2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Chris McKenna)
Ange Postecoglou says it is easy to stick the boot in on Tottenham. Well it certainly is when his players can't even put a foot in. Spurs went to Anfield with a 1-0 lead in their Carabao Cup semi-final and failed to even register a shot on target as they got thrashed 4-0.
What is almost as bad as that is the fact they didn’t even leave with a yellow card. Now this is not a column abdicating dangerous tackles that are worthy of bookings or red cards which could injure rivals. But isn’t it saying something about the fight of a side when they’re putting in a toothless display and getting turned over that they fail to even stick a foot in? Spurs didn’t get close to Liverpool on Thursday night to do so in truth.
It was, quite frankly, a pathetic display. Now this column has been a critic of Postecoglou. He is very lucky to be in a job and seems to be clinging on because he did really well in his first 10 games last season as manager.
The Aussie boss should probably be aware that his P45 is in the post, unless something dramatically changes in the coming weeks. But Thursday night’s performance was down to the players and they need to take a long hard look at themselves. Son Heung-Min is the captain of an injury-ravaged side.
He’s a player of huge ability and he did hit the bar late on. But he failed to offer any inspiration as Liverpool pulled away in the second half. He didn’t lead in his performance or his attitude.
Their midfield was pitiful. Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma all failed in whatever job they were tasked with. They couldn’t stop Liverpool attacks, they couldn’t help build Spurs forward moves.
They may as well have stayed in north London. Richarlison looked like one of the few up for a fight but his calf went in the first half. What is Postecoglou doing on the training pitch to help cause all these injuries or is it really just bad luck? Tottenham had just eight touches in the opposition box compared to 55 for Liverpool, who scored four.
Spurs had 41 successful passes in the final third. Liverpool? 147. The injuries are a valid excuse for their form but they’ve won just six games in all competitions since they got giddy about thumping Manchester City 4-0 back in November.
Postecoglou is on borrowed time but whenever the axe falls, he can look to nights like Thursday and feel his players let him down. Whether he will say that in public or not. Now they travel to Aston Villa on Sunday night for an FA Cup fourth round clash.
One of the two competitions they can win this season along with the Europa League. Postecoglou promised he always wins a trophy in his second season. If he has to rely on the players who featured on Thursday at Anfield then he may be left with egg on his face.
******************************************************** Why is there not more of a deal made of Joao Felix being loaned out by Chelsea just six months into a seven-year contract? The Blues seemed to shuffle the forward out the door on deadline day to AC Milan. But it was just back in August when they were forking out over £40m on the Portugal international. Chelsea are spending absolute fortunes and they’re not even competing for the top prizes.
They seemingly can afford to spend huge sums in the summer and then deem some of the spending not worthy to keep around for the second half of the season. It’s bad squad building and management. The players that are failing there will see their values tank.
But how do Blues fans build any affinity with the players when it is a revolving door policy? Virgil van Dijk. Performance against Tottenham was vintage. A fine wine getting better with age.
Cracking down on celebrations because of what Myles Lewis-Skelly did last week? Phone the fun police. Stop trying to take the joy from football..
