Tottenham Hotspur 1-2 Nottingham Forest (Richarlison 87′; Anderson 5′, Wood 16′)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – Chris Wood kept Nottingham Forest’s Champions League dream very much alive with the winner in a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
But the dreams of European glory that Thursday night’s win over Eintracht Frankfurt had engendered in a downtrodden Spurs fanbase faded in 16 first-half minutes on Monday night which, by everyone’s admission, rather summed up Tottenham’s season.
Ange Postecoglou is convinced that the world is out to get Spurs, and him, and where playing Europe-chasing fairytale protagonists Nottingham Forest is concerned he might have been right. But in fact he is getting far more slack in the rope than previous managers who have fallen foul of Daniel Levy.
At least across the touchline for Postecoglou on Monday night was a ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, proving that there is life for Spurs managers who are sacked. (If there weren’t, there wouldn’t be very many top-flight managers left by now.)
Nuno Espirito Santo lasted just four months in north London before pantomime villain Levy donned his dark cloak and swung his scythe the day after Halloween in 2021.
When Nuno was sacked, he had lost five of his last seven league games: with defeat on Monday, so too has Postecoglou.
Yet this is not even the Australian’s worst run of the season, or even the calendar year. Between 22 December and 26 January, Spurs managed a solitary point in their seven league games, drawing 2-2 with Wolves. In the two weeks following that run, they were knocked out of both domestic cups. Much as it is now, the Europa League was their only hope.
Forest probably saved Tottenham from a proper shoeing by their own pragmatism, taking a two-goal lead in just 16 minutes and opting to protect the lead from a Spurs side who would prefer a basketball-style barnstormer as opposed to a pitched battle against a set defence.
Forest battened down the hatches relatively well, despite Tottenham’s 22 shots. They only really relied on goalkeeper Matz Sels twice in the second half to save their bacon, once from Richarlison after some rare mad-cap defending and once to claw away a curling effort by the excellent Wilson Odobert. Otherwise, Sels would have been eying a 14th clean sheet bonus of his Premier League campaign until Richarlison met Pedro Porro’s perfect cross with a powerful header three minutes from time to give the scoreline a less one-sided appearance.
“It’s another game we’ve lost where we shouldn’t lose, and it’s been a big part of our season,” Postecoglou said.
“We’re just making things really difficult for ourselves in key moments. It’s a little bit of concentration, giving away poor goals. It’s a shame, because our football was outstanding. We totally dominated the game.”
He added: “From our perspective, it’s something we need to accept responsibility [for], that we’ve fallen short of the standards we need to have.
“I don’t think they [the players] lack motivation today, because I thought our football was outstanding and but again, we’ve paid the price for lacking focus and concentration in key moments, and it’s another game we’ve let slip.
“We should learn from these things, but it’s a constant in our make-up at the moment that we something we need to eradicate.”
Standards. Concentration. Responsibility. Focus. “We” should learn. Players themselves have to bear some burden for providing those, but they are also things that are coachable. Is this a manager writing his own death warrant by pointing out his own flaws? It starts to feel that way.
The received wisdom is that Postecoglou will survive the summer if he wins Tottenham the Europa League, earning Spurs Champions League football and a first European trophy since 1984.
But there is a chance even that is not enough. Tottenham need another eight points from five remaining games to beat their worst ever Premier League total of 44. This is already their worst ever season at home in a 38-game campaign, having been beaten eight times at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Can Levy really justify hanging on to Postecoglou if the team reach a 30-year low? Previous incumbents of the Australian’s office will feel he is getting special treatment that they never did if he remains in post.