Commentary team were far too concerned with Villa and ignoring the fact Tottenham earned that by every conceivable metric. Work rate, attitude and game plan all executed perfectly. They did not let Villa breathe. There are zero gimmes in the Premier League.
"Go on, all the way" - ex-Arsenal striker Alan Smith openly rooting for West Ham at the end of a game in which he mercilessly criticised Brennan Johnson.
Sky Sports should maybe try to be a little less conspicuous in their anti-Spurs agenda.
https://t.co/SEQ035FTju
ARSENAL GET AWAY WITH MURDERS!!! 🤯🤯
Gabriel head butts Haaland. It couldn’t be any clearer. Romero is shunned from England Football forever if he does something like that.
@FA_PGMOL WHAT ON EARTH 🤡 https://t.co/86XTkxZymn
Tottenham Hotspur are going down unless they show some fight. Spurs fans played their part backing the team, giving the squad that powerful greet before the Forest game. A few players like Archie Gray play their part, fighting for the cause, a 20-year-old showing more commitment than some senior players. It’s not about ability or reputation now, it’s concentration and commitment. It's about fight.
Forest showed it. Morgan Gibbs-White, a player Spurs were desperate to bring in for his character as well as playing calibre, highlighted what Spurs miss. “They have got that incredible talent but we showed that fight, hunger and desire more than them,” Gibbs-White told Match of the Day.
That fight, hunger and desire to stay with a runner, to block a cross, to compete for a cross, for a ball, for a loose ball, to rage against the dying of the Premier League light. Djed Spence, Mathys Tel and Kevin Danso switched off for the Forest goals.
Others culpable, too. Blame also lies with the recruitment for bringing in some individuals who have the flair but not the fight. It’s not new, it even pre-dates Antonio Conte’s lambasting of players and the club culture. It’s a lack of leadership. It’s an issue of mismanagement from on high, as much as poor management from the dugout.
Igor Tudor is out of his depth, clearly, but he’s only part of the problem. The whole club needs a reset. A proper, independent all-areas review of the club should come in the summer. For now, it's about players waking up from this sleepwalk towards the Championship.
It’ll be one of the biggest stories in the 34 years of the Premier League if Tottenham go down with their history, stadium, fanbase. Spurs were one of the “big five” clubs whose chairmen drove the original breakaway from the Football League in 1992.
Damaging financially, £150m minimum. Damaging for recruitment – of players and coaches. Would Mauricio Pochettino return if Spurs were in the Championship, a world away from the Premier League, let alone Champions League? It would trigger an exodus/sale of players. The only ones who can stop the drop will not suffer long-term - beyond having the stain of relegation on their playing records.
Spurs are currently 17th on 30 points, without a PL win since Dec 28. They probably need a minimum of eight points from Sunderland away, Brighton home, Wolves away, Villa away, Leeds home, Chelsea away and Everton home. Eight points from seven games. Sounds doable. But do they have the fight, hunger and desire? #THFC
#thfc have only named SEVEN (out of nine) substitutes on the bench at Anfield today.
👥 TWO first-team outfield players
🧤 TWO goalkeepers
3️⃣ THREE academy players
Out of the three academy players, only one has played for the First Team - Callum Olusesi (89th min sub against Hoffenheim in the UEL).
Spurs are in a relegation dogfight. The lack of leadership from dressing-room to board-room has long been an issue, costs them dear and contributes to the club’s drift downwards, almost sleepwalking towards the drop. Spurs are held back by many issues over recruitment, board decisions, chronic injuries and a caretaker who looks out of his depth. Focus on all those issues is totally understandable. But for now, in this current predicament, it’s all about the players finally standing up and taking responsibility.
Some are. Archie Gray, Mathys Tel. Others, far more experienced, have to follow the youngsters’ example. Cut out the silly mistakes, the costly challenges. Take responsibility, individually and collectively. We discussed this for an hour and a half on @LastWordOnSpurs last night and could have gone into extra time.
Do all the players worry as much about Tottenham’s plight as fans like host @RickySacks and @Billie_T from @ChangeForSpurs? Profession versus passion. Some players will move on if Spurs go down but do they want a relegation on their record? Their reputation damaged? They should care.
Spurs have some good players who owe it to supporters to show more pride in a famous shirt they are paid well to wear. It’s down to the players now. If they raise themselves for the Champions League show but not for the Premier League scrap what would that say about their character? #THFC
Sincerely hope that I am wrong, but have a really bad feeling about the message being spread to our players.
We are playing a must-win home game, Xavi Simons and Richarlison dropped.
Seven defensive-minded players on the field and the message being pushed is ‘protect our goal.”
Completely neutral here, but Spurs having a derby equaliser ruled out for a phantom push, then conceding a goal from a similar occurrence a week later is everything wrong with premier league officiating.