SPURS BLOW IT YET AGAIN
Ward-Prowse hits winner with another stunning free-kick
THIS is where Mauricio Pochettino’s English Odyssey began, at Southampton six years ago, arriving here from Spain. And last night you wondered whether t his is where he reached a fork in the road with Tottenham.
Sat alongside his chairman Daniel Levy in the directors’ box as he served the first of his two-match ban, he looked on, initially proud and then with increasing horror, as his back four capitulated and his former club took a huge step towards safety.
So much is right with the club: the announcement (finally) of the opening of the new stadium coming on the back of qualification for the last eight of the Champions League meant this should have been a day to celebrate.
Maybe that was the problem. ‘If you want to be a real contender and fight for big things, then we cannot arrive here with the arrogance of a Champions League quarterfinalist,’ said Pochettino.
‘We played the first half like one of the top eight teams in Europe; the second half was the opposite. I am so, so, so disappointed.
‘It’s about complacency and arrogance in a bad way. You use the first half as an example of arrogance playing with intention, focus and concentration. We match them in everything and were much better. The second half was arrogance in a bad way.’
Spurs were overwhelmingly better for the first half, even for the first hour, with Dele Alli shining on his return from six weeks out with injury.
Yet what followed was close to the stereotypical Spurs implosion. Having been in control, they were increasingly undo ne by Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s half-time switch of bringing on Shane Long and Josh Sims and changing to 3-4-3.
‘ That shows that we are not mature enough ,’ said Pochettino. ‘That shows that, to be in the last level, you need more effort and quality and increase your capacity for commitment. If you want to play at the top level and be one of the best clubs in the world, you need to increase everything. We need time for that. And we have a lot of decisions to make to be a contender in the future.’
At the end, Southampton, having sealed a superb win, formed a circle with Hasenhuttl, who was giving them words of congratulation. They then proceeded to walk around the ground, applauding all four sides and coaxing them into cheerful celebration with his teasing gestures. Here is a manager they can embrace on the South Coast. ‘You know we lost against Man United 3-2 in a really sensational game and we only earned warm words,’ said Hasenhuttl.
‘I said to them today we want to earn more than warm words. We want to earn points for what we’re doing and they showed a belief in that. And that’s what the crowd felt in the second half.
‘There’s a team on pitch that is fighting for every goal and point. And afterwards that was a moment to celebrate with them but also to tell them it’s only one step. A big one, maybe, but we still have wins to take and a long way to go.’
How had it come to this for Spurs? Despite the tactical switches, in reality it was not until t he hour mark t hat Southampton began to impose themselves. Slowly, though, t hey allowed t he hosts to occupy their half.
Then they began to concede chances. Nathan Redmond had two great opportunities, the first from a Davinson Sanchez slip, which he steered into the side netting.
So the signs were all there. And when the breakthrough came, it was little surprise. What was shocking was how slack Spurs were in defending Stuart Armstrong’s cross. It went through Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose s t epped over the ball as if he was scared of it.
The ball travelled nicely into the path of Yan Valery. He scored his first goal at the club last week at Old Trafford and here was the second, a week later, presented on a plate.
Tottenham were rocking and, four minutes later, Kyle Walker-Peters pulled back Armstrong and James Ward-Prowse eyed the free-kick.
He had scored from this position at Old Trafford last Saturday. With England coach Steve Holland watching, he executed a near perfect freekick, over the wall and beyond the flailing goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
It was all so unexpected, given that the first half had been all Tottenham. Alli and Harry Kane imposed themselves on the game, creating the excellent opening goal. Tottenham were defending in front of their own box when, within a matter of seconds, the pair had contrived to traverse half the pitch and put Spurs ahead.
A clearance to Alli was fed to Kane, who advanced on the Southampton back three. But it was the lovely run to create space by Alli that caught the eye. Kane found him and Alli returned the compliment with a delightful lofted return pass.
Kane controlled the ball, took a step and, from close range but a tight angle, shot past goalkeeper Angus Gunn in the 26th minute.
Soon after, Alli would force Gunn to stretch and tip the ball over with a strike from just outside the box. Tottenham, with a succession of corners, were firmly in control without quite nailing down their superiority. For that, they would pay the price.