Карабао цомын хүрээнд Ливерпүүлээс 1-3-аар хожигдсон нь Тоттенхэм Хотспурын шинэ бүрэлдэхүүн болон тоглолтын хэв маяг төлөвших шатандаа явааг харууллаа.
Ливерпүүлийн талбайд болсон тоглолтод Алексис Мак Аллистер, Коди Гакпо нар гоолдож, улмаар Доминик Собослай нэмэлт цагт гурав дахь гоолыг оруулснаар Тоттенхэмийг тэмцээнээс хасагдахад хүргэв. Тоттенхэмийн хувьд Конор Галлахер нэг гоолыг нөхсөн нь наймдугаар сарын 26-наас хойш тус багийн анхны гоол болсон юм. Дасгалжуулагч Роберто Де Зербигийн хувьд тоглогчдынхоо ур чадварт бүрэн итгэлтэй байгаагаа илэрхийлж, багийн тоглолт удахгүй жигдэрнэ гэсэн байр суурьтай байна.
Тоглолтын явцад Лукас Бергвалл болон Омар Мармуш нар гоол оруулах боломжийг алдсан нь багийн довтолгооны төгсгөл хийх чадвар хараахан бүрэлдээгүйг илтгэв. Хэдийгээр багийн бүрэлдэхүүнд 10 шинэ тоглогч нэгдэж, шинэ тактикийг нэвтрүүлж байгаа ч Жэймс Мэддисон, Матеус Фернандес нарын сэлгээгээр орж ирсэн тоглолт нь довтолгооны шугамыг идэвхжүүлж чадлаа.
Роберто Де Зерби багийнхаа довтолгооны дөрвөл болох Мохаммед Кудус, Доминик Соланке, Омар Мармуш болон Савио нарыг ирээдүйтэй гэж үзэж байгаа бөгөөд тэднийг тоглолтын хэмнэлд бүрэн ороход хугацаа шаардлагатайг онцоллоо. Тоттенхэм ирэх бямба гарагт Астон Виллатай тоглох бөгөөд багийн ахиц дэвшил, тоглолтын “оч” хэзээ гарах нь хөгжөөн дэмжигчдийн анхаарлын төвд байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
There is one simple question on the minds of all Tottenham Hotspur fans this week: Is this moving in the right direction or not?
Tuesday’s visit to Liverpool was the sixth game of their season, a fascinating Anfield back-and-forth between two much-changed teams, each committed to their own enterprising style. There was some excellent football, some ordinary football, and the end result is that Liverpool are into the next round of the Carabao Cup and Spurs are not.
But even that feels less immediately significant right now than the matter of Tottenham’s overall progress. What fans hope to see right now is not necessarily a finished product. People know that they are still in the foothills of a new era, with 10 summer signings and a new style of play. They are not going to click before the first international break.
What people do expect to see, though, is a sense that the pieces are moving into place, that the teeth of the cogs are finding each other. That the players are becoming fluent in the rhythms and patterns of Roberto De Zerbi’s football, this shared language that they speak together. And that the great clicking moment, the bursting of the dam, the rainfall after a drought, is coming.
Roberto De Zerbi’s ideas are taking time to bed in (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
There were certainly enough moments here where Spurs looked like they were building up to the moment that fans were hoping for. Even though De Zerbi made eight changes, his team still tried to get on the front foot early on, winning second balls, getting a clear foothold. It was not as good as the first 25 minutes against Everton on Saturday but it was not nothing either. And when Destiny Udogie’s cross from the left was deflected into the path of Lucas Bergvall, he should have done better than shooting straight at Giorgi Mamardashvili from close range.
Tottenham were trying to move the ball forwards through the lines but it was not always easy. This was Mohammed Kudus’ first start since January, and while he looked physically sharp he also looked like he needs more football to get his confidence back, and to help him make quicker decisions in the final third. He missed a difficult chance on the volley after Spurs’ best break of the first half, which went through Udogie, Omar Marmoush and Bergvall before the shot.
The problem for Spurs is that they were up against a team who, even though they have changed manager and style, have the stars to get them out of holes. Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo put them 1-0 and 2-0 up with precise finishes, the type of goals that Premier League-winning players can produce under pressure. And Dominik Szoboszlai killed the game in added time with a beautiful strike to make it 3-1. Spurs simply do not have established match-winners like those three, at least not yet.
But De Zerbi made it very clear in the aftermath that he trusts in the quality of his attacking players, without having to wait for the January transfer market to open. “I believe in my players, I have a big confidence, a big opinion of my players,” De Zerbi said. “And when we arrive to find the click, to win a game, I think we enjoy with these players. Because the qualities of these players are incredible.”
And there was something impressive about the second half fightback from 2-0 down. Spurs briefly looked totally penned in by Liverpool’s press but they found a way through it, especially when Mateus Fernandes and then James Maddison came on. Conor Gallagher headed in a Fernandes corner — Spurs’ first goal since 26 August — but more impressive was the way they kept pushing. Marmoush forced a brilliant save from Mamardashvili late on that would have made it 2-2, before Szoboszlai killed off the tie.
Mohammed Kudus needs more time to get up to speed for Tottenham (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Games like this allow fans to draw whichever conclusions they want. If you want to see a half-empty glass then you could point to another failure to score from open play, the lack of ruthlessness, the problems Spurs got into from their own build-up. But there was more than enough here, too, for the optimists, not least the shots and chances created in a difficult away game.
De Zerbi knows better than anyone that this is where Spurs must keep improving. “We have to shoot more, we have to shoot better, we have to finish better the clear situations,” he said.
But the fact that Tottenham are starting to create those situations more regularly is a cause for hope. Kudus, Dominic Solanke, Marmoush and Savio — Spurs’ four established goalscorers — are all improving. When De Zerbi mentioned the four of them together afterwards, with Kudus as a 10, it sounded like his dream of a powerful frontline. With a combination of Maddison, Fernandes and Sandro Tonali in midfield this could be a team with goals in it.
When De Zerbi spoke after the Everton game on Saturday the Italian word he reached for was sbloccare, the verb ‘to unblock’, which his team needed if they were to score. After this game it was la scintilla, the spark needed to light this fire.
No-one knows when exactly that will come. It may not even be this Saturday against Aston Villa, and if it is not then it will be three more frustrating weeks until club football resumes on October 10. But it does feel as if the click, the spark, the breaking of the dam is not too far away.
It may not come immediately. But you can start to sense what it will look like.
