Is inexperience to blame for Tottenham’s Champions League exit?
By Gary Pearson
Mistakes against Europe’s elite in the Champions League rarely go unpunished, a fact Tottenham found out first hand on Wednesday against last season’s finalists.
A pair of errors in judgement caused by mental lapses turned irreparably the complexion of last evening’s match. At 1-0, Spurs were seemingly in total control of the tie, bossing proceedings with sharp, calculated passes and a relentless press that visibly discomforted The Old Lady.
Juventus were pushed to the brink, the defending Serie A outfit living life dangerously on the edge, a number of players – including Giorgio Chiellini, Medhi Benatia, Andrea Barzagli, Miralem Pjanić – guilty of repeatedly committing professional fouls, sometimes of the cynical variety. The well-versed visitors were a step behind the pace, often unable to legally win back possession.
But even those professional fouls were evidence of Juventus’ wealth of experience on Europe’s most prestigious stage. Massimiliano Allegri’s side did everything for a reason, knowing they were a clinical moment or two away from turning the tie on its head.
Inexperience and naïvety led to Tottenham’s demise
Their inevitable clinical moments came by way of a three-minute span, in which Spurs were punished to the fullest extent of the law for their Champions League inexperience and naïvety, from two players in particular.
While Mauricio Pochettino stated in no uncertain terms that inexperience had nothing to do with Tottenham’s loss, the mistakes committed by Davinson Sánchez and Eric Dier that led to Juventus’ goals were a direct result of their Champions League infantilism.
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Dier, for a split second, fixated his attention on the ball rather than focussing on following Gonzalo Higuaín’s run into Spurs’ six-yard box.
That split-second mental lapse, like the finest of margins that differentiates champions from the rest, allowed Higuain the opportunity to do what he does best: poach and finish at the first time of asking, with steely nerves of a cold-blooded killer.
Dier couldn’t help himself; his inexperience drew him, like a magnetic force, to Sami Khedira. Caught in no man’s land, Dier committed a cardinal sin that a veteran would have, in all probability, avoided.
Unquestionably fazed by the equalizer, Spurs were uncomfortable, showing signs of panic even though they still had the upper hand in the tie. It was another tell-tale sign of a squad devoid of knockout-stage maturity.
Their erratic play in the immediate aftermath of Higuain’s goal was a precursor to the moment that sealed Tottenham’s fate.
While singling out an individual player is harsh, it goes along with the overall unforgiving theme of the Champions League. Every error is magnified, every blunder amplified. This time Spurs’ 21-year-old centre back is forced involuntarily under the microscope for his error in judgement caused by a visceral mistake common to players of his impressionable age.
Davinson Sánchez, like Dier before him, was dragged out of position. Giving in to temptation, the Colombian left the middle of the park barren, chasing the ball and Higuain deep into midfield. Juventus succeeded in parting The Red Sea, the wily Argentinian left with the simplest of tasks. Duly obliging, Higuain played in his compatriot, Paulo Dybala, who bagged the eventual winner.
Spurs were unequivocally the better side for 177 of 190 minutes over the course of the aggregate affair. They played with pace, verve and belief, dominating in most respects.
But all too often dominating in most respects is, in the end, harshly inconsequential. Capitalizing on opportunities, no matter how scarce, is the only thing that matters.
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Inexperience and naïvety combined with Juventus’ ruthlessness created a perfect storm (imperfect from Tottenham’s perspective) that led to Spurs’ disconsolate despair.
Football is a cruel and unforgiving sport but Spurs will learn from this moment and return to the Champions League next season, buoyed by an additional year’s experience and the extra motivation that a loss of this abject sorrow garners.