Spurs remain a curate’s egg after another game of two halves at Brentford

Not for the primary time this season Spurs took an hour to get going at Brentford, however their level from this sport sums up each their finest and their worst.

‘Spurs at residence, you say? On Boxing Day? A lunchtime kick-off? And eight days after the top of the World Cup? With Hugo Lloris and Cristian Romero rested and Fraser Forster making his first look in objective for them and Richarlison injured?’ You possibly can solely think about the extent to which Thomas Frank’s eyes lit up when this fixture at this explicit time was thrown up by the Commodore 64 that decides such issues.

However when push got here to shove within the first Premier League sport again after its enforced six-week break, Brentford couldn’t fairly discover sufficient to get the win that had seemed so seemingly when Spurs gave them their two-goal lead 9 minutes into the second half. And whereas Antonio Conte might really feel considerably vindicated over his anger at his staff being pushed again into motion simply eight days after the World Cup ended, the reality stays that the shortcomings displayed throughout this match have been repeats of shortcomings that they have been displaying properly earlier than the World Cup started.

For an hour on the Brentford Neighborhood Stadium, Spurs performed with all of the nerviness that sums them up once they’re at their worst, giving possession away cheaply, trying weak and panicky each time Brentford pushed ahead, displaying this unusual type of nerviness that appears to descend over them for durations of video games. However once they did click on, they served up reminder after reminder of why they are often so harmful within the first place and nearly snatched a win within the closing phases.

Maybe a number of errors have been inevitable, contemplating the bobbly pitch upon which they have been enjoying. There was definitely a touch of excellent fortune about Brentford’s first objective. A cross from the left from Bryan Mbeumo discovered Christian Norgaard on the far publish, however his volley would have sailed properly large had it not deflected off Clement Lenglet. Forster reacted by half-blocking along with his leg, however Vitaly Janelt was readily available to stab the ball over the road to provide the house facet the lead.

Proper place, proper time!

Brentford have the breakthrough towards Spurs due to Vitaly Janelt 🐝

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Brentford have been good worth for his or her half-time lead, and seemed good for all three factors when bookmaker’s good friend Ivan Toney scored from a nook 9 minutes into the second half to double their benefit. At this level, Spurs’ efficiency had felt like a compilation of their worst bits of the season up to now. At factors like this, they appear able to dropping to simply about anyone, inclined to any type of press and more likely to nearly solely static on the fallacious time after which dashing round like recently-decapitated chickens once they want calm heads as properly.

However when that transformation comes, it arrives rapidly and nearly with out discover. Twenty minutes into the second half, Harry Kane brushed away one or two World Cup demons with a towering far publish header that appeared roughly pushed into the objective by power of will, and 6 minutes later Matt Doherty’s cut-back was swept in by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg to carry them stage. It was one of the best of Spurs, it was the worst of Spurs.

During the last twenty minutes, having rediscovered their self-confidence halfway via the second half of a match but once more, Spurs poured ahead within the pursuit of a profitable objective. Kane hit the crossbar with a header within the closing minutes, and deep into stoppage-time Son Heung-min’s low shot needed to be neatly saved by David Raya. However even for all of this, when Brentford did handle to push ahead they nonetheless seemed able to snatching the win themselves. That panickiness by no means actually left the Spurs defence. All that basically occurred was that the midfield acquired their act again collectively and stopped the ball getting via to bother them.

Spurs stay maybe the Premier League’s biggest imponderables. They’re able to glorious soccer, however they continue to be essentially hamstrung by the truth that they appear nearly incapable of displaying themselves till they’ve been enjoying for an hour. After they do lastly defrost and begin enjoying, they’re extraordinarily troublesome to play towards. However on the identical time that defensive nerviness is so actual as to look palpable at instances. They could properly have picked up extra factors from dropping positions than some other staff within the Premier League this season, however this solely actually makes their flaws look all of the extra evident.

We’ve already repeatedly seen this season that Spurs usually are not on the stage of the opposite groups within the Premier League’s high six. They’ve performed 4 video games towards the opposite 5, and haven’t taken a single level from video games towards them, having not performed Manchester Metropolis in any respect but. This can be a dangerous behavior that must be damaged. Within the house of sixteen days from the center of January they play Arsenal at residence and Manchester Metropolis residence and away. Ought to their shonkier facet lead them via these video games, there’s a robust probability that their aspirations of getting again into the Champions League might be hanging by a thread earlier than spring even returns.

However once they click on they click on, and their efficiency over the past third of this sport did show why they’re within the Premier League’s high 4 within the first place. Kane took predictable abuse following his penalty miss on the World Cup, however nonetheless leapt to attain the objective that gave them a route again into the sport. The return of Dejan Kulusevski gave them slightly extra fluidity in attacking positions, although he may have one other sport or two to completely rediscover the shape that he was in earlier than harm interrupted his season.

There stays the seed of a possible title-challenging staff in Spurs, however the truth is that this has been evident for a lot of the final 5 or 6 years with out a lot of a severe problem ever having come. Maybe plugging a few the gaps within the squad throughout the January switch window will make them extra stable-looking all through the second half of the season and assist to put aside that feeling that Spurs are solely ever within the high 4 as a placeholder for another person. On the proof of yet one more Jekyll & Hyde efficiency on this sport, for Spurs not less than, the World Cup doesn’t appear to have modified something by any means.

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