Tottenham slumped to an 18th league defeat of the season, going down 2-1 at home to Nottingham Forest.
Early goals by Elliot Anderson and Chris Wood boosted Forest’s Champions League hopes, although there were reasons for encouragement for Spurs, who dominated at 2-0 down and struck late through Richarlison.
Here are three Spurs talking points from the game…
European progress is Tottenham’s clear priority
But this was another frustrating occasion for the club in the Premier League.
For the second weekend running, Postecoglou’s side started the game in an embarrassingly lax fashion, trailing after five minutes to Anderson’s fierce strike.
There was an element of fortune to the finish, which took a deflection off Rodrigo Bentancur to deceive Guglielmo Vicario, but Spurs’ failings were exactly the same as for Wolves’ second-minute opener in the 4-2 defeat at Molineux last weekend; they failed to adequately clear a set-piece or pick up a free man on the edge of the box.
And Forest’s second goal after 16 minutes was another example of Postecoglou’s side not learning their lessons.
Wood had already ghosted beyond Micky van de Ven to double Forest’s lead but the goal was ruled off by the VAR for offside.
A few minutes later, however, Wood found space between Cristian Romero and van de Ven (both of whom were replaced by Postecoglou at the interval) and easily beat Vicario to the header.
Tel produced one of his best performances in a Tottenham shirt
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From that point onwards, Spurs were much the better team and unlucky to score just once. Richarlison had missed four good opportunities before finally heading home Pedro Porro’s cross, Mathys Tel blazed wide from a great position and Dejan Kulusevski’s header was hooked off the line spectacularly by Harry Toffolo.
But the damage was done in another sloppy opening, which suggested Spurs were ill-prepared mentally and tactically for another league game.
Maybe that does not really matter, as long as they can raise their levels against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League semi-final next month, but there were reasons here for the Norwegian champions to be both concerned by Spurs’ threat and encouraged by their sloppiness.
The strange thing was, a 2-1 home defeat came with plenty of reasons for optimism, particularly in the performances of Tel and Wilson Odobert.
The France Under-21 internationals lined up either side of Richarlison, who was starting for the first time since February 6, and both advanced their cases to be included against Bodo, especially Tel.
The Bayern Munich loanee built on his bright display in the Europa League quarter-final win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday with a confident showing, linking up well with left-back Djed Spence and worrying his full-back.
For the first time, the 19-year-old looked like a potential £50million player and possible long-term replacement for Heung-min Son – who was missing again with a foot injury.
He did, though, squander a great chance, blazing high and wide after Neco Williams made a mess of Porro’s cross in the first half.
Odobert was similarly lacking end product but his willingness to run at his man and ability to go inside or out make him an asset for Postecoglou’s Spurs, and he was also lively here.
If his teammates, notably Richarlison, had been sharper, the 20-year-old might have finished with at least one assist.
There was an irony that Dominic Solanke has been crying out for proper service in recent weeks but he was introduced as Odobert was withdrawn in the 67th-minute.
As it stands, Son and Brennan Johnson appear to be Postecoglou’s first-choice wide men, and rightly so given their superior numbers in the final third.
But Tel and Odobert have shown some promise and potentially given the head coach a positive headache going forward.
Vicario struggled on Monday night
REUTERS
Vicario form now a concern
For the second weekend running, Vicario was at fault for certainly one and arguably two goals in another alarmingly shaky showing from the goalkeeper.
If last weekend at Wolves, when Vicario was to blame for the hosts’ first two goals, could be put down as a blip, his form is now a serious concern for Postecoglou.
Anderson’s strike took a deflection and was tricky for the Italian but he still might have kept it out, and there was no excusing his poor judgement as he raced off his line for the second goal, only to easily be beaten by Wood in the air.
With a European semi-final ahead, Spurs need Vicario – who is a dressing room leader and one of their few established senior players – to be confident and sharp.
Right now, he looks anything but.
