Horrible Half Leaves Tottenham Hotspur Behind in UEL Group
By Aaron Coe
Jose Mourinho rotated on Thursday in Europa League and it cost Tottenham Hotspur as a listless first half gifted Royal Antwerp a goal and ultimately the game.
In his post-match pitch-side interview Hugo Lloris noted that Tottenham Hotspur needed to give more from the first minute of the match. His observation was harsh but true, as Tottenham were completely outplayed in the first half, leaving Spurs with a deficit they could not overcome. Now Tottenham are second in the group with a busy period ahead, not what Spurs wanted.
Tottenham Immediately Imbalanced
It only took about 19 second for Tottenham to be completely out of balance and vulnerable in the middle of the park. We noted recently here at Hotspur HQ the role of the two holding midfielders, providing additional defensive width and an extra body in front of the defensive line. This action simply did not occur with enough frequency Thursday evening.
Again, less than 20 seconds into the match, Winks, Lo Celso and Dele were in a diagonal line only about 20 yards apart, with none of the three protecting the two center-halves. In this instance Refaelou was found about 30 yards out and he could dribble straight at the goal and took a free shot from 25 yards away. While the shot did not trouble Lloris, the space surely troubled Jose Mourinho, and the practice for Refaelou would pay off in due time.
Display of Poor Passing
As the first few minutes continues, Spurs look a bit off the pace. While the plan is clear, get the ball up to Vinicius and play off him, the efforts to get him the ball are haphazard at best. Often it is just a pass and pray speculative blast toward the forward that was hit, not a well timed or thought out pass. Often Vinicius was in the middle of checking away or not ready to receive the ball when it came barreling his way.
Interestingly the midfield was overly patient and frankly wasteful with each other, but did a terrible job providing forward service to Vinicius, with hurried, half-hearted passed. What made those passes worse was the lack of any real timing on any kind of runs in and around the striker.
When Tottenham did manage to get numbers, which happened several times in the first half, everyone either tried to force the perfect pass or not seeing it simply turned around that played the ball backwards. That lack of any real push to make something happened ultimately led to the goal Spurs conceded and left the attack soft.