Match Report: Liverpool 4 Spurs 3 (we slide further down the greasy pole)
Mason has been in charge for two games, and both games followed the Conte/ Stellini pattern of conceding in the first half and then fighting back in the second… the first time (under young Ryan), we managed to salvage a point, this time around, we surrendered any chance of getting into the top four.
Our team currently sit in sixth place, level on points with Aston Villa and two points behind Brighton (the Seagulls have two games in hand over us)… and it could get even worse. Brentford are four points behind us (but level on games). So the possibility – if we don’t buck our ideas up – is finally slipping to 9th in the table.
I hope Levy isn’t considering employing novice Mason as the next manager to save money… that would finally be the nail in Levy’s created cardboard coffin.
The game…
When we equalised in the third minute of injury time, we thought we had at least salvaged a point (again)… but Diogo Jota’s injury-time winner gave Liverpool a dramatic victory at Anfield.
The first half saw us going three goals behind inside 15 minutes. We thought it was going to be another Newcastle mortification. Some of our fans even started to leave… as they did against the Newcastle game. They could have at least waited until the final humiliation.
Thoughts…
Richarlison headed his first Premier League goal of the season in stoppage time; we were on the brink of rescuing an unlikely draw – until Jota capitalised on a defensive mix-up seconds later to win the game for Liverpool.
Richarlison sent us visiting fans wild with a header before Jota had the last word. All this helps Liverpool, who moved up to fifth, while we slid further down the greasy pole.
Our season has been typified by slow starts, and we paid the price once more for failing to get to grips with the game in the opening half.
Goals…
Liverpool…
Jones (3’minutes), Díaz (5’minutes), Salah (15’minutes pen), Jota (90’+4minutes)
Spurs…
Kane (40’minutes), Son (77’minutes), Richarlison (90’+3minutes)
Granted, we almost completed a remarkable comeback against Liverpool on Sunday, but it was yet another match in which we conceded several first-half goals and gave ourselves a mountain to climb. That seems to be our story for this season.
Since Pocettino was sacked (who took us to the Champions League Cup final and other finals), we’ve had Mourinho, Mason, Santo, Conte, Stellini and (again) Mason, and none of them could put Levy’s Humpty Dumpty back together again (back to where we were before Levy took over).
Statistics show an apparent gulf between how we start and finish matches. Indeed, only a third of our 63 Premier League goals this season have been scored in the first half, the lowest share of any team in the top flight. In fact, if games ended after 45 minutes, we would be ninth in the league, with 10 wins out of 34 and a goal difference of -9 (21 goals scored compared with 30 conceded).
In contrast, our record in the second period (17 victories and a goal difference of +15 (42 goals for, 27 against)) is bettered only by title-chasing Manchester City and rivals Arsenal.
We have consistently fallen behind in games; why? We appear to be more cautious in the first half as we have taken 205 shots in the opening 45 minutes while allowing 240 efforts on our own goal.
In contrast, we have taken 267 shots in the second 45 minutes, compared with 235 against, and are the only side in the league to have faced fewer shots in the second half than the first. However, none of this helps us at this moment in time. Where do we go from here? Downwards or try to salvage some respect in the last few games left of the season.
The games we have left are against Palace (H), Villa (A), Brentford (H) and Leeds away. All potential banana skins. As I said, it isn’t that impossible to finish in 9th position this season.
Managers who have won honours while at Spurs…
John Cameron FA Cup: 1900–01 1
Peter McWilliam Second Division: 1919–20, FA Cup: 1920–21
FA Charity Shield: 1921 3
Arthur Rowe First Division: 1950–51, Second Division: 1949–50
FA Charity Shield: 1951 3
Bill Nicholson First Division: 1960–61, FA Cup: 1960–61, 1961–62, 1966–67, League Cup: 1970–71, 1972–73, FA Charity Shield: 1961, 1962, 1967 (shared), UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1962–63, UEFA Cup: 1971–72 11
Keith Burkinshaw FA Cup: 1980–81, 1981–82, FA Charity Shield: 1981 (shared), UEFA Cup: 1983–84 4
Terry Venables FA Cup: 1990–91 1
Peter Shreeves FA Charity Shield: 1991 (shared) 1
George Graham League Cup: 1998–99 1
Juande Ramos League Cup: 2007–08 1
All trophies were received before the Daniel Levy era (apart from the League Cup 2008, 15 years ago).
I know… we should be looking to the future rather than the past… but the past offers us more than the Levy future we are currently in. It is beyond doubt that our problems stem from Enic’s takeover… yes, I accept that what Levy/ ENIC have achieved with the ground is magnificent… but our history is not in bricks and mortar… but the team… and the team have been underperforming (in fact have got worse) under Levy’s and Joe Lewis’ hamfisted beady-eyed control.
Next up: Crystal Palace, which are under the revitalised control of Roy Hodgson. That will be fun!
COYS!
Glenn
My name is Glenn Renshaw.
I am currently a Premium Season Ticket holder (West Stand) in the new stadium. Before that – at White Hart Lane – a season ticket holder in various parts of the ground (mainly in the North stand).
Before becoming a season ticket holder, I stood on the shelf and various other parts of the ground since the 1950s. In 1987 I became one of the first to hold a Spurs Membership card. I was also a life long member of the Spurs supporters club (now defunct).
I go to all home, away and abroad matches.
I was born in 1955, Edgware, London (it was in the late 50s – as a baby – that my dad took me to Spurs to initiate me). I currently live in Berkshire.
I also collect all Spurs books (and have everyone printed), Spurs handbooks (from 1920s onwards, Spurs programmes (since the 40s).
Previously, I wrote for Spurs Fanzines: The Spur, Spur of the Moment, My Eyes have seen the Glory and various other Spurs fanzines’. I also wrote for the SpursWeb app & its website.
I currently write and work for spursnetwork.com and its website. I write its Reviews & Match reports and a lot more.
My other interests are; reading, history, social history, Politics, going to the gym, wine, going out for a meal, music (all sorts), writing, theatre, concerts, holidays, socialising etc.
I have been writing blogs/ articles since 1989
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