We’ve seen so much of the Tottenham Hotspur doc over the years that it’s confusing to see that error-riddled boot on the other foot.
Dr Hoffenheim may sound like a second-tier Bond villain, but it’s a very welcome appointment for Spurs Stumbling blindly towards utter disaster for the Alliance Yet somehow, inexplicably and often involuntarily, they still pursue glory in other ways at this time.
While the entire game felt a lot like a 90-minute version of two Spider-Man memes, let’s start with Spurs’ real positives.
Most obviously, this victory puts a top eight spot in the Europa League within their own hands. Beating Elfsborg on the final matchday – Elfsborg have lost all three of their away games so far – Spurs were there too.
Obviously, that would be huge. Firstly, no team in the world currently needs two extra games more than injury-plagued Spurs.
But there’s also the question of when these two games will be played. Spurs already face Liverpool in the Carabao Cup and Aston Villa in the FA Cup in four days that could decide the outcome of the season. Two legs of the Europa League play-offs will take place over the next 10 days, with the sides facing off against Manchester United in the league, six points clear of relegation.
There’s no doubt that Tottenham don’t need two weeks to eliminate the very real prospect – or even possibility – of ending every positive thing about the season, leaving only a relegation battle.
They should- should – At least avoid this now.
There were other positive things tonight. Tottenham started the game very well. They opened up the scoring early in a way that we’d like to see more attempts from them.
Pedro Polo’s long pass – not the long pass – was excellent, as was James Maddison’s touch and finish. There is an echo Lucas Bergvall’s goal against Liverpool in Carabao semi-final first leg here.
Boro has a TAA-like long-range defensive splitter in his locker, which would be a great option for a Spurs side who often want to pass teams to the death but only succeed in getting their opponents back. Rally and neutralize them.
The second and third goals will certainly be very familiar to Tottenham fans, whose team has turned conceding goals into an art form for decades.
I have to say that Hoffenheim’s game was terrible. Especially their timing. Spurs’ second goal came just as Hoffenheim looked set to escape the opener, but a pressure-free 10-yard pass from midfield went horribly wrong and Spurs were eliminated away from home. Son Heung-min’s shot was one of the less convincing of his career and he was lucky to see a deflection that left the fallen keeper a slow-motion spectator.
Spurs’ third goal did what Hoffenheim threatened to do throughout the second half, closing the gap and putting familiar pressure on the world’s most collapse-prone team.
Another midfield chaos and another quick Spurs break, this time with a switch shot more like the old Son Heung-min, the guy we all know and love. Perhaps that’s another huge positive for Spurs; and Son’s general performance does There is no sign that his recent shocking decline can be reversedhe ended the night with two goals, and the fact that one of them was done so expertly cannot be ignored.
Other positives have come from the young players, as they have done recently for Spurs. Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall continued to impress in a relentless baptism of fire, while Mickey Moore came off the bench to provide an assist. Part of Tottenham’s poor performance at Everton last week.
Now, alas, the inevitable negatives. There’s a recurring theme in the Premier League: Spurs simply can’t win games unless they have enough space to win them, and even they can’t screw up. They don’t win many Premier League games, but when they do, they do so by a huge margin. Only once have they won by fewer than three goals. That’s two goals.
In the Europa League it’s a slightly different story, with a lot of one-goal wins. But these have also brought unnecessary worries, and two goals down have now been halved late on twice. This isn’t a convincing example of Spurs’ recent ability to see games through.
They kept Mourinho’s bus parked on the edge of their own penalty area for much of the second half. One wonders if this is some kind of fuck-up on Ange’s part, but there’s definitely a middle ground between 11 players behind the ball and 10 players in front of the ball. What we would like to see is Spurs actually putting some of their players in the middle.
They conceded two poor goals, could have conceded more, and needed VAR (too late if correct) to step in to overturn the penalty decision, right after Andrej Kramaric When starting the run-up.
Simply and correctly, this is exactly the kind of thing you’d expect to see in a match between these two teams; Tottenham Hotspur and their non-league German counterparts.
The other obvious big issue for Spurs is that nine players who have put themselves and Tottenham fans in a difficult position, conservatively speaking, will have to do it again in three days.
Antonin Kinsky may return without being eligible to play. But the only possible change is the return of Djed Spence, who didn’t sign up for the competition at the start of the season, back into the starting lineup.
This made perfect sense in September but seemed completely insane in January, and it’s just one of many indicators of how ridiculous the Spurs’ season has become.
