I’m still basking in the afterglow of Thursday night’s wholesome and wholehearted performance. Such warmth and serenity has been in short supply this season. It feels like meeting an old friend you haven’t seen for many years and discovering that you still get on.
We needed that. A semi-final holds the tantalising prospect of a trophy, sure, but what we craved, and what will last, is the manner in which victory was achieved. Under pressure, Spurs didn’t fold. They raised their game, showing teamwork, intelligence and commitment that sadly has been a rare sight for much of this campaign.
Frankfurt, a classy team playing at home in front of their fans baying incessant support, but we took the game to them. We became the disruptors, partly through our threat on the break but mainly through our combative attitude. We wound them up, basically, epitomised by the slight figure of Brennan Johnson, who without having a great game was in opponents’ faces, skirmishing down on the touchline. Not much going on, so let’s get a little agitated. Others rushed to join in. Teamwork. Unsettle them. Exploit their visible tension.
Second half, backs to the wall, brought out the finest qualities in our defence. VDV had already saved us early on. Not mere pace – he timed that challenge to perfection even though he was hurtling along. Romero shone in adversity. The cold, blank stare of this ruthless defender returned. I love to see this. Tackles, niggles, shoves, any and every part of the body in the way of his opponent, it was classic penalty box at-all-costs defending.
Udogie better now his fitness is returning – we underestimate how much recovery takes out of a player. Bergvall the star, the maturity and intelligence of his positioning, tracking attackers. Hard to believe he’s just 19. We have a real player on our hands. Solanke tireless and uncomplaining up front, lacked support but never gave up. Plus handy that their two best chances fell to a right-back
So our best back four were able to play together and we’re better. Of course, but what really impressed was our shape. Minimal space between the back four with the midfield cutting out space in front of them and Bergvall and Bentacur dropping back to cover and mark. Turns out Ange’s all-out attackers can defend like demons after all.
I freely confess I was not expecting this. Little in recent matches provided any clue that the side was capable of such a transformation. In the post-match interviews, Vicario shared that the team were determined to show this side of their character, for the fans and manager. Usual stuff – what’s Italian for blah blah blah? A keeper I like a lot, and who has been unfairly criticised in the past, he’s been so shaky of late, nerves radiating out from the goalmouth in Hugo-esque fashion to weaken the resolve of the entire team. But like the rest of them, he found something extra. Never mind the late save with his feet, more about coming right out of his goal to catch a deep cross. In charge of his box again.
If we look back, this is not totally out of character for Spurs teams. We rightly revere our proud history of cup success, which usually came alongside the inability to challenge consistently for the league over a 42 game season, although admittedly when winning stuff we didn’t fall as far as we have right now. In 1984, for instance, we won the UEFA Cup but finished 8th, in 72, 6th and won the Cup in 81, 10th. The difference between then and now is that those teams were full of big characters and experienced players who led by example and whose ferocious will to win was evident in these big games. I would not say this applied to the current team. In fact, on the field leadership appears, from the stands at least, to be largely absent, but full credit to all of them to find something deep down to rise to the challenge and be the best they can be.
These defensive hold-outs have a lasting positive effective on team morale, more so in my view than a series of thumping victories, because qualities like determination, organisation and togetherness are abundantly obvious. Perhaps the players needed convincing that that could play like this, and proved it to themselves. Whatever, the scenes of jubilation in the stands and on the pitch as the players and manager piled in on each other were heartwarming and genuine. It’s been too long. Ange even smiled. Players, fans and manager, we all needed that.
TOTTENHAM ON MY MIND 
Great summary Alan. Been floating on air since Thursday. A memorable display, a statement win on the road in Europe was long overdue. The green strip, shades of Ajax.
Once again we can dare to dream. The toxicity amongst the fan base this season has been really wearing. Hoping this result will heal some of the wounds. I still believe in Ange; seeing him so rattled in recent weeks has saddened me.
Hoping and praying that we make the final. COYS.
HARVEY THE HUDD.
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Well said, seeing a good man being rattled has disheartened me. Sir Alex didn’t win anything till his 4th season, I believe. Burkinshaw took us down his first season. COYMFS!
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Completely invalid comparisons in completely different eras.
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I do believe that, because of Ange’s success in the first part of his tenure, we as fans, have accepted that THAT is our regular standard.
Anything less than that is considered “failure”. If we accept tha perfection is not a God given right, then perhaps we should cut Ange some slack.
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A good, ugly win and the gift of the best/worst opponent to face in the semi. Sunshine on a rainy day.
Putting my neck on the chopping block I think we’ll make the final. Which is what the bookies said from the start, but our rickety performances have obscured those odds.
I still believe that this squad has far more potential than it’s shown this season. With a better manager and a couple of tweaks we may be able to join the dots and attain some consistency.
A cup and Ange moved on would be a truly great end. He leaves with a degree of dignity intact and some reputational repair to secure a new position; we get a fresh start, with the Champions’ League a good recruitment card for a new manager and a couple of players. Win win.
Still, one match at a time.
COYS!
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Ugh, some big remnants of that fan toxicity here in this comment, unfortunately.
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Toxicity? In no way. Did you read what was written? Ange will be gone by the end of the season. It’s common knowledge. Whatever your perspective on his competence as a manager, I explicitly voiced my hope in that comment that he fares well beyond Spurs and imagined how a Europa title might facilitate that. I completely disagree with getting at players or managers at games and never have done in 50+ years of following Tottenham. It’s counter-productive, fails to recognise they’re just people, and not how I choose to support my club. It’s completely legitimate, however, to moan about stuff online in a relatively respectful fashion. Piety is never a good look.
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Ugh! What a back-handed comment, whomever you are!
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Ugh! What a sanctimonious comment, whomever you are! The comment was open and clear, simply expressing an opinion about the capability of our manager.
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Perfectly put as usual.
I think Romero could be a critical element in these last hopefully three matches. A World Cup winner should be providing tournament experience and leadership, quite apart from his grit and skill as a key member of what makes our strongest XI so much more effective.
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Great Post as usual Alan. It was a spectacle to behold. It was a grown up performance.
coys.
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Where has this team been for the past five months? In the treatment room is the easy answer but finally we dug in instead of giving up. Confidence and guts replacing unforced mistakes and nerves. What a relief not having to bitch and moan about another inexplicable collapse and lost opportunity. A word of warning: Bodo are not a pushover, especially on their pitch of plastic. They bossed their quarter final at home and are an avatar of the national team. Entirely competent at the basics. Not very adventurous but they’ll work you to death. Visiting them will be a bit like going to play a better Bournemouth. If we put on our Frankfurt face we could make the final. If not……..
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And there was me thinking I could let go. Barstewards.
Mal.
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Nott’m Forest
Oh dear, yet again the frailties of playing a high-line are ruthlessly exposed.
Some of our stats:
70% possession.
22 shots (16 inside box).
43 touches in penalty area.
465 accurate passes (145 in final third).
Not bad so why only one goal to show for all that effort?
Well, we also managed to make 52 crosses yesterday but research on the Premier League site shows that cross accuracy is only an average of 21% under Postecoglou.
Yesterday Pedro whipped in two quick crosses the first of which Richey almost scored from and was rewarded with a goal from the second.
This I believe is where part of our many issues lie, in that, we are not efficient in our crossing (unlike yesterday). Mostly we waste too much time (and energy) swapping passes on the touchline just to arrive in the region of the corner flag before attempting a cross. Couple that with the predictability of our approach to the final third and it’s not difficult to understand why teams are happy to defend against us.
Hibberni.
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yep, it hasn’t been great lately. But I’m sick of the moaning griping Arsenal fans, who think they’ve always been brilliant.
so let’s remind them- https://allbluedaze.com/2018/07/23/arsenals-dark-day-in-the-black-country-in-the-greatest-fa-cup-shock-of-all-time/
the day the ‘best team in the league at the time’ got a hammering from a third division club. Humbling
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The Ange debate is going to rumble on for a while yet, whether we go on to win the Europa (yes please) or not.
Personally, I’d like to see him given another season — we’re way too quick to pull the trigger on managers (Nuno Espírito Santo, anyone?) and we never seem to give them the time to properly put their ideas in place.
That said, I get why some want him gone. It just bugs me when it gets aggressive or personal.
To be fair though, the comments on here from people who aren’t exactly Ange’s biggest fans have been really decent — and that’s how it should be. Everyone should feel free to have their say.
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The civility of the community on this blog has everything to do with the blog meister.
👍
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L’pool Midfield 5 THFC Midfield 0
Question Time.
Many comments ago I said the Imposter was destroying our squad with his school-boy tactics.
Does nobody realise how these crushing defeats affects our players & the club?
Has any member of our so-called coaching team analysed why Vicario does what he does when he has the ball at his feet?
Is it right that somebody who is paid millions of pounds spends two years simply switching players in and out of a style of play (system) that never changes?
Let me put it another way; given the ability to ‘work from home’ I can do that here in SW France…
Does nobody realise that if we fail in the UEFA League we will be faced with a number of our top players looking to depart and powerless to replace them?
Hibberni.
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Bodo/Glimt will be no pushover, although they will be missing a few key players for first leg due to suspension or injury, but they have beaten some decent teams, especially at home which is like a fortress so far, apart from one defeat Vs Qarabag, but i think that was during Bodo off season. We will need to hurt them in our back yard by getting a good score to take to Norway and I feel we should be ok.
However if you look at the fixtures dates for the final, should we progress, it’s Weds 21 May, we play Villa away at 2:15 Sun 18 May, giving us potentially only 3 days to recover and prepare for a final in Bilbao Spain. Man United play on the Fri 16 May, giving them 2 extra days to prepare and Bilbao have been granted change of their fixture beforehand too, maybe changed back a day or two to give them more time at their own stadium. Spurs have contacted the EPL about rescheduling the Villa game, but we know the EPL are not great when it comes to these situations, even if it is an all English fixture, which begs the question. When they made the fixtures at the start of the year surely with Man U and Spurs being only two in the Europa, that they would have both their fixture on same day, with plenty of time for both teams to prepare etc since both were the favourites. As it stands Villa have written to EPL asking them to NOT change the date, as they want more time to prepare from the previous wkend game away to Bournemouth plus say they have family day planned afterwards since it’s their last home game of season. The first point is moot as Spurs will play a weakened side if they have a final a few days later.
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Also another question ..
should we make the final in Spain, would fans rather we play Man U, a team we have beaten 3 times already, 2 under Amorim at home, but would know our setup better and be more prepared as some of their players have played in a few finals past couple seasons, OR play against Bilbao who would be at home and would have great atmosphere in the stadium but would not be used to us by any standard….???
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United definitely….without counting our chickens, or cockerels. We know we can beat them consistently, Bilbao are the better side and would have home advantage. United will know how to set up and have a point to prove against us, but they’re still the better option.
If we get to the final, win or lose I’d like to see us take it to them. The biggest disappointment about our loss in the Champs’ League final was how little we made a game of it, given our incredible progress from the semis, partly due to Kane’s genius being muted by not being match fit. Hopefully the team’s in fairly good physical shape now, although Bergvall’s a real loss. I still think our first XI is better than theirs. Just depends, as ever, which Tottenham turns up on the night.
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Bodo/Glimt
Looking at Bodo’s passing stats they appear to suffer from the same affliction as us, in that, they pass a lot (520 last night) but don’t always get anywhere; Vicario did not make a single save for example.
Our play was more direct (than usual) and you don’t need me to point out what the benefits of that approach were.
Maybe the Imposter has finally got his thinking cap on?
Hibberni.
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W’Ham Utd.
Yet another tactical fiasco.
We have so much trouble progressing the ball out of our defensive third it’s not helped by Vicario dithering about which makes it so easy for the opposition to press.
On the subject of pressing, Odobert was late to press on numerous occasions which allowed W’Ham to pass out along the touchline which, then draws Gray out of position trying to close down the W’Ham winger which in turn draws Danso out of position if Gray fails to stop said winger. Ah, I hear you say what about our holding mid-fielders? Holding, that’s a laugh. Well, both of them spent most of the match on the opposite side of the pitch (see their heat maps on WhoScored)!
I lost count of the number of fouls by Kilman on Richey as did Mickey No-See; not even a yellow card.
Hibberni.
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Just some comments before tomorrow night.
Firstly Hotspur Way has 1.5 all weather surfaces outside which I’m sure the squad will have been using as part of their preparation.
Secondly the weather in Bodo is damp (high humidity) with chance of rain, temp. probably around 10° inside the stadium so nothing that the players have not encountered before.
Thirdly we have Bergvall & Madison missing for the rest of the season which is not ideal considering that Bissouma & Sarr have not impressed me with their ability to process the ball forward.
Thank God for Bentancur.
Incidentally Lo Selso has scored 9 in 29 for Real Betis this season, yet another player that was denied a decent opportunity & fell through the net.
COYS (and I don’t say that often enough)
Hibberni.
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Anyone else getting that niggly feeling that we may just come up short tomorrow….??? Not sure why but my heart tells me we got this, but my head tells me this Bodo team are excellent at home and will be so confident of getting the result they need. I keep hoping we get the perfect Spurs team playing and not the Fulham or Wolves fiascos and progress.
prove me wrong sweet team, prove me wrong…
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Bodo 2
What a difference getting behind the ball makes…
More importantly the difference it makes is that the two central defenders are not pulled wide and can do their job…
Don’t you just love Pedro..
So pleased that Dom is getting the rewards for all the hard works he has to do.
Thank God for Betancur.
Hibberni.
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C. Palace.
As one would suspect the stats for yesterday make grim reading so I see no point in adding to our woes.
Looking at the individual performances I get the feeling that some of the players are now showing disbelief in ‘Angeball’, or at least the EPL version of it.
Moving forward to the summer transfer windows we have 11 players (mostly youngsters) out on loan
plus Luka Vuskovic to arrive from Westerlo so I think there will have to be a period of ‘player assessment’ especially with a new coach arriving and thoughts of more signings may be premature at this point.
I can understand why Levy was desperate for Paratici’s return.
On va voir.
Hibberni.
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Francesco Farioli.
This name popped up in the blogosphere today.
He’s the 36 yr coach of Ajax.
I Googled his tactics which are similar to the Imposter’s (high line + inverted full-backs) but with one major difference; he prefers to create a numerical advantage in midfield and play through the opposition.
For full details see ‘the-footballanalyst’.
I really like the look of this guy, former assistant to De Zerbi.
HIbberni.
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wednesday night gonna be tough now that Deki, Madders and Bergvall are all out, and now perhaps Sarr, so when we get injuries, it seems to effect us in one area at a time, or like a bus, three come at once. The fact we will have no #10 in the team is gonna resulting us having little creativity going forward, with only Biss and Bentacur fit in the middle, unless Sarr can play, it’s going to be a lot of watching United control the midfield which does not bode well for us. Once again my heart says we can win, but my head tells me this United team are somehow a different team in Europa this term, unbeaten and scoring 31 goals so far, plus the fact this team have won a couple of finals past two seasons when most didn’t give them a chance. I’m hoping our Frankfurt team shows up and not previous prem league dismal showing turns up instead. I suppose not much else or different words can sum up our season but one way or another we are all hoping we don’t repeat this next season…
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An evening when the Gods smiled on us. I can’t think of any other way to describe that performance. Well I can but who am I to poor cold water on the celebrations. A critical result for many reasons but perhaps most importantly the key that hopefully will open some doors for us in the run-up to next season.
Hibberni.
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well done to all the spurs players, staff and coaches. Nobody gave us a chance by Christmas that we would win anything, me included, but Ange delivered. Maybe Ange took Contes words to heart about Spurs unable to compete on all fronts, he said post match that they collectively decided, in January /February that Europa league was the trophy they should focus on to get onto champions league/europe, luckily it paid off as the league form was not gonna pick up if we got knocked out earlier, but then again maybe getting even 8th or 9th would qualify for Europe. Going to be an interesting summer. Some moved out, but hoping the right players move in, especially in holding mf.
but none of that matters right now because…
WE ARE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS*
COYS
*second tier
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