On Sunday afternoon, Spurs took to the field as they faced Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, in their ninth Premier League game of the season.
For the task at hand, Ange went with a line up of; Vicario; Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Kulusevski, Bissouma, Maddison; Johnson, Son, Moore.
It was a slow start to the game, with no shots in the first 13 minutes, before Johnson had a shot blocked following a corner.
After 27 minutes, Maxence Lacroix headed over for the hosts when well placed, as Spurs really struggled to stamp their authority on proceedings.
Five minutes later — the hosts had the lead. Jean-Philippe Mateta scored, after typically being set up by Eberechi Eze. Not van de Ven's finest moment in a Spurs shirt.
It took until the 34th minute for Spurs to have their second attempt of the game, as van de Ven himself shot wide from a corner.
If there was going to be a second goal, it was going to be for the hosts. Marc Guehi had a presentable opportunity from a set piece after 35 minutes, with Spurs looking all over the place.
With six minutes of the first period of the first half left, Solanke had his first shot of the game, seeing his header blocked after a corner. It was only Spurs’ third shot of the game, with none on target.
In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Spurs worked their best opportunity of the game, with Maddison having a shot saved after a cutback from Udogie. The attack stayed alive until a Johnson strike went off target. Ange’s side would go into the break 1-0 down.
Three minutes after the break, Spurs had another good chance, with Kulusevski failing to beat Dean Henderson from around six yards out, in a chance he would feel he could have done better with, particularly with his form so far this season.
After 62 minutes, Ange looked to his bench - and made a triple change. Werner, Richarlison and Sarr replaced Moore, Maddison and Kulusevski. Very soon after, van de Ven was booked for a poor challenge to prevent a Palace chance - with some saying he was perhaps fortunate.
With three minutes to go, Bentancur replaced Bissouma. Nope, there hasn't been a mistake. There were no updates between that. Not even a shot of any kind to tell you about. Literally nothing happened. Spurs' only shot after the 55th minute was a blocked effort from Bentancur in stoppage time.
Absolutely abysmal, all round. Nice and easy game against *Manchester City* up next, at least. Just absolutely terrible. Ange and the players need a serious, hard look at themselves after that.
This defeat leaves Spurs 8th in the table, with 13 points from nine games - below Nottingham Forest in eigth place.