Preview:
Nuno got the better of us in the away fixture, we really need a home win and reach that 40 points.
Fixture:
Monday 21st April, 20:00
Tottenham Hotspur Vs Nottingham Forest
Premier League
Available On:
UK TV – Sky Sports Main Event
UK TV – Sky Sports Premier League
Optus Sport
Hub Premier 1
Result: 1-2 (Forest Win)
E. Anderson (5′)
C. Wood (16′)
Richarlison (87′)
Match Report:
There’s not alot more we can say about these results that’s not already been said a thousand times over these last two seasons. Players looking disinterested, tactics baffling and just the one question remaining, when will it be over?
The only players that looked like they wanted to try to impress against Forest were probably Tel and Odobert, but even those players’ end product was lacking any real quality. Don’t be fooled by the narrow score margin and the match stats, it really doesn’t matter how many shots or how much possession you have if you concede 2 or 3 goals in the first 15 minutes.
For Forest the job was already done after 15 minutes and it took them just 4 shots in the entire game. With a simple long ball or an unchallenged cross from wide, our defence was easily exposed as it has been all season under Ange. Vicario had yet another night to forget but to be fair the defence have to take equal responsibility. Nobody closed down Anderson allowing him to strike through an entire box of players. With the second goal Wood was able to head into an open goal unchallenged, we’re talking about school boy stuff here, it’s shocking yet unsurprising.
Richarlison had half a dozen chances before finally heading one in, another shot was cleared off the line with a great piece of defending but had we got anything from this game it would have been flattering. There’s no question some of these players were holding back and not for the first time, have they lost faith in Angeball or are they just saving themselves?
Post match Ange’s response to our 18th defeat of the season had the usual delusional claims saying we “played well” and “deserved to win.”
Somebody hold me back!!!!
Of course we all have one eye on that semi final in Europe, but if we play like that there’s no chance of us reaching Bilbao. Even if we do get past Norwegian side Bodø, there’s no guarantee we will cope against the likes of Athletic Bilbao or even Utd in the final. We have made it this far in the cup mostly on luck, if we are going to lift that trophy the truth is we are going to need a bit more luck yet.
The question I am seeing daily at the moment is whether Ange can even be sacked if we win our first European trophy since 1984. The answer is simple, it’s a 100% YES!! It would be criminal not to sack him after our worst Premier league season in 30 years. Even with the return of our so called top players the standards have remained the same leaving many of us to question why we are not seeing more of Archie Gray and Mikey Moore who have more of a future at this club than the likes of Bissouma or Tel.
When Pep Guardioila joined the English Premier league in 2016/17 season he admitted he got a bit of a shock and conceded he must adapt his ways to be truly effective in the Premier league and challenge for a title. They finished third that season (just behind Spurs at their Prime:). In Peps second season he won the League and League cup, the rest is history. That was a manager who accepted he needed to adapt, a manager who wasn’t afraid to make changes and was not too stubborn to admit he needed a Plan B!
Congratulations to Nuno and Forest, I hope they qualify for the Champions league and have a great campaign. As for Spurs, Time for Change.
Entertainment Value: 6 / 10
Not a great match to watch, even when we pulled it back to 2-1, I had lost interest in the game by then and I think so had half of the team.
Standout Players:
Every player was crap but well done Richi, nice header, you got there in the end!