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Tottenham dares little in Carabao Cup Final

By Justin Cober-Lake

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 25: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur looks dejected after the Carabao Cup Final between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on April 25, 2021 in London, England. 8,000 fans are due to watch the game at Wembley, the most at an outdoor sporting event in the UK since the coronavirus pandemic started in March, 2020. Each team has been given an allocation of 2,000 with the remaining tickets split between local residents and NHS staff. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 25: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur looks dejected after the Carabao Cup Final between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on April 25, 2021 in London, England. 8,000 fans are due to watch the game at Wembley, the most at an outdoor sporting event in the UK since the coronavirus pandemic started in March, 2020. Each team has been given an allocation of 2,000 with the remaining tickets split between local residents and NHS staff. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /
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Arguing with television commentators provides one of the secret joys of sports fandom.

Sometimes (or more than we’d like to admit), the commentators get it right. During Tottenham’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup Final, ESPN’s Jon Champion and Taylor Twellman made a throwaway comment about Moussa Sissoko that revealed surprising insight into the Spurs’ struggles this year, an effect of the team’s caution and predictability.

Tottenham started the game tentatively, more interested in not losing than they were in winning, an attitude that yielded sloppy play.

It was entirely too predictable: they planned to try to keep it tight, struggling through a low-scoring game (which only held true thanks to Hugo Lloris’ heroics and some fine play by Toby Alderweireld) while hoping for a fortuitous counter attack.

We’ve seen the script so much that when I bemoaned Gareth Bale’s absence a friend texted me not to worry because he’d come in for Lucas Moura in the 65th minute. He came on for Moura in the 67th.

When that substitution happened, Spurs revealed themselves and the announcers caught it. As Bale came on, so did Sissoko.

This was, ostensibly to provide “balance” and the opportunity, as Twellman picked up, to have a stable centre, allowing Bale to roam free. It sounded good, but didn’t make sense for this game.

Tottenham played cautiously – ignoring the effective work that Leeds and Chelsea had done against City recently – and substituted accordingly.

In desperate need of a goal and trophy, they astonishingly took no risks in the name of balance.

Dele Alli and Erik Lamela carry their own baggage and might not have been the right selections, but both would at least offer creativity and ambition. Tanguy Ndombélé’s assertiveness could have proved decisive. Any of those picks carried risk, but would have shown a team trying to take control rather than just stick around.

Sissoko’s balance did nothing to prevent Aymeric Laporte’s game winner, so – as has been true all season – caution didn’t pay off. Tottenham continued to play like a team content with not winning a trophy in going on 14 years.

All that said, it’s not a knock on Sissoko or an indication of what Ryan Mason had in mind (after all, even Batman needs more than week of prep time for Darkseid).

Next. What it's like being a Tottenham Hotspur supporter. dark

It’s purely a continuation of what we’ve seen all year, a team that’s not as bad as its most frustrated fans claim, but also one that is entirely unwilling to take risks in the name of glory.