Tottenham Hotspur’s Europa League campaign is at risk of coming to a premature end.
They came into this last-16 first leg at AZ buoyed by the return of three injured players to the bench, but they never got going in a flat, slow performance.
Lucas Bergvall scored an unfortunate own goal in the first half and AZ should have won by more. To make matters worse, Dominic Solanke, back after seven weeks out with a knee injury, limped off soon after coming on, holding what looked like a painful back injury.
The Athletic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke assess the key talking points…
Spurs leave themselves with work to do
Next Thursday at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is shaping up to be one of Spurs’ biggest games in years.
They will have to be at their best to overturn this 1-0 deficit to beat AZ and make it through to the Europa League quarter-finals. If they do not, their season will be over before the March international break, which will put real pressure on Ange Postecoglou. Clearly, Tottenham will have to play far better than this. This was a hugely disappointing performance, Spurs creating almost nothing all night. Much like last weekend’s game against Manchester City, they could have lost the game in a first half where they barely showed up.
Dominic Solanke came on for Spurs today, before limping off after taking what looked like a knee to the back, and they will desperately need him involved up front. They will need the quality distribution of Cristian Romero, who was back on the bench today. Because if they play like this next Thursday, they will not be going through to the next round.
As expected, Kulusevski a huge miss
People often criticise Tottenham for their attacking tactics, their supposed naivety and so on. But the remarkable thing today was their lack of bravery and quality with the ball. In the first half they did not ask a single meaningful question of the AZ defence, who were happy to sit in their own half in their solid defensive organisation and just wait. Tottenham dominated possession but there was simply no quality, no movement and no width.
None of Tottenham’s attacking players are in any sort of form. Son Heung-min has not looked himself all season. Mathys Tel is adjusting to his new club and still does not look like a natural centre-forward. And Johnson is not offering enough before the final shot. When Wilson Odobert came on at half-time, Spurs improved a bit but the second half was still just average rather than good. They created painfully little given how much they saw of the ball.
This was the first game all season that Dejan Kulusevski has missed, because of his foot injury. It was a reminder just how important he is to this team, the only one who can reliably make things happen in the final third.
Bergvall performance deserved better
How painful for Lucas Bergvall that it should be his mistake that was the decisive moment in the first half. Trying to volley a corner away, he shinned the ball and it flew into the only unprotected part of the goal, beyond Guglielmo Vicario and Djed Spence.
It was striking how Vicario tried to comfort Bergvall afterwards, and while it was an unfortunate moment, Bergvall was far less to blame for Spurs’ woeful first half than almost anyone else. On a night where Tottenham looked flat and predictable in possession, he was one of the only players who tried to make anything happen. He was always happy to take the ball from the defence, to try to evade the pressure of Jordy Clasie and move Spurs up the pitch. The problem was with the lack of movement from the attacking players, rather than with Bergvall in himself.
As the game opened up in the second half, Bergvall was the only one giving Tottenham any dynamism, motoring forward with the ball at any opportunity. And his shot from distance five minutes after the restart was the closest they went.
What next for Tottenham?
Sunday, March 9: Bournemouth (Home), Premier League, 2pm UK, 9am ET
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(Top photo: Peter Lous/Getty Images)
