Tottenham: Lack of offensive intent most disappointing in 3-0 Palace loss

The nature and way teams lose matter and Tottenham was completely disappointing in the 3-0 loss at Crystal Palace, where offensive intent was absent. 

It is one thing to lose in football as losses happen. However, how teams lose matters, especially at a club where the DNA is so talked about as it is at Tottenham Hotspur. However, the idea that the most important attacking weapon would best be replaced by a deep-lying midfielder on the road against a winless Crystal Palace was as perplexing as it was gutless.

Replacing Son is going to be a problem for Tottenham

If Heung-Min Son is out for an extended stretch of time, Tottenham Hotspur is going to be in big trouble. Son is the main runner on long balls, whether from Harry Kane or a defender. Further Son takes almost every free-kick that is not a direct effort on goal. Replacing just the dead ball contributions is going to take some work let alone his offensive contributions.

However, instead of playing a forward in place of the missing forward – as the team would have done had Kane been out – the Spurs went conservative and plopped on an extra midfielder. The result was a team without a discernable formation, without any real balance, and certainly without an attack.

A completely missed opportunity for Nuno and Tottenham

Nuno Espirito Santo could have done two things that would have shown some real intent in attack for Tottenham. Santo could have started Bryan Gil at left wing. Bryan was signed over the summer and actually plays the position. If he is not ready to try and go from the off here, when will he be? I thought Nuno promoted youth?

An alternative would have been to go really young and put Dane Scarlett out as a forward with Kane and Lucas Moura. While Scarlett is more of a number nine than a winger, he is willing to run and would have provided a target if and when Kane dropped deep.

Harry Winks was the wrong call and it really hung Sergio Reguilon and the defense out to dry. Without a winger or a runner to compliment Kane with the midfield diamond four, it left Winks and Reguilon alone against three Palace players, two of who – Connor Gallagher and Wilfried Zaha – are the best the Eagles have to offer.

Absent a real offensive player starting in place of Son, Place was able to pin Tottenham in and dominate the Spurs exactly how they should have dominated the Eagles. A very poor plan led to a poor result.

At least Newcastle went for it?

You are probably wondering what Newcastle has to do with Tottenham on a day the Spurs lost at Selhurst Park to Crystal Palace. Well, Newcastle played at the Theatre of Dreams against Manchester United on the day Ronaldo returned to United.

If ever a team might want to sit back and not push forward, it would be Newcastle in this game. Instead, Newcastle went for it. And while as of this writing they are losing 2-1 on two Ronaldo goals, they tied the match in the second half and are giving fans some hope.

Even if the result ends up a 4-1 defeat the fact that on the road, against United, on Ronaldo’s return Newcastle would play with some real offensive intent and go for it, shows they have something that today Tottenham did not.

For a game about glory, what is the glory in playing scared? If Tottenham cannot even try to play with offensive intent on the road against a winless Palace what are they going to do when they go to Old Trafford?

Okay so now Newcastle is down

3-1

4-1 which still looks better than 3-0 and Newcastle is still pushing to try and score. Yes, the red card limited the chances however, for 58 minutes prior to that, it was clear Spurs were not going to score.

Giving up three goals was terrible as was the overall performance. However, the most disappointing part was the fact that Spurs never intended to win the match from the off as they failed to field a team with any attacking intent.