Okay, here’s the deal. We all know that was not a good performance against Manchester City. The 3-0 scoreline was honestly too kind. So I’m not going to go into too much detail about the match—I couldn’t tell you what happened in the last ten minutes anyway, because I got too frustrated and went into the kitchen to have a bagel for lunch and only listened from that point. It would also just be too depressing for my personal fandom to linger on another disappointing loss, and we’ve still got a long season ahead of us. Gotta stay fresh and as positive as possible. Somehow.
The only actual positive I can really pick out from the game (besides the fact that we only conceded three goals when City were definitely good for several more) is that… Kane took a decent free kick? I guess? Apparently Gareth Bale also had a bright moment after I had already mentally tuned out, so that’s promising for him, at least. But there isn’t too much else to be happy about. Our passing was woeful, Son, Lucas and Lamela had horrible games so the majority of our attack was ineffectual, and Højbjerg had another stinker—and it seriously pains me to write those words about a man who is normally our most consistent player. I can’t even bring myself to talk about whatever the hell was happening with Lloris. Absolutely shocking performances from him two games in a row now.
I do think it’s important to note a couple of mitigating factors that aren’t excuses, but did contribute to the poor performance. Kane is basically the only player in the squad with that perfect balance of freshness and sharpness from his recent minutes; some players were overly fatigued from playing the extended FA Cup match against Everton (Son, Sánchez, Højbjerg, and Davies, just to name a few), while others haven’t been playing enough in past matches to be truly in form (Dele, Tanganga, Bale). You also have to consider the mental fatigue from having such a hard-fought match the previous fixture. I can imagine it would be difficult to bounce back from that, especially when you already have to play a perfect game to have a hope of beating City. I had already expected us to lose this game, so it softened the blow a little bit. But just a little.
Because we simply can’t afford to drop too many more points in the league if we want to secure top 4 (without having to win the Europa League that is—which I am of course still hoping can happen). I don’t want to dwell on this result for too long, since it didn’t really show us anything new about the club’s current issues (besides confirming that Lloris is going through a rough spell), but those issues still need to be addressed sooner rather than later. And it’s tough to lose in such a decisive manner to the opponent we’ll be facing in the League Cup Final in a couple of months. Sure, anything could happen between now and then, but not necessarily in our favor.
Four days to prepare for Europe
The lads will be getting some much-needed rest before the Thursday fixture against Wolfsberger AC. Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the match has been moved from Austria to the Puskás arena in Budapest, not that it really matters too awful match without fans attending anyway.
This is part where I admit that I know absolutely nothing about this team, and we move along.
As for how Spurs are going to set up, I think we have to give Vinícius the start over Kane, if only for squad rotation’s sake. Because again, we cannot keep dropping points in the PL. West Ham is just a few days later on Sunday, and we’ll definitely need Kane starting then. I honestly pity José at this point for having to make a decision about the center back pairing—it doesn’t seem like any configuration is working at the moment. I guess he could just flip a coin and pray that fate provides us with an error-free match for once? 🤷🏻♀️ And until Reguilón and Aurier are cleared from their injuries, we’re just going to have to hope that Davies and Doherty can survive until then, or at least try alternating Tanganga on the wingback positions from game to game to give them a break. Davies especially is looking worn into the ground in the past couple of matches. And—god help us—does Joe Hart start in goal? I’m seriously asking. It feels like Hugo needs a game off to clear his head, but we know how risky it is to play Hart against these European teams that are more likely to be taking shots from distance, his weak point. Again, poor José (but also not poor José, because he’s partially responsible for this mess).
In other news
Me every time I hear about Oliver Skipp having another Man of the Match performance for Norwich:
This is a crime against humanity, but if I had to see it, y’all have to see it too:
If you’re also suffering from the polar vortex in your neck of the woods, I wish you warmth and plenty of hot cocoa. Stay safe!
COYS