Tottenham FC had survived their first ten matches of the 2023 English Premier League season, winning eight and drawing two, but their 1-4 collapse against Chelsea FC could decide their season. Their unique pressing, high-line defending, and inverted full-backs have turned them from a boring counter-attacking team to a ball-playing group with Pape Sarr, Yves Bissouma, and Maddison mesmerizing fans time after time. They had survived the small and big teams, nicking victories over Sheffield United, Luton, and Liverpool FC through sheer guts. Their collapse against Chelsea FC was a good lesson of the scenarios that could determine their season. The red cards to Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie created significant turning points and were worsened by the injuries to Van de Van and James Maddison. They struggled, fought, and possibly could have escaped, but, they lost.
Postecouglou needs to be Flexible
Possibly, Ange Postecoglou could have managed the game better, with structured defending rather than maintaining the high line, even with two players short. He does not appear to have accepted the fact of the game, especially the dynamism of the English Premier League. Whilst entertainment, gives excitement to the fans, trophies are not won through losses and retaining ideals that wouldn’t give the right results. The loss of three points and a minus-three deficit in their goal difference is worse compared to if they’d succeeded in squeezing out a draw.
The hurdle before Postecouglou
The writer had warned earlier about Cristian Romero being a disaster waiting to happen and yesterday he did cause a disaster as a result of his somewhat combative and unconventional style. Chelsea deserves the credit for not relenting from their plot and using their advantage perfectly but the critical issue at the moment is about how Ange Postecoglou, would reignite their smooth ride, after losing his first-choice central defensive pair, left back and possibly James Maddison, the best midfielder, so far in the 2023 English Premier League season. It would be difficult to predict but certainly, the team structure has been terribly broken!
With the January transfer window still far away and the immediate replacements coming from the supposed outcasts, it would remain a daunting task for the coach to solve, unless the outcasts prove a surprise to win over Postecouglou’s trust.
Would he continue his high-line defending without the speed of his very fast first-choice central defenders? Romero and Udogie could lose one and two matches respectively, whilst the return of VDV and Maddison remains uncertain. The match against Wolves FC on Saturday would unravel what options Ange has on his sleeves and the next against Aston Villa and Manchester City FC, coming after the international break, would be crucial. They have some depths in the midfield, with Rodrigo Betancur and Emile Hojberg, but the defense appears a large hole to cover and would determine how well Tottenham survives this setback.
Whatever the outcome of their match on Saturday against Wolves, Tottenham FC, have had a smooth ride and another good result could reignite their successes but if otherwise, they could still be consoled that no situation lasts forever.
