Tottenham Hotspur’s top four hopes took a real dent this weekend with two results going against Ange Postecoglou.
We have to start with Saturday’s defeat at Newcastle United.
Tottenham were second best throughout and just couldn’t deal with Newcastle’s pace in the final third; even Micky van de Ven struggled, something we aren’t used to seeing.
Newcastle romped to a 4-0 victory with Tottenham just lacking the usual intensity of a Postecoglou side.
Few Tottenham fans would argue with Saturday’s scoreline and the push for a top-four finish was dented again on Sunday.
Aston Villa went away to Arsenal and won 2-0, moving three points clear of Tottenham with a stunning display at the Emirates Stadium.
Yes, Tottenham still have a game in hand. Yes, Arsenal losing is a silver lining from a dark weekend for Tottenham, but Spurs now need to step it up with some difficult fixtures to come.
James Maddison apology
Tottenham seemed to have somewhat recovered from the 3-0 thrashing at Fulham but must now bounce back from another away day defeat.
With more performances like the one on Saturday, Tottenham can kiss the top four goodbye.
Words won’t mean much right now but playmaker James Maddison has at least offered up an apology.
Maddison has told The Daily Mail that Tottenham simply ‘weren’t good enough’ and must now ‘look in the mirror’ and accept that fact.
Maddison apologised to the travelling supporters who had to witness such a torrid afternoon up at St James’ Park.
“We weren’t good enough and we have to accept that, look in the mirror and know we weren’t good enough,” said Maddison. “I can only apologise to the fans for the fact that they had to witness that scoreline,” he added.
Tottenham have time to recover
Tottenham still have six games to go.
Results didn’t quite go Tottenham’s way over the weekend but the season isn’t over and there are plenty of points still to play for in the coming weeks.
The fixture list looks tricky but Tottenham have already taken points off Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal this season – why not do it again?
Postecoglou at least has time to come up with some kind of response and improvement with Tottenham now facing a two-week break until facing Arsenal.
Postecoglou has been firm in his approach of not changing his tactical approach but some tweaks to make Tottenham a little stronger defensively, especially down the sides, may be required.
We are sure that Postecoglou will be leaving no stone unturned over the next two weeks as he looks to get Tottenham back on track again.
It was a similar story after the Fulham defeat; Tottenham went into the international break and needed to come up with a reaction.
The win over Luton Town perhaps wasn’t the most convincing victory of the season but it was a win with plenty of attacking intent on display.
Tottenham must repeat that recovery when Arsenal come to town or a positive season will be in danger of ending on a disappointing note.
Receive a digest of our best Spurs content each week direct to your mailbox
