Tottenham's silverware hopes now rest on the Europa League and FA Cup after their Carabao Cup journey came to an end on Thursday night. Heading to Anfield with a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Tottenham were blown away by Arne Slot's rampant Liverpool team.
It was all too easy for the Merseyside club as the visitors produced such a dire showing on a hugely important night for the football club with a Wembley final place up for grabs. Always going to be a major test for Ange Postecoglou and his team coming up against the best team in Europe right now, Spurs didn't even trouble Liverpool once and were deservedly on the end of a 4-0 scoreline.
The closest they came to scoring was when Son Heung-min hit the crossbar late on at a time when the game was long over as a contest. Spurs didn't even register a shot on target in the game and now they have to find the perfect response at Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Sunday night.
There was very little for Tottenham fans to take from the game as their hopes of a final berth were well and truly put to the sword. Perhaps one ray of light for some was the performance of new signing Kevin Danso.
Joining on loan from Lens last Sunday, the Austrian international was thrown straight into the team at Anfield. It came as no surprise to see Postecoglou plump for his new man in the starting XI after previously throwing other acquisitions in at the first time of asking.
Taking his place alongside Ben Davies at the heart of defence, Danso delivered a strong performance and appears to be a smart signing on first viewing. The ex-Southampton man got his body in the way of a number of shots and looked very comfortable on the ball.
There was even one moment in the first half where he showed his quality by seizing upon a loose ball outside the Spurs area and carrying it forward for quite some distance as he attempted to get Tottenham moving upfield. In terms of his numbers from the game (via FotMob), Danso registered a pass completion rate of 83% following 33 successful passes from the 40 he attempted, he made three passes into the final third, he was accurate with four of his seven long balls and he created one chance.
He also made eight defensive actions, three blocks, three clearances and three recoveries in his playing time, while also winning all three of his ground duels and one of his three aerial duels. It really was a positive display from the Voitsberg-born player.
Danso perhaps could have reacted better for Cody Gakpo's goal as Mohamed Salah's cross just seemed to evade him by a matter of inches at a time when Darwin Nunez lined up for an acrobatic effort and Curtis Jones ghosted in behind him. However, that should not take away from what was a strong debut.
Speaking in his post-match press conference about his two new signings, Postecoglou opened up on Danso and delivered a positive assessment of the centre-back.
"Yeah they did OK," he said. "Kevin was really positive, as was Mathys. It's hard, you know, throwing guys in after their first training sessions, it's not ideal.
"That's part of our dilemma at the moment of trying to get some fluency and consistency but also knowing we have to keep tinkering with the starting line up to account for everything going on. But I thought they acquitted themselves well."
Amid the question marks over when exactly Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero will return from injury, Danso looks like he will get a decent run in the team. There should also be plenty more to come from the ex-Southampton man as he spends more time on the training pitch with his Tottenham teammates learning Postecoglou's ways.
Truly a night to forget for all connected with Tottenham, Danso at least offered everyone hope that he can be a very shrewd signing by the football club.
Listen to the latest episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham by clicking here for in-depth Spurs chat on your preferred podcast platform.