Tottenham stars at odds over approach to "sickening" defeat
Ben Davies described it as a kick in the teeth, Brennan Johnson said it was sickening and Ange Postecoglou urged his players to embrace the pain.
But as Tottenham returned south on Saturday afternoon, tail between their legs, it was too easy to lean into old tropes about the club’s fragility. This, as Giorgio Chiellini famously said, was the history of Tottenham in microcosm.
In the 90th minute a team without seven injured players and two more suspended looked like closing out a batting, determined win in which they were pinned back for long spells. And then, with the job almost complete, they fell apart.
Pablo Sarabia’s equaliser was a moment of magic but what should disappoint Postecoglou was how his players were caught dozing to allow the substitute such freedom down the right wing in the 97th minute before finding Mario Lemina for the winner.
Davies, who had blocked and cleared everything that came his way during regulation time, insisted that Spurs “still showed a lot of character to try and get on the ball, try and get chances, try and push up the field and play in the right way.”
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But Johnson took a different view. The winger scored his first Spurs goal since joining in a £47.5m deal from Nottingham Forest with just over two minutes on the clock. And he put the eventual defeat down to a lack of urgency to seek a second.
“We started so well, moving the ball fast and it came with a goal so quickly. But after that we went into the headspace of getting three points,” he said.
“That’s not the right mentality to have because there was such a long way to go in the game. If we kept playing how we started we’d keep pushing. We almost went too safe, we all went into a safety mode where if we could see it out we’d get three points.
“We can’t be playing like that. We’ll look back at it and try to be more aggressive in pressing, positioning and playing forward. That was the most disappointing thing, we could have killed the game off.”
But they did not. After Johnson’s goal, their next shot on target arrived in the 88th minute, via Giovanni Lo Celso, and the game instead became a story of Davies and centre-back partner Eric Dier coming in from the cold to almost thwart their hosts.
Mario Lemina netted late to win the match for Wolves (Getty Images)Postecoglou praised the pair, who had a combined 145 minutes of league action between them before visiting Molineux, for their “endeavour and commitment.” Davies says “everybody fully believes” in the manager’s front-foot principles but he is beginning to wonder if opponents are cottoning on to their approach.
“It was just one of those days when the result didn’t click for us,” he said. “Teams are watching how we have played and they are going to adapt to what they see as our strengths. It’s up to us to figure that out as we go along.”
Does that mean Spurs must adapt and become more flexible or unpredictable? “It’s not up to me but I don’t think so,” Davies added. “We’re going to keep going down that route we’ve been trying to go down. That’s the way we want to approach games, that’s our mindset and what will be will be.”
Meanwhile, Matheus Cunha hailed Wolves super sub Sarabia after his cameo turned defeat into victory. Spain midfielder Sarabia has had limited opportunities to impress under Gary O’Neil this season, making only two starts.
But he arrived in the 87th minute with Wolves a goal down only to score a wonderful equaliser before providing the assist for Lemina’s 97th-minute winner.
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And Cunha, who provided the cross for Sarabia’s leveller, said: “I wanted to say ‘I was very happy for you’ because he has supported us a lot. He’s a big part of the group and to be on the bench is very hard. A lot of times he didn’t play, but he still worked hard.”
Two of Wolves’ previous three wins, away to Everton and Bournemouth, also came via late winning goals. Cunha believes being able to end matches strongly is a sign of their efforts on the training ground.
The Brazilian added: “It was a crazy finish. We have to continue like this and fight to the end. This shows the work we have put in with the staff. We really feel like a family, I feel like a big part of it, the atmosphere was incredible. All we need to do is play well.”
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