Six wins in six was a step too far for Tottenham Hotspur as the Lilywhites let a 2-0 lead slip against Brighton this evening in the Premier League.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the defeat:
2-0 up at half-time. In complete control of the game. Brighton barely had a kick in the first 45. How on Earth did Tottenham lose the game 3-2? The answer is simple – it was all their own doing. The Postecoglou system asks the back four to have a perfect game. Anything short of that and you concede goals. A bad day at the back and you leak them.
As soon as Brighton’s tails were up from the first goal and Spurs were put under more pressure, the back four completely crumbled. Letting runners in behind without tracking them, allowing strikers to stand unmarked in the box, and completely missing key clearances – the Spurs defensive performance had it all. Hopefully, we can chalk it down to a bad day at the office.
As I said above, defenders have to put in a perfect performance to keep clean sheets in this system. Cristian Romero is fantastic to watch with the play in front of him or the ball at his feet. However, running back to his own goal or defending his box from crosses is a real weakness. Time and time again, he lets his runner break free and grab an unmarked goal. The same thing happened today for the Welbeck goal. That needs to be worked on in training.
Udogie, on the other hand, was arguably at fault for all three Brighton goals. He has a tendency to switch off and be a little casual in defence at times. The swing and a miss clearance for Brighton’s first was just an honest mistake. The defending for the other two goals was weak and lazy. Such a talented player, but still has a lot of room to improve.
A few days ago, we were all laughing at how silly some fans were for overreacting to the results at the start of the season. Well, a lot of fans will do the exact same thing this week. Letting a 2-0 lead slip to a 3-2 defeat is undoubtedly going to have some people calling for Postecoglou’s head. Let’s be honest though, the progress is clear to see on the pitch. Two steps forward and one step back is still progress. Be patient and let him build something, please.
Despite a real mixed bag of results at the start of the season, Spurs are still only four points off the top four. In all honesty, it still feels like a season of growth where expectation should be minimal in the league. I would put more emphasis on the cup competitions and the Europa League in terms of access to actual silverware. All the time Spurs are growing on and off the pitch, the Premier League table feels a little irrelevant. Of course, you would expect them to compete a lot more with the big guns next season, at the latest. For now, don’t get too worked up about it.
A small silver lining – Brennan Johnson opened the scoring for Spurs against Brighton, making it six goals in six games for the Welshman. To put that into perspective, no one has done that for Tottenham since 2019, five years ago. No prizes for guessing who that was – Harry Kane. That is the kind of level Johnson is playing at right now, and he is showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, I have never seen him so confident in a Spurs shirt, and even his build-up play is getting better by the week. Long may it continue!
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