| Match report
A dire performance can't be
blamed on Eric Dier this time, as Spurs failed to get a shot on the
Bournemouth goal in the whole match and had to rely on VAR to deny
the Chrries a late winner, although it had also denied us a clear
and obvious penalty.
Tottenham had some changes.
Some were enforced and some were to shake things up. Dier's
suspension brought Jan Vertonghen in alongside fellow countryman
Toby Alderweireld and Lamela and Bergwijn started with Lo Celso in
between them. The home side brought in young Lloyd Kelly (who
they signed ahead of us last summer from Bristol City) for Steve
Cook, who had a bad game previously and made some controversial
remarks and Callum Wilson returned from injury.
Bournemouth’s much booked midfielder Lerma committed his first foul
of the game within 40 seconds, so it was clear what Tottenham had to
expect and when Josh King pushed Kane over with two hands on his
back in the penalty area from a corner, it looked a nailed on
penalty. That was without bargaining for Michael Oliver was in the
VAR room (last time he was in the same place for the Spurs game at
Sheffield United last week), who decided that it wasn’t.
Mourinho remonstrated with the fourth official Steve Martin, but he
thought it was a laughing matter. Following this incident,
free-kicks were awarded elsewhere on the pitch for even less contact
! The home side had pressing priorities and were pressing back,
winning a succession of corners, but they were repelled well.
The first half drinks break arrived with the goalkeepers not having
to have a shot to save between them. The closest to a goal came from
a free-kick for the Cherries, who swung it in from 30 yards out on
the left and a far post header went down into the ground and Harry
Kane had to rise high to head it behind as it looked like it might
drop invitingly for the red and black shirts waiting. Aurier had put
a cross along the six yard box without anyone reading the pass in
the early stages and another low cross saw Lamela dive to head it,
but Ake got there first at the expense of a corner.
Spurs had been guilty of giving the ball away too easily, which had
allowed Bournemouth to push them back into their own half. Players
who don’t normally give the ball away (Winks, Kane) were gifting it
to home players, making any sort of pattern to the Spurs game
impossible. Too often players were caught in possession, as
they had no option to pass to as well.
Spurs did start to put some passes together as the clock ticked over
to 37 minutes and Aurier had space on the right side of the box, but
his low cross was blocked for a corner, which was played straight
into the goalkeeper’s hands. The referee’s poor decision making
handed Bournemouth a free kick on their left wing when Lamela slid
it to cleanly rob Rico of the ball and it was played in low to the
near post, but ran to Lloris, who took the ball gratefully.
The inability to work moves or hold on the ball was because the
Cherries were more determined and Spurs looked as though they were
expecting to move through the lines without any resistance. It
resulted in a half-paced, half-arsed performance ending with Lamela
having a shot from 20 yards out that was too high. Stanislas
forced a save from Lloris, who dived to his right to push away a
grass-cutter of a shot that Callum Wilson stepped over trying to
deceive Hugo, but that was the only effort on target in the whole of
the first half.
At the restart, Mourinho swapped Ndombele and Son for Lo Celso and
Bergwijn and the Frenchman looked to show what he can do with a ball
across the box and then a ball into Kane, but a little bit
behind him after shaking off his marker. A free-kick a few yards
outside the box, right in the centre of the goal, for a foul on
Lamela provided Kane with a chance for his 200th Premier League
goal, but all he managed to do was pole-axe Adam Smith, who was in
the wall.
Wilson went down in the Spurs box with Vertonghen holding his ground
behind him to poke the ball away between the Bournemouth striker’s
legs, so the VAR decision was not a penalty and then Davies
went in hard on Smith up near halfway, leaving the former Spurs
defender down again, this time with a more serious injury to his
head. I hope he will be ok, but after an eight-minute break, Spurs
moved forward, with Ndombele pulling the strings and ending with
Winks being unable to keep his shot from a cleared ball down.
Aurier broke away and put in a decent ball on the six yard line, but
Ake reacted first to clear it out ehind for a corner. It was
headed wide by Alderweireld and from the goal-kick the home team
broke with King getting past Aurier, but he was blocked out by Jan
and Toby. It resulted in a corner and Josh King rose at the far
post, but put it wide, never looking like he meant his header.
It was so frustrating watching blue shirt after blue shirt give
possession to the other side, especially when Bournemouth looked
less than threatening. At the drinks break Sissoko went off and
Lucas Moura was introduced in an attacking move by Jose.
Tottenham were moving the ball quicker and Davies and Kane produced
a move inside the left of the box, but a deflection took the ball a
little behind Ben, but he won it back, the ball went out to Aurier
on the right and his cross was headed wide on the stretch by Erik
Lamela. Tottenham were applying pressure in the last fifteen
minutes of normal time and it was they who were winning corners now.
One from Aurier’s blocked cross; another from Moura’s shot in the
box; another from a ball that skidded off Ramsdale’s punch. All
failing to find a Spurs player.
Bournemouth had the ball in the net on 85 minutes, but Wilson had
been offside. When play restarted, it was a free-kick to the home
side for a foul by Ndombele and a booking for the midfielder. From
the free-kick, Spurs looked to break away but Gosling hauled down
Lamela in the centre-circle, with what was a professional foul,
although I understand they are now known as “tactical fouls”.
Another free-kick brought a last minute goal. A free-kick was given
by the poor Tierney for a high boot by Vertonghen and when the ball
bounced around in the box, Callum Wilson did an overhead kick with
his boot very close to Jan’s head and the ball went in off King and
Alderweireld. It looked like last season all over again, but VAR
looked at it and King had guided the ball in off his arm and so it
was wiped out.
The board showed 12 minutes
to be added on and Harry Wilson earned a yellow card for an unsubtle
pull on Son’s shirt, but suddenly the Cherries broke down the left
and a cross-field pass found Wilson in acres of space in the box,
but Hugo was quick off his line and blocked the winger’s shot.
Players were going down left, right and centre. Davies was caught
late by King and then Ramsdale went down off the ball with a
hamstring problem minutes after trying to claim a cross from Son’s
corner. Harry Kane pulled the ball back from the dead-ball
line for Moura and Gosling was in close attendance as the
Brazilian was floored (such was the apathy that it wasn't even
looked at by VAR ... perhaps that was for the best), but neither
side threatened after that as the game petered out into a goal-less
draw.
Six straight defeats before this match meant Bournemouth were pretty
low on confidence, but they know it is now or never and had a go,
but looked as ineffective in the goal-scoring department that
brought Spurs a second clean sheet on the trot for the first time
this season. At the other end, the side failed to register a shot on
target, perhaps hoping for yet another own goal, but that is not
going to win matches on a regular basis.
Mourinho needs to make changes if Spurs are to move forward next
season, as I think this season has gone now. Lamela, for all
his touch and running with the ball, fails to deliver enough. Harry
Kane is on a starvation diet up top at the moment and needs quality
delivery to him. Moura seems to have lost his way as well. The pace
that ripped past defenders seems to have disappeared and too many
touches give the chance for them to take the ball off him. Son has
not returned to action the player he was (although he is not alone
in that). His touch and passing are way off what he produced before
the Covid-19 interruption to the season. I’m not suggesting that
Sonny be discarded, as he has the quality needed, as has Tanguy
Ndombele, as he showed today. His introduction from the bench gave
Spurs a spark, but with players not on it 100 percent, it left the
team looking shoddy.
Since Walker left, Tottenham have lacked a right back who can
dominate the other side’s left back. If Aurier is to be the
full back who pushes on, then he has to be able to beat a man,
rather than turn back if there is a defender in front of him. His
crossing can be good, but it is inconsistent and Spurs need to
capitalise on creating good crossing opportunities.
The referee was as poor as the match and relied on VAR to come up
with the tough decisions. Much was made of Harry Kane's first
touch inside the opposition box coming after 78 minutes, but his
first could have been a telling on in the fifth minute, had the
referee or linesman or the person on the end of the VAR television
(who is on the pitch on Sunday !) been able to see what the rest of
the nation had. Anywhere else on the pitch ...
So we go into Sunday's match
woefully out of form, with players missing through suspension and
injury with little to look forward to next season at this time.
Glad I'm not paying to watch
this in the stadiums at the moment !
Steve T (Southsea) |
