Monday Musing
Spurs go full Spurs; Thomas Frank's working wonders; Gordon's Goodison nightmare.
By Patric Ridge
You should never go full Spurs. But on Sunday, Tottenham might have gone Spursier than they have ever gone before.
And their 3-2 defeat at Brighton is the leading talking point for this week’s column, as we look back at the Premier League weekend.
FULL SPURS
Ange Postecoglou spent a few minutes out on the pitch at the Amex Stadium at full-time, staring off into space.
He had just seen his team go from 2-0 up at half-time, after a brilliant performance in the opening 45 minutes, to a 3-2 defeat.
Brighton’s second-half display was phenomenal. But as good as the Seagulls were, Spurs were bad.
As the below graphic shows, once Brighton built up momentum after the break, Spurs simply had no answer — the Seagulls’ goals came in the space of 18 minutes. Tottenham lost all control, and even as they attempted to get back into it, only once did they manage to test Bart Verbruggen.
“This was the worst defeat since I’ve signed for Spurs”, Postecoglou told Sky Sports.
“I’m frustrated and absolutely gutted with that. The second half was unacceptable.
“We kind of accepted our fate and it is hard to understand as we've not done that while I've been here.”
Postecoglou has been bullish in front of the media this season. He has backed himself to win a trophy this term, and Spurs are still, technically, in contention in every competition they are in. Yet how can a team that falls apart like this seriously go up against the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal or a Liverpool?
It is early days, but Spurs sit ninth and defensively, it doesn’t seem like Postecoglou has managed to fix the issues from last season.
The Australian won’t change what he does well, and he won’t switch away from his approach. But Sunday’s result, which came on the back of that fantastic win over Old Trafford, is a real knock, and one that Spurs will have to dwell on over the international break.
FANTASTIC FRANK
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