the bubble burst?
Match Report: Spurs 1 Wolves 2: has the bubble burst?
Thoughts…
In my match report, I said I was looking forward to this game as we could see what Ange Postecoglou has hidden away once the main cogs (two injuries and two suspensions) have been tampered with and put out of action. And it wasn’t, sadly, that much.
Maybe it’s too early to say, but if we struggle against Villa and City, then the bubble has burst. It also seems that when the January window opens, we won’t be doing that much purchasing as we’ve already spent a great chunk of our transfer budget, including Kane’s money. If that means we have to limp through the season, the fans could again turn against the Pied Pipper (Levy) for nobbling Postecoglou; putting him in a weak position. Of course, that assumption could be totally wrong, and Levy will find the resources to build on our poor squad (outside the main eleven). At the moment, we don’t have a strong squad to continue our fight for a top-four place.
With Liverpool, City, Arsenic and Old Lace having stronger squads, we might be playing second fiddle to those three better-equipped teams. That is without mentioning Villa, United, Newcastle and Pochettino’s Blue Council renters coming up on the inside.
My next two predictions will be very cautious. At this point in time, I can’t see us overcoming our next two opponents.
The match…
Wolves’ results have been mixed of late, but they have now beaten Manchester City and us and drew with Newcastle United last month. On the other hand, we have come from a fantastic run against lower opponents, apart from Arsenic and Old Lace, who we drew against and a Liverpool side, who we only managed to beat because they were reduced to nine men. Then, a disastrous game against Pochettino’s Blue Boys culminated in our defeat, followed – a few days later – by embarrassment against Wolves on their ground.
Wolves lacked potency in the final third on Saturday, but introducing 86th-minute substitute Sarabia changed their fortunes with his expert eye in front of goal. The rest is Saturday’s history.
As for us…
A collection of enforced changes presented issues for Ange Postecoglou, whose makeshift side failed to cope with the relentless Wolves pressure. Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie began suspensions after receiving red cards on Monday. At the same time, Micky van de Ven and James Maddison have picked up injuries, but because of our weak squad, we didn’t have the tools that more powerful teams have.
Eric Dier, making his first start of the season, had to contest a continual onslaught of Wolves attacks with Ben Davies, who returned after an ankle injury, and they could not maintain their defensive strength for the whole game.
Ange’s comments after the game were, “The second half was a bit better, but there are a lot of players having their first start, and we were never going to get the same fluency.” Really! Not with the squad he partly inherited, he won’t… which doesn’t look that bright anytime before January.
We couldn’t get the most out of getting an early advantage, with our lack of potency in the final third leading to just one more shot on target.
Defeat was only the eighth time a Premier League side lost after leading in the 90th minute.
Postecoglou added, “It is disappointing that the goals are going in so late. We worked hard up until that point.” There was no real mention of his make-shift defence other than they had less than a week to train together. Really!!! What about before Pochettino’s challenge? Didn’t they think of possibilities of disruption and that they better think of a makeshift back four?
On top of all that, Wolves Hwang and Kalajdzic’s misses were glaring errors.
I might be a bit harsh, and when we come back after the international break, we might see a better – stronger – more united back four that we saw against Wolves… and pigs might fly… but as I keep saying, Arsenic and Old Lace do… and if they can… strange possibilities are open for everybody else.
Ending on a good note…
We are only two points behind City, and one point behind the Scousers and the Gooners.
Man City —9-1-2 — 32-12 — +20 —28
Liverpool — 8-3-1 — 27-10 — +17 — 27
Arsenal — 8-3-1 — 26-10 — +16 — 27
Tottenham — 8-2-2 — 24-15 — +9 — 26
Our next games against Villa, City, the Spammers, and Newcastle might put a stop to our ambitions for this season… then again, there is the FA Cup… Nine changes, anybody?
Up the Spurs!
Glenn