How much more can Tottenham Hotspur fans take? Nine defeats in 18 Premier League games paints a pretty glum picture. For a club of Tottenham’s stature, that’s downright embarrassing. Spurs now sit eleventh in the table, and Brentford could push them to twelfth if they win their next match.
The game against Nottingham Forest was Tottenham’s fourth in just two weeks and with injuries piling up, it’s no surprise the team looked exhausted in the 1-0 defeat.
Spurs started the match with some promise, looking lively through Dejan Kulusevski and Heung-Min Son, but the moment Forest struck, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion.
In the 28th minute, Tottenham lost possession right on the edge of the Forest box, and Morgan Gibbs-White was off like a shot. He glided forward, delivering a beautifully weighted pass into the path of Anthony Elanga, who finished coolly past Fraser Forster. Elanga’s third goal in three Premier League games.
And just like that, it was 1-0 to Forest, and Tottenham were chasing shadows. Son had a free-kick that almost went in, but it was a rare highlight in a first half full of errors. The xG was slightly in Spurs’ favour (1.28 vs 1.21), but that doesn’t mean anything when you don’t know how to score or defend.
70% possession? Check. More shots on target than Forest? Check. More passes completed? Check. What did Spurs get for all that? Absolutely nothing. Ange’s side made 620 passes compared to Forest’s 261 and even edged the accuracy battle (88% vs 73%), but as the saying goes, stats don’t win matches.
Forest didn’t even need to try hard—sit back, let Spurs play their predictably slow passes, and wait for them to mess up. They did just that. Spurs looked like they were constantly knocking at the door, but when they finally got close, Matz Sels refused to answer. The Forest keeper played for his life, stopping anything that came his way.
As if things weren’t bad enough, Djed Spence picked up a second yellow card during the final stages of the game. This means he will miss the next match against Wolves. Talk about a fitting end to a miserable afternoon.
Sure, scoring goals isn’t a problem for a team that leads the table in the most goals scored, but when it mattered the most, Spurs’ attack slept.
Tottenham are making a habit of these embarrassing performances. With nine losses in 18 games, it’s hard to even talk about top-four hopes—Spurs are much closer to the relegation zone than they are to the 4th position if you haven’t noticed. They’ve got Wolves next, and honestly, I’m just more curious to see who Ange throws in at centre-back. Let’s just hope it’s someone who knows how to actually defend.
But hey, who knows? With the way things are going, maybe Ange will deploy himself at the back. After all, it’s “who we are, mate.”
As for Spurs fans, it might be time to take a long break from looking at the league table—it’s not worth the heartbreak.
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