Tottenham Hotspur fell to their first defeat of 2020 in their first game of 2020 yesterday, losing 1-0 to Southampton at St Mary’s. This meant that Spurs had not kept an away clean sheet in over a year in the Premier League.
The defeat also dented Tottenham’s top-four hopes once again, as Chelsea picked up a draw and Leicester, Man City, and Arsenal all won their respective games.
Jan Vertonghen had a match to forget against the Saints yesterday, as he not only made defensive errors in the match, but missed what was perhaps Tottenham’s best chance.
Vertonghen ghosted in at the back post for a set-piece but smashed his effort over the bar rather than finding the net for the equaliser.
The Belgian defender has now claimed that Tottenham’s tactics were off against Southampton, stating that they used long balls for too early in the match.
It is unclear as to whether this is a dig at Jose Mourinho’s game plan or just the way he and his teammates executed it.
He said (Standard): “First half we had to play more. There was the possibility to play, but we used long balls too quick.”
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