Losing 4-0 is never an easy pill to swallow, especially when you are ninety minutes away from a Cup final. Despite this, manager Ange Postecoglou has revealed the lessons learned from Spurs’ semi-final defeat.
Spurs crash out of the Carabao Cup
It was a night to forget for manager Ange Postecoglou and his Tottenham side as they fell short in a humbling 4-0 defeat in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup.
The performance from the Lilywhites on the night was nothing but abysmal – errors, and a lack of grit and determination, ultimately cost them the game.
Across the pitch, only a few players showed some character. Kevin Danso was one of the few silver lining as he did not look out of place in Postecoglou’s system on his debut.
Djed Spence is another who seemed to leave his heart on the pitch. He played in the both full-back positions, and also on the right-wing – he never stopped running.
With the Lilywhites now out of the Carabao Cup, their chances of silverware lie on how far they go in the FA Cup and Europa League.
Ange Postecoglou reflects on the lessons Spurs will learn
Speaking to football.london after the defeat, manager Ange Postecoglou shared a few of the lessons he learned from the game.
He said: “I think they understood the opportunity for sure. When the reality of it out there hits you, it’s a bit different to maybe what you envisioned in your head.
“We’ll learn from tonight but the major lesson to learn is that we can’t go into games like this looking to protect or try to get results in other ways than what’s got us to this point. I’m sure the players will learn from that, I’m sure they’re disappointed by that.
“As much as we’ve missed an opportunity to get to a final, what probably hurting even more is that we didn’t really give ourselves a chance with our performance tonight.”
How bad were Tottenham Hotspur against Liverpool
Looking at the stats, Tottenham Hotspur’s performance was pretty bad. They underperformed and were well beaten by a relentless Liverpool side.
According to fotmob, Ange Postecoglou’s side had a disappointing 36% of the ball, while Liverpool managed 64%. In terms of shots, Tottenham Hotspur failed to register a single one on target, despite taking five.
The Lilywhites also managed a rather disappointing xG of 0.18, while their opponent had a whopping 3.72 – on the balance of things, Ange’s side did not deserve to go through to the final.
Liverpool, on the other hand, have booked a place at Wembley Stadium and will be gearing up to face Newcastle United, who knocked Arsenal out in the first semi-final, 4-0 on aggregate.