The ice beneath Ange Postecoglou has become even thinner, if that were even possible. Indeed, the end is surely nigh as far as his term at Tottenham Hotspur is concerned.
As Spurs lost 4-2 to Wolves on Sunday afternoon, it came as little surprise, truth be told. The errors that dominated the game were of little shock either.
Postecoglou has engineered some brilliant football since arriving at Spurs but the error-stricken performances from his players have been all too frequent now.
The Europa League may well still provide solace for the Aussie and his bunch of players but not even that feels like it will save him from the sack.
Indeed, the display at Wolves just about summed up their season.
An error-riddled display from Spurs (again)
Spurs can score goals; we know that under Ange. They did find the net twice on Sunday, netting through loanee Mathys Tel and substitute Richarlison. However, it was too little too late. The damage had already been done.
It all started early on when Rayan Ait-Nouri’s volley found the net. Guglielmo Vicaro’s punch from a Wolves free-kick didn’t go very far and as a result, was powered home by the left-back.
Vicario had a total nightmare between the sticks for Spurs, notably handed a 2/10 player rating by Football.London’s Alasdair Gold at full-time.
That wasn’t the goalkeeper’s only error. He nearly cost the visitors again just moments later. His pass out from the back didn’t find a teammate and Jorgen Stand Larsen somehow missed from a matter of yards out.
A comedy of errors continued later in the half when Vicario parried the ball into Djed Spence who bundled in an own goal.
The stopper wasn’t the only Spurs player at fault, far from it. Cristian Romero was caught in possession for the third goal, which allowed Ait-Nouri to tee up Stand Larsen. This time he did not miss.
Lucas Bergvall, usually so crisp and composed in possession, was then at fault for the fourth. Caught on the ball by Matheus Cunha, the Brazilian stole it away from him before racing away from Ben Davies and Romero to find the net.
Player ratings courtesy of Sofascore
Despite all of that, there were more underperformers in the Spurs camp.
Spurs have found their new Tanguy Ndombele
In July 2019, Spurs smashed their transfer record to bring £63m man Tanguy Ndombele to the club.
It was a landmark transfer and one that Daniel Levy hoped would take Spurs to new heights. While the Frenchman had his moments, he unfortunately flopped big time in the capital, leaving in June 2024 when his contract was cancelled. It was a huge waste of investment.
2019/20
29
2
4
2020/21
46
6
4
2021/22
16
2
1
So, what went wrong? Well, speaking to the Athletic, one training ground source encapsulated it perfectly, stating: “Tanguy is the maverick of the team, he can do stuff that nobody else can do. Incredibly talented, incredible ability, just sometimes you just want to be like, ‘Tanguy you’re so good, just do the basics’.”
Perhaps guilty of doing too much, or in fact, being a little lazy, it was unsurprising that it never worked out for him at Spurs.
Now, in a slightly different sense, Postecoglou may have found the new version of Ndombele in Yves Bissouma. We’ll tell you why.
Writing at full-time, the aforementioned Gold handed the Malian midfielder a dismal 4/10 rating, suggesting that ‘sometimes he looks good on the ball, sometimes looks like it’s alien to him.’
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That could easily sum up Ndombele too. So gifted on the ball, there were moments when it looked as though he didn’t know how to kick a ball.
Bissouma didn’t arrive for quite as much as the Frenchman but he did move from Brighton with considerable hype attached to his name, joining in a £35m move.
Sadly, despite a few flashy moments, like Ndombele, it hasn’t quite happened for another big-money midfielder at Tottenham Hotspur.
He has been withdrawn at half-time on three occasions in the Premier League this term and was perhaps fortunate not to have the same fate on Sunday, instead dragged off after just 55 minutes.
Bissouma set the tone early on, booked inside the opening eight minutes of the game. From that moment onwards, he failed to offer Postecoglou’s side the protection they needed against a rampant Wolves.
Minutes played
55
Touches
49
Accurate passes
38/40 (95%)
Key passes
0
Shots on target
1
Shots off target
0
Crosses
0
Duels won
4/8
Possession lost
4x
Fouls
2
Tackles
3
Dribbles past
1
He did complete 95% of his passes but only won 50% of his duels, failed to complete a key pass and gave away two fouls.
It was another average display from a man who looks like he should be sold in the summer. Spurs have plenty of exciting young players coming through in a similar area of the pitch, chiefly Bergvall and Archie Gray. They should be prioritising their minutes instead.
For the new Ndombele, his time at Spurs should surely be up in a few months time.
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