Now let’s move on

After Wednesday’s game, this game was going to be a wet squid. Nevertheless, we came close to getting a draw on many occasions. But we lost, and now we must concentrate on fighting for a top 4 spot.

Spurs have lost five successive away games for the first time since May 2004, a run of six under manager David Pleat. We’ve also lost 11 league games this season, as many as we had in our previous two campaigns combined (4 in 2016-17, 7 in 2017-18). None of this is good reading, but what it does say is that we can’t progress further under this team. In the summer we need to refresh our squad otherwise we will crash downwards.

Son Heung-min may not have punished City on Saturday, as he did on Wednesday, but his performance confirmed he will be something to be reckoned with in the absence of the injured Harry Kane. When Kane is missing, the weight inevitably shifts on to the shoulders of the Son, but it is an added burden he carries lightly. Son was the man who had the Etihad’s nerves on edge whenever he had the ball or was in the general vicinity of it. He brought crucial saves from Ederson and played with the pace and power that now makes him out as one of the Premier League’s most excellent forwards.

Nevertheless, we could not quite duplicate our heroics of Wednesday when, even though we lost 4-3 on the night, we made it through to the Champions League semi-finals on aggregate.

As for the match: Phil Foden’s first Premier League goal returned Manchester City to the top of the table, pushing Liverpool into second. To be honest, I would rather see City win the title than Liverpool.

What next? Well, on Tuesday we face Brighton at our new stadium, with both teams desperate for a win, but for different reasons. Brighton need to win to stave off a relegation possibility. We need a win to help us with a fighting chance for a top-four place. That match is followed by West Ham on Saturday, again at our new stadium. Any game against West Ham can be tricky. Once those games have been completed we then return to Champions League football and Ajax, and without Son. Do we have enough in our squad to cope without Kane and Son? Well, it will undoubtedly test our resolve. Whatever the outcome is, and reiterating what I said earlier; this squad has gone as far as it has. We need to now to rethink, refresh and start anew for season 2019/2020. Who will come and who will go, well, that is question Pochettino and his team need to ponder.
For those who are feeling down after Saturday’s game, just remember, we stopped City from reaching the Semi-Final of the Champions League and replaced them with ourselves…

Let us dream a bit; Tottenham Hotspur v Barcelona in the Final of the UEFA Champions League… a dream or a real possibility? Well, they said we wouldn’t qualify out of the group stages, we did. They said we couldn’t beat Borussia Dortmund, and we did, then they said that Manchester City would make mincemeat out of us, and we ended knocking them out of the competition. They said… yeah, they said… they can go and flagellate themselves, because what we say… is “To Dare is to Do,” and we have dared and we have shown them that anything is possible in the world of football. How does the song go again… #Pochettino’s blue and white army…#

Or
# To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go#

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