The Cock & Ball Stories, Episode 8

A Season to Remember or a Season of Regrets?
The new stadium debacle and the extended Wembley ‘residency’, more players visiting the physio than plausible to comprehend, and no players signed in TWO transfer windows (compounding the injuries to highlight how thin the squad became). You’d think the 2018-19 season would have mirrored a Tottenham campaign of the early Noughties: mid-table mediocrity, knocked out of the cups by lower-league sides and absolutely calamitous performances on the pitch. But it was far from that, although you could argue there were some dodgy Saturday afternoons peppered throughout the season that did have you scratching your head and wondering how we lost that match? The club went far in two of the three cup competitions we were involved in. Quite far to be fair! Let’s get on with it, then….
Let’s begin with the league campaign. Unlike the oft-used phrase, ‘football – it’s a game of two halves’, this season played out more like one of thirds. Despite winning the first three matches including two impressive away scalps at Newcastle United (2-1) and Manchester United (3-0), Spurs hit a bump in the road with consecutive defeats; the Watford result arguably a case of points lost as we appeared to be cruising. The season progressed along a similar trend: four impressive winning streaks peppered with a loss here and there. Much was talked about as Spurs reached the 29th match of the season before one point was awarded in a match. This was a streak of 33 matches including the tail end of last season without a draw, setting a Premier League record (one season, and overall). This impressive statistic did paper over the obvious: wins that could have been draws would have left the team much further down the table than the third or fourth position we maintained for much of the season. Of course, the argument can be made for some of the losses from a winning position, or by the odd goal that may have been a point gained. The statistic that jumps out is the ‘thirds’ reference: through 26 matches to February 10th, Tottenham were 20-6. Only the aforementioned back-to-back losses were any kind of ‘skid’. Once Spurs slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Burnley, the season ended on a whimper. The club’s record in those last thirteen matches was woeful: 3-2-7. Losing more than 50% of those matches, the club was in danger of slipping out of the top four. If it had not be for the profligacy of United, Chelsea and the Woolwich, fifth or sixth may well have been reality. The final match of the season sealed the final position of fourth, when hanging on to the three points at home to Everton would have clinched third with Chelsea dropping points at Burnley. There are highlights of the league season for sure, but before returning to that we should take a further look at this slump that occurred in the final leg of the campaign. What was the catalyst? Why was the winning mentality not recovered? Well, I think you need to look at the Burnley match again. After beating Dortmund handsomely in the Round of 16 in the Champions League, Spurs had ten days off before the fixture at Turf Moor. Ample time to recharge and focus back on the league with one foot securely planted in the Champions League Quarter-Finals. Despite what was turning out to be a two-horse race between Liverpool and Manchester City, Spurs were far from out of the title race. This was highlighted before the Burnley match kicked off by Rebecca Lowe on the NBCSN broadcast*: “win and Spurs can go top of the table with a chance to clinch their first title since 1961”. *Although not verbatim along with some verbiage on the rest of the weekend’s results that was mixed in there, but the gist was that Tottenham still had a say in the outcome of this season’s title. Of course, a commentator Stateside had no bearing on the match result, but the fact is the commentary in the UK went along the same plot-lines. The way Spurs played in that match, you’d be fooled into thinking this was one of the games at the business end of the season where the points were even more valuable. The early goal conceded that clearly should have not come from a Burnley corner and had Pochettino in fits that led to a post-match clash with Mike Dean (& a harsh two-match ban from the FA), coupled with the late winner for the Clarets that exposed Tottenham’s soft underside again and immediately after the match, the media narrative changed to the complete opposite of that prior to kick-off. A complete U-turn in 90 minutes; built up and knocked down in one game of football. It was incredulous. But the damage was done. A midweek reverse at Stamford Bridge with a comical own-goal from Kieran Trippier, saw the final nail in Tottenham’s title challenge. So, two consecutive league defeats saw Spurs limping into the North London Derby. Arsenal had been resurgent on the back of an impressive run of results and were clearly after a first league double over their local rivals in five years. If it had not been for stoppage time penalty heroics from Lloris, they would have it. Poch was in the stands for the next two matches serving his ban and Tottenham lost them both: a 2-1 reverse at Southampton after leading at half-time and another own goal, this time at the death in the Liverpool match sealing a second 2-1 defeat. With the new stadium finally being announced and the re-arranged match with Crystal Palace seeing the Eagles as the historic first opponent, there was understandably nerves jangling as the festivities gave way to another misfiring Spurs performance before two late goals gave Tottenham all three points. With that injection of confidence, the club smashed already-relegated Huddersfield 4-0, behind a Lucas Moura hat-trick. This looked to be the impetus to push these unexplainable jitters aside and finish the season strong. However, it was not to be as Spurs contrived to lose three of the next four matches 1-0. A defeat at City was not to be unexpected, especially after knocking them out of the Champions League in historic fashion three days earlier, but letting West Ham win their ‘cup final’ in the new stadium – where we had not conceded a goal yet – along with a tragic performance at Bournemouth which not just saw both Son and Foyth sent off, but another 90th minute goal from the opposition to make the faithful supporters hold their head in the hands yet again. Even the solitary win in that run, a 1-0 win at home to Brighton from a late Eriksen strike was just as nervy as the other matches. But, as mentioned earlier, why was this? Why did Tottenham fail to match the highs of the first two-thirds of the season? Spurs only won two away matches in the second half of the campaign: a walkover in Cardiff, being 3-0 up within 26 minutes and a last minute winner, coming from behind at Fulham. Both matches coming in January, and both against teams in a relegation fight (ultimately both going down). Prior to those matches, Tottenham had won nine away games, but nothing from February on. In fact, they played six and lost the lot. The last time Spurs lost six consecutive away matches in the league was fifteen years earlier when David Pleat (taking over from Glenn Hoddle as caretaker manager) steered the club into the depths of the league table stuttering between March and the end of the season. Those were the heady times at Tottenham that I alluded to in the opening paragraph validating the parallels. The fact that such a bright manager as Mauricio Pochettino, who let’s face it has performed magnificently at the club since taking over five years ago could not address this poor run is a big question. He has now achieved top five finishes in all campaigns he has led the club, including a runner-up position in 2016-17. If you have read Guillem Balague’s book on Poch, ‘Brave New World’, you will know that the 5-1 defeat in the final match of the previous season that cost the club second, rankled the gaffer more than anything. All through the off-season. And he fixed it for the next season, the club going unbeaten in the final season at White Hart Lane and finishing with a Premier League high 86 points. So, if that was a handful of matches that cost us three seasons ago, how did that mentality emerge again this season with such voracity? Again, we can go back to the start of this piece and point at the unsettling situation of the continual delays in moving into Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. By all sense and purpose, the club should have moved in for the Liverpool match in September. The League has arranged Tottenham’s fixtures as well as given the club special dispensation to play Fulham at Wembley as the first ‘home’ game of the season. Suddenly, nobody knew when the stadium would be ready with fire and safety systems being the main reason for the delays. There was an expectation that Spurs would either be playing in their new home before Christmas or not at all this season. When it was finally announced to be early April, there was division: why even bother at this stage? But Levy was desperate to move in and get the team bedded in. In hindsight, despite this miserable run in the league, this could be a blessing in disguise. Get some matches under your belt, get the club and the supporters used to the new stadium and the increase in traffic to the area. Work out the kinks and come back next season raring to go. All valid, but no disputing that this may well have weighed on the players’ minds. Then there are the injuries. You could pinpoint that many of them came in this fateful last third off the season. There were so many to count: two to Kane were key, keeping our talisman out of nine of the last sixteen matches. Of the seven he appeared in between both ankle injuries, he scored three goals to add to his tally for the season, a still-remarkable 24 strikes. Other injuries that saw disruption in the team including: Dier, Alli, Winks, Wanyama, Rose, Eriksen, Lamela (who started the season guns blazing scoring six goals in all competitions by early November. He didn’t notch another all season). There were other squad disruptions: allegations of domestic abuse with Aurier, who along with injuries also featured very little in the second half of the season; Lloris who embarrassed himself and the club being arrested for drink-driving. Then there was Son on international duty twice for South Korea. All in all, this was a season I had not seen for playing staff issues. So yes, it is probably safe to say that there were many contributing factors to the season fizzling out as it did. The ‘win a lot, lose a couple’ style of the first two thirds of the season glossed over what was to come. Whether we accept it or not, it was still frustrating.
But it’s not all doom and gloom as Tottenham performed against form in the cups. A 7-0 thumping of Tranmere Rovers in the third round of the FA Cup behind a Fernando Llorente hat-trick had the campaign off to a flyer, only to experience a disappointing exit in the next round at Crystal Palace (especially more so knowing we did the ‘double’ over them with no goals conceded in the league). The League Cup saw Spurs reach the semi-finals having seen off all Premier League opposition in Watford, West Ham and the Old Enemy setting up another all-Prem clash in the two-legged last four match versus Chelsea. A nervy 1-0 win in the first leg at Wembley had us believing we’d be in the final if we did not implode at Stamford Bridge. Despite going down 2-0, a Llorente goal pulled the tie back to 2-2 on aggregate. Unfortunately, at full-time, away goals did not count, and the match went into extra-time and then penalties. The cup run ended at that point as Spurs lost the shoot-out 4-2. Then we have the Champions League campaign…
Tottenham were in Group H with Inter Milan, Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven. Before a ball was kicked it always was a case of who was going to finish second as the Catalans were clear favourites to top the group. Most safe bets saw the opening match at the San Siro as a marker for how the campaign could progress. Spurs took the lead in the 53rd minute through a deflected Eriksen strike. Controlling the game well and defending that lead looked to be going to plan as the clock wound down. However, a wonder strike from Icardi in the 85th cancelled out the lead. A point away from home in the opener would still be a decent result. Sadly, it was not to be as Vecino put the winner away in stoppage time sending the home fans crazy. In the end, what was looking like a great start to the Champions League campaign turned sour in the space of five minutes. With Barcelona at Wembley next up, Spurs could well be looking at no points after the first two matches. Come October 3rd, that was exactly where they saw themselves. A 4-2 defeat, despite some spirited fight and littered with calamitous defending left Tottenham in third place in the group. A complete opposite to the previous season’s tournament. The third matchday saw Tottenham finally gain their first points of the season in a 2-2 draw at PSV. But it was a case of points dropped again as Spurs gave up another late equaliser. This, after Hugo Lloris had seen red in the 79th minute. One point from three matches left the club in a perilous position with only the slimmest of chances to advance from the group. To say that the remaining three matches were all ‘must-win’ was an understatement. Results in the other matches really needed to help Spurs out too. Matchday four did finally yield three points as Tottenham contrived to do the hard work all over again. Falling to an early Luuk de Jong goal, it certainly did not look like it was going to be Tottenham’s night in the return PSV fixture. But up stepped Harry Kane: goals in the 78th and 87th spared the blushes of exiting the competition and kept that hope alive. Barcelona dropping points to Inter did not help, but Spurs were still alive. The crunch fixture was next up: Inter Milan at Wembley. Both clubs fighting for the coveted second spot. Inter defended doggedly as Spurs probed for a breakthrough goal. Eventually Christian Eriksen popped up with the late strike in the 80th minute that this time would eventually give Tottenham all three points. Spurs now claimed second spot but had to match Inter’s result on the final matchday to ensure advancing. But with an away match in Barcelona whilst Milan hosted PSV, the odds did not look good. December 11th took a turn of events early on as a Kyle Walker-Peters’ error early on saw Ousmane Dembele give the Catalans an early lead that despite significant Tottenham possession, stayed 1-0 for the majority of the match. The saving grace for Spurs was that in Milan, PSV were leading. Nothing changed by half-time and if that was full-time, Spurs would advance. However, Inter equalised in the 73rd minute. They now occupied second place in the group. Meanwhile back in the Camp Nou, a great play down the right wing from Lamela saw a perfect pass to Harry Kane; his cross into the box in the 85th minute set up Lucas Moura to slot away the equaliser. Parity restored, Spurs back into second. The remaining time in both matches proved nerve-wracking; a last minute save from PSV’s ‘keeper ensured that both matches ended 1-1. The away fans in Barcelona celebrating as the Inter match ended minutes after this match, was the signal for the Tottenham players to realise they had pulled off the impossible mission and advanced to the knockout stages in the most remarkable fashion.
As 2019 beckoned, Spurs were drawn at home to Borussia Dortmund in the round of 16, facing the Germans for the third time in four seasons. Having beaten Dortmund home and away in last year’s group stages, was a repeat on the cards? This was a much better side, so it was inevitable this was to be a tougher fixture. The deadlock in the home fixture was beaten early in the second half as Son volleyed in a superb cross from Jan Vertonghen from the left. As the clock ticked on in the later stages of the match and a 1-0 lead to take to Germany looked likely, man of the match Vertonghen popped up with the second goal of the night in the 83rd minute only for Fernando Llorente to add a third minutes later. Of course, despite a comfortable 3-0 first leg lead, an early German goal in the return fixture three weeks later was enough to ensure the tie was far from over. Despite immediate pressure from a Dortmund side unrecognisable from the first leg, Spurs defended like they had in no other match so far this season. They continually blanked a potent German threat with Toby, Jan and Hugo all in impressive form. Spurs could count themselves fortunate to go in 0-0 at half-time. More of the same was expected in the second half, but with Kane popping up with a goal in the 48th minute, the tie was effectively over as Dortmund almost immediately saw the futility in their pursuit. The final score: 1-0 to Tottenham, 4-0 on aggregate. A fine result that saw Spurs into the quarter-finals for only the second time in the Champions League. The draw for the quarters saw all four English clubs in the hat so it was inevitable that there would be an all-Premier League clash. It was also inevitable that it would be Tottenham in that match. At home to the champions, Manchester City. It was also just the second match in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Was a glory, glory night on the cards? It was never going to be easy facing a City side that were in the form of their lives going neck and neck with Liverpool at the top of the league table. Hugo heroics early in the first half, denying Aguero from the spot and a late Son goal ensured Spurs took a slender lead to Manchester a week later. Although the first leg was hardly a ‘glory, glory’ night, the second was… and Tottenham lost the fixture! A match that had everything: three goals within ten minutes of the kick-off that saw Spurs overcome the early Sterling goal and take a 2-1 lead through two Son goals. A minute later and it was 2-2 and then a fifth goal inside 21 minutes as Sterling restored the lead for City on the night and 3-3 on aggregate. Were Tottenham’s two away goals enough to stand up? Although there were no more first half goals, Sergio Aguero put City further ahead on the night and 4-3 up overall. The pressure was now back on Spurs. Despite a VAR review, a Llorente goal from a Tottenham corner in the 73rd minute, had the pendulum swing back to the North London side. Spurs clung to the 3-4 score-line as the clock edged towards stoppage time, knowing they would advance on away goals. However, at the death Sterling added the final dagger as he turned the tie completely around in City’s favour. But in further late drama as Pep and the Blues celebrated wildly, VAR ruled out the goal as Aguero was adjudged to have been in an offside position before he crossed for Sterling. Suddenly the wild scenes switched to the Tottenham camp. As added time wound down, Spurs were in the semi-finals for their first time since the 1962 version of the competition. Two legs against Ajax were all that separated Spurs from their first final appearance in four years.
Ajax had disposed of Juventus and Real Madrid in the previous two rounds, winning convincingly in both away legs. The first match was at Tottenham and Spurs were in this late season funk in the league. This malaise carried over into this match and Spurs stopped as Donny van de Beek placed his goal, and the match winner past Lloris in the 15th minute. Tottenham barely threatened as they searched for the equaliser and stared at the exit from the Champions League in Amsterdam a week later. That reality was looking a formality as an early goal from de Ligt and another from Ziyech gave the Dutch side a 3-0 aggregate lead at half-time. Spurs did not look like they could come back from this. But, minutes into the second half, the lead was down to 3-2 as the brilliant Lucas Moura scored two quick goals to give Tottenham hope. But despite knocking on the door throughout the remainder of the second half, and still leaving themselves vulnerable to a counter-attacking Ajax who by this point felt comfortable at seeing the tie out, there was yet another twist in Spurs’ amazing run in this year’s tournament. Despite a poor Llorente effort that sailed over the bar from what looked like Tottenham’s last chance in stoppage time, there was one more attack left in the tank. A deep Sissoko long-ball met Llorente’s head, knocking the ball down for Dele to nudge into an oncoming Moura who stabbed the ball past the despairing reach of Onana. Ajax players collapsed to the ground as wild scenes erupted amongst the Spurs players and coaching staff. Tottenham Hotspur were in the Champions League final! Spurs would face a Liverpool side who the previous night, had performed their own miracle, battling back from a 0-3 deficit to beat Barcelona 4-0 at Anfield. This was the first all-English final and only the second one ever in the competition since the Chelsea/Manchester United match eleven years earlier.
Tottenham finished the domestic season with a whimper but had three weeks to prepare for the final. This ensured that there was ample time to work on a fully fit squad and more importantly, Harry Kane stood a chance of returning to the squad. As June 1st approached, Pochettino could call upon his entire Champions League squad for the biggest match in his managerial career.
Unfortunately, despite all the hype for the final, a questionable call within thirty seconds of the match saw the referee award Liverpool a penalty for a handball on Sissoko. VAR did not favour Tottenham this time and Spurs found themselves a goal down right from the get-go. This threw the game-plan out of the window. Liverpool dropped deep into their own half and with the best defence in the Premier League, Tottenham would have to be at their best to find a way through to their opponents’ goal. Spurs were not at their best, and despite Liverpool not being close to their best either, the match was far from a spectacle. Tottenham could not recover from the early setback and despite their dominance, a late Origi goal gave Liverpool their sixth title while Spurs could only reflect on a campaign that arguably should not have seen them anywhere near the final with some moments that will live with forever with those who witnessed those remarkable matches. The players can hold their heads high.
So, it was not a memorable season for many aforementioned reasons, but it will be remembered because of this amazing Champions League campaign. But now we must look forward. The club must reinforce in the summer. They must add to the squad to improve as we are clearly lacking in depth with quality players to step in for the Deles, Eriksens and Sons. For all the bumps in the road the team faced this season, finishing in the top four and enduring two impressive cup runs is not to be scoffed at. But the big but for many supporters including this one, is that once more we end the season empty-handed. We are almost there, but glory continues to elude the club. Tottenham last tasted cup success in 2009 and that seems an eternity ago. Starting the 2019-20 season bedded into the new stadium, with some improvements in the squad, whilst retaining the services of key personnel should provide some optimism. No Wembley. No extended summer for the international players. Some much needed signings. Rest and come back strong. The top six rivals will all strengthen, that’s a given. Challenging Liverpool and City will be a tall order but challenge we shall. Bring it on!
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