Going into this game I was hoping that the lessons learned from the Win at home to Brentford would be learned and that Frank would take an attacking stance against opposition that Tottenham [on paper] should beat.
I’m glad to say that is exactly what he did and again it paid off, but maybe not entirely how we thought it would.
Winning 3-0 always looks amazing in the post match results column and a score line can sometimes hide some oddity about a performance. I’m not saying Spurs didn’t play well but winning a game via two penalties and an OG just takes the shine off the result ever so slightly (and I truly mean ever so slightly).
I really enjoyed the bright opening from Tottenham players who all of a sudden seemed lively and positive when going forward. I really enjoyed Richy’s early hold up play and the way he was bringing others into play, it was beginning to look like the Richy we were promised when we signed him. Then he had a golden opportunity to score and boost a positive start BUT somehow managed to contrive in slamming the ball far too central allowing the keeper to somehow save the ball and deny an early 1-0 to Spurs. To be fair I was actually pretty impressed by their GK all night but Richy made his job far too easy to pull off a save from a certain goal.
That miss seemed to set the tone for the game as both teams were impotent in front of goal in open play. Spurs obviously had most of the ball but Prague did have some half chances that worried me as the game was a bit like an end to end basketball game at times. This was probably due to Slavia Prague going for broke and going man to man which meant any Spurs error was exposed pretty quickly and the speed of the guy on the left for Prague was causing Spurs defenders headaches. Luckily he was so fast that his team mates couldn’t keep up with him either so he generally ran out of options and that gave the Lilly white defence a chance to get back in position.
The match was a good opportunity for Simons to continue his all action display from the weekend into this Tuesday nighter and he did exactly that and looked like he was enjoying his football with a smile on his face. This was great to see and I loved how by 90 minutes he was covered head to toe in grass stains and had another goal to his name.
I think that’s what I’ll take away from this match, the fact that players seemed to be enjoying being on the pitch which is quite refreshing considering how much doom and gloom has surrounded the team over the last few weeks and months. Seeing Kudus have fun with his chair celebration and even Richy cracking a smile when he couldn’t believe he hadn’t scored was a sight for sore eyes. I also liked how Djed and Simons were smiling late on when Simons contrived to fluff his lines by putting a tame shot into the side netting.
To me that kind of stuff is important in building a strong team morale. We must remember that despite football clubs being businesses the actual playing of football is a game and should be enjoyed by not only fans but players too. I think that the hard times may just galvanise this squad even more and the squad may be boosted even more by the sight of Madders being back on the grass and maybe even Sonny showing his face before and after the match.
3-0
3 Points
2 Games Left in the League Phase
Still a chance to qualify automatically (although I think Spurs will need to win both remaining games in the League Phase to make this a certainty)
COYS🐓
NEXT UP: Forest (A) 14/12/25 - 2pm K.O (Premier League GW16)
CURRENT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE GROUP POSITION: 9th (11 points)
POINTS AWAY FROM GETTING 16 POINTS: 5
“I will always be Spurs and I will always be with you”
Son Heung-min on the pitch before the game