Tottenham Hotspur are through to the semi-finals of the Europa League after a hard-fought 1-0 away victory in Frankfurt saw them claim a 2-1 aggregate win.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 Tottenham:
Europa League semi-finalists!
Tottenham fans have had little to cheer about of late, so let’s say it again. Tottenham Hotspur are Europa League semi-finalists! There was plenty of doom and gloom heading into the away game in Frankfurt, with Spurs in poor form and Eintracht so strong at home, but Ange Postecoglou and co overcame the odds. With Tottenham’s season at risk of dying in the torrential German rain, the Lilywhites so marching on into the final four, with hopes of ending their long, long trophy drought still alive.
Tottenham looked absolutely locked in
I know it often feels like lazy analysis, but Tottenham looked like they wanted it tonight. That has not always been the case this season. In fact, it has been the complete opposite of late. Spurs have been going through the motions for the past two months, with some lazy defending and unimaginative attack. Tonight, Tottenham were a team. They looked brave and together and determined.
James Maddison took a whack for the club. Cristian Romero and Micky Van de Ven threw their bodies on the line time and time again. Dominic Solanke ran his legs into the ground. Lucas Bergvall and Rodrigo Bentancur covered every blade of grass. Guglielmo Vicario made up for his Wolves blunders with a huge save. Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie offered the perfect blend of attack vs structure and defence. Even Mathys Tel and Brennan Johnson, who didn’t have too much joy going forward, put in such a shift the other way.
It begs the question, where has this level of desire and determination been, but boy are we glad to see it when it counts!
Ange Postecoglou deserves a lot of credit
Postecoglou has been criticised a lot over the last two months – and rightly so at times – but you have to be willing to hand out credit when it’s deserved too. The stick he has often been beaten with this season is that he is too proud to deviate from his high-risk, high-line Ange-ball, no matter the circumstances.
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Tonight, Postecoglou understood the context of the game and the pressure of knockout football and set up a far more sensible system. Spurs still got the ball down and played at times, but they also weren’t afraid to go long, hit the channels, and park the bus when needed. It might not be pretty, but that’s what knockout football is all about. You won’t lift the Europa League trophy without winning a couple of games ugly. Well done, Ange!
Dominic Solanke ends his Tottenham goal drought
Solanke started up front for Tottenham tonight in their biggest game of the season off the back of 11 games without a goal. That is not ideal for any striker. I can’t imagine the pressure Solanke must have felt standing over that penalty in the midst of a goal drought, at the pivotal point of such a gargantuan game. Despite first-choice penalty taker Heung-min Son being back in London, Dom stepped up and dispatched it coolly down the middle, ultimately earning the win and the semi-final qualification.
Forget his goal for a moment, though. Solanke ran through brick walls for every single Tottenham fan watching tonight. He pressed every ball in defence. He ran every channel. He tracked back to help the team at every opportunity. Not a lot of modern-day strikers will give you that kind of intense physical effort across 90 minutes, and Tottenham should feel lucky to have him.
Return of the back four
Believe it or not, that was just the second time Tottenham have been able to field a back four of Pedro Porro, Cristian Romero, Micky Van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie since December 8. That’s how bad the injury crisis has been this season. It’s no coincidence that we just watched one of the most controlled defensive performances all year from the Spurs back line, which resulted in a clean sheet. Even Kevin Danso came off the bench and looked really strong as the Lilywhites switched to a back five in the dying minutes. One could also argue that Djed Spence was unlucky not to miss out.