Gallery: Player Ratings – Tottenham Hotspur 0-1 Liverpool

Jose Mourinho – 7

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– On another day, Tottenham would have won that game and we would have been talking about his tactical masterclass. However, things didn’t turn out that way, so we must address some disappointing aspects of the game. His insistence on starting Eriksen in central midfield is another baffling decision that I have to add to his list alongside Sissoko and Lucas’s inclusions and Ndombele and Lo Celso’s exclusions. To add insult to injury, he also started Rose instead of Sessegnon who has been playing better recently and growing in confidence. If he thought this was too big of a game for the youngster to start, then how can he explain starting Tanganga? On the positive side though, he clearly had a game plan for today and it showed. The defence played well, and the risky decision to play Tanganga paid off even if the youngster was at fault for the goal. The counter attacks could have provided a goal or two but the players at his disposal are either lacking confidence or quality. He also used the same double Argentinian impact sub trick he did against Middlesbrough and changed the game completely. However, this should raise the question: why didn’t these two quality players start the game? All in all, I was mostly impressed with today’s decisions and performance, but this is a different type of game compared to the majority of games remaining. Liverpool allowed spaces at the back and attacked Spurs from the start, giving away counter attacking opportunities. But other teams in the league will not let Tottenham have that kind of freedom, and the attacking patterns need to be sharper in those games. Additionally, Lo Celso absolutely needs to start the next games and Eriksen and Rose should not be anything more than impact subs going forward. Still, it was an impressive performance that could be built on with more quality and confidence.

Opinion

Tottenham Hotspur came close to stealing a very valuable point against league leaders Liverpool at home, but ultimately came short, losing 1 – 0 with Firmino on the scoresheet. Jose Mourinho surprised everyone by giving Japhet Tanganga his Premier League debut against currently the best side in the world and kept the back three shape that struggled against Middlesbrough last week in the FA Cup.

The game started off predictably with Liverpool being the much better side and controlling possession while Tottenham having to sit back and defend with numbers. Tottenham’s strategy was to counter with Dele, Lucas, and Son all looking to attack Liverpool defenders and create chances against the run of play.

Liverpool had their clearest chance in the opening minutes with Tanganga blocking Firmino’s shot at the goal line and keeping the game level. Liverpool continued to dominate from then on however, and found their opening goal through Firmino’s good strike after 4 mistakes in a row from the Spurs defence with Winks, Alderweireld, Dele, and Tanganga all slow to react from a throw-in. Still, Tottenham showed character and desire to keep the deficit at one going into half time which would have encouraged Mourinho.

Second half started with more of the same with Liverpool now controlling the tempo even more by keeping possession and creating half chances for their front three. The press by Spurs attackers didn’t seem to alter the way Liverpool played, and the defenders were not troubled by the counter attacks from Lucas and Son. The game changing moment came in the 69th minute, when Mourinho introduced the Argentine duo of Lo Celso and Lamela in place of Eriksen and Rose, both of whom had terrible performances up to that point. After the changes, Spurs looked like a completely different side with the press working much better and attacking opportunities coming one after the other. Tottenham had two clear cut chances to equalise and maybe win the game late on when first Son then Lo Celso missed from inside the box.

The game ended with Liverpool able to close out the game, but Tottenham finally had a performance to take positives out of after a wretched period riddled with dropped points and injuries. The attacking play was much better, especially in the second half, and the defence was a lot more engaged.

Tanganga’s good debut was also encouraging, as it looks like the aging Belgian duo could be replaced from the academy, freeing up the transfer budget for more pressing needs in the squad.

Tottenham will play Middlesbrough in the FA Cup replay midweek, before travelling to Watford next Saturday. Mourinho again needs to use the positives from today to shape his team for the next games, something he hasn’t done in a while. Hopefully, this performance