Opinion: A woeful attack

It was the game we most could have afforded to lose—win next week in Bulgaria and then in the return fixture and this one has almost no importance. And to be fair, the team that Jose fielded in the first half have had almost no experience playing together. Bale and Vinicius arrived recently, Dele and Bergwijn without a lot of playing time this season. Lo Celso still coming back from an injury.

But still the attack was utterly futile all night. And this wasn’t Burnley we were up against—only in the last ten minutes or so did Antwerp park the Belgian bus knowing they might get all three points—it was a fairly open game up until then. And I would gander that… eight times? Ten times? Twelve times? Spurs had good runs developing where one simple well-placed ball or movement to space would have produced a goal or, at the very least, a gilt-edged chance. And never—not once—did it occur. Sure they could easily have scored against us a couple of times in the second half—Winks made a horrific back pass and we were laid bare to counterattacks—but the real damage done was Davies’ mistake in the first half and then all of those failures on the offensive.

Bale I thought might have been the one player in the opening period with the best decisions and sense of the game. Bergwijn was awful, constantly losing the ball, making poor decisions, failing to occupy space or make the right pass. Vinicius came down to earth, making a few good runs but sputtering at the moment when he could have created something similar to his exemplary work against LASK last week. And Dele? He cuts a sad figure on the pitch these days. I counted at least three examples where the Dele of old makes the right play and threads a pass forward or finds a gap in the defence and something good would undoubtedly result. Not last night —the passes were woeful, the play lacking any of the old swagger or confidence. I simply don’t know what Mourinho can do to change it.

In the second half we brought the first teamers on, and they weren’t a hell of a lot better though they obviously tilted the field more in our direction. Lamela for Lo Celso was the most curious decision—I wish we could have had some of the latter’s panache in that second half while Lamela herkied and jerkied to nothing most of the time. Son was bullied off the ball three or four times; Lucas didn’t have any ideas though he always supplies energy; Kane was bottled up—and the whole thing was simply an exercise in futility. By the final quarter hour but for the one nice cross by Aurier which Lamela failed to control or direct we were left to firing twenty-five yard shots (not you, Winksy. Please) at a goalkeeper who wasn’t going to mishandle any of them. Hojgberg simply seems flummoxed when he is thrust forward into a more direct playmaking role—and neither Lamela nor Winks had any good ideas either.

The less I can say about Ben Davies the better. He made an awful mistake and he is slow. Rodon’s ascension to regular centre back can’t come soon enough. I worry in all the games where Reguilon must be rested if we are going to be both vulnerable down our left-wing and unable to produce much going forward either.

It’s done. Jose won’t let them lose next Thursday. Brighton in two days, and forget about this one.