“How do you line up with them in the first place”.
Tottenham lost 1-2 against Wolverhampton Wolves in the 12th round of the 2023-2024 Premier League season at the Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, on Nov. 11 at 9:30 p.m. ET.
With the three points, Wolverhampton moves up to 12th place with 15 points (4 wins, 3 draws, and 5 losses). Tottenham, on the other hand, failed to add another point to their tally as they fell to their second straight defeat against Chelsea and remained in second place in the league (26 points).
It was Tottenham who struck first. In the third minute of the first half, Kuluczewski, who shook down the right flank, passed to a cutting back Foro, who sent in a low, quick cross. Johnson made no mistake with his finish.
Wolverhampton were back in the game. In the 45th minute, Cunha’s pass from the left flank was collected by Pablo Sarabia with a perfect touch in the box and he split the goal with a delicate shot.
Six minutes of second-half stoppage time were awarded. This is where Wolverhampton’s dramatic comeback happened. Sarabia’s pass from the right flank was headed home by Lemina to turn the game on its head.
The absence of Tottenham’s injured players was evident. Especially in the defense. Spurs were without three of their four starting backs (Cristian Romero sent off, Mickey van der Vaart injured, and Destiny Udogie sent off). The game ended up with the sub-par Eric Dier and Ben Davies forming a central defense.
Add to that the fact that Tottenham started the game fairly passively, unlike what we’ve seen this season. They had a high percentage of possession, but it was mostly when they played the ball out from the back. It’s safe to say that the lack of movement in the center backs was detrimental to their attack.
In an interview after the second straight defeat, Tottenham manager Enzi Postecoglou was unhappy with the way his players approached the game. “I’m disappointed. It’s embarrassing to concede a goal in the last minute,” he said, adding, “We lost our pace at the end and gave Wolverhampton chances after chances.”
Postecoglou, who was also attacking with nine men against Chelsea in a 1-4 defeat, has made it clear that he is far from playing defensive football. “I’m a soccer manager, not a bus driver,” he said when asked why he didn’t drop his line and park the bus.
After another defeat, Postecoglou said: “It’s clear that my players did their best. The first goal was good, but after that the players were passive. The second half was a little better, but it’s hard to get good results with that kind of stance.”
Postecoglou’s tactics in the immediate aftermath of back-to-back defeats have also been criticized. Initially playing Davies and Dyer at center back, the moment he moved up the line, goals were an inevitable tax.
Rory Jennings of Talk Sport in the U.K. claimed that Spurs’ back-to-back defeats were also due to Postecoglou’s over-attacking style of play. “In my opinion, his tactics are putting a huge strain on the team 아톰카지노 도메인,” he said.
“Playing too high up the pitch when you don’t have a proper defense is a big burden for Tottenham,” he said. Tottenham’s problem against Wolverhampton was their attacking tactics. They were too idealistic in their approach to the game.”