Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s defeat against Wolves

Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-1 against Wolves today in a frustrating game that saw the away side capitalise on the Lilywhites’ defensive weaknesses.

Here are five things we learned from today’s disappointing game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:

Porro and Udogie are key

We knew the first choice full-backs were good, but seeing Emerson Royal and Ben Davies sub-par attempts to fill in today just highlighted how important both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie really are.

They are perfect for Postecoglou’s adventurous system, and we really missed the injured duo today. Here’s hoping they are fit for the Palace game.

Set-pieces are becoming a real issue

Another game, another goal conceded from a corner. After being so strong at defending set-pieces all season, it’s frustrating that these situations are becoming our achilles heel of late. Opponents have spotted a weakness, and we keep getting exploited. This needs to be rectified quickly.

Ange’s half-time team talks must be good

It took less than a minute for Spurs to pull a goal back in the second half, with Dejan Kulusevski coming out of the blocks quickly and taking his goal well. Spurs pushed on from there on out and dominated the majority of the second half.

We’ve seen this kind of thing a few times now, where we fall behind in the first half and then come out strong second half, and the only explanation is that Ange Postecoglou gives an incredible half-time team talk. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t go on to win it today.

Spurs should sign Pedro Neto

Tottenham have been linked with the Wolves man all week, and the tricky winger clearly wanted to impress today. He produced some exceptional dribbling and creativity to give his side the lead in the second half, and in contrast to the lack of inventiveness from Spurs’ wingers, Neto looks like the exact kind of player we are looking for.

Compact defending will kill Spurs

Once again, we have seen this Spurs side struggle to break down a team who are well-organised and compact in defence.

Some will say Wolves parked the bus, but the truth is, it was a very shrewd and solid performance from the opponents who were clearly instructed to set up a certain way, and it worked. When we are given space, we are deadly, but once that space is restricted, we run out of ideas very quickly.

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