To say that Totttenham are currently down to the bare bones would be quite the understatement. In the second half today, they had a backline of (R/L) Pedro Porro, Djed Spence, Archie Gray, and Sergio Reguilon. An 18-year old central midfielder, a right-back who the club were willing to sell to Genoa for peanuts, and, well, Reguilon. Then, in goal, you had Brandon Austin, who was making his first team debut - just weeks before turning 26.
Some praise for the Spurs defence amidst all the adversity
Yet, they generally played quite well? That second half backline didn't concede. Even in the first half, look at the goals. The first goal should have been chalked off, and the second goal was via the aid of a fortunate ricochet off of Radu Dragusin, who was taken off at half-time.
All of that without exactly the most ideal protection. To begin, there was 18-year old Lucas Bergvall playing in a deep role, and then Yves Bissouma, whom often makes defensive lapses - with the steel of Pape Sarr off the pitch by that point. Yet they generally held their own, you would say.
The only disappointment of the second half was the lack of proper, clear cut chances created. It was certainly nothing to do with the defensive performance, and those at the back deserve full credit for that. They gave the attackers the platform to get something from the game, but unfortunately it just wasn't to be.
The one player that wasn't makeshift, nor someone ostracised, was Porro. Yet he does deserve some credit of his own. After a clear dip in performances in the last couple of months, he was excellent today. In the second half, he managed to deal with any balls played in behind towards Anthony Gordon.
Going forward, he was at his brilliant best, that we all know he has in him. His whipped cross for Dominic Solanke's goal was vintage Porro. There were a couple of other occasions in the game where he put excellent balls into the box, with nothing coming of them. Over the 90 minutes, he recorded; three clearances, five tackles, 0 times dribbled past, 5/6 ground duels won, and two shots.
As for Gray, really cannot wait for the day where he is thriving in his natural position, and we can say "remember when he was stuck at centre-back for his first x amount of starts in the top flight?" This experience will do him good in the long term, as generic as it may be to say.
If that was to be Austin's only ever first team appearance for the club - which has become more likely with the reported imminent arrival of Antonin Kinsky from Slavia Prague - then he certainly did not disgrace himself. There was nothing absolutely crazy from his performance, but he commanded his box well, and was big from set pieces against a side with the likes of Dan Burn and Alexander Isak.
We saw Spence generally do okay as a centre-back, particularly on the ball, but also when it came to winning the majorty of his duels. Finally, there was not really a moment where you thought "and that's what happens when you have Reguilon in 2025", which is perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay.
Shame for another loss, but got to take heart. We go again.