EMBARRASSMENT IN THE AIR AS SPURS SPLUTTER
Moussa sissoko smiled wryly at the idea that winning the Champions League was fast becoming Tottenham’s best route back into Europe’s top competition. ‘Everyone will sign for that,’ he conceded. Who wouldn’t? spurs have spluttered through the first dozen games of the Premier League season and, as their players dispersed on international duty, there was a hint of embarrassment in the air. Not because they had drawn with sheffield united. They were gracious enough to accept Chris Wilder’s side had been excellent and deserved at least a point. The Blades continue to impress, but after five years of progress under Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham have regressed to their worst start to a League campaign since 2008, when Juande Ramos was sacked. ‘We are maybe far, far away from the top four,’ said sissoko. ‘i am very disappointed like everyone. ‘We knew this game was important. But we played against a good team, fighting from the beginning to the end. ‘so, there’s a lot of frustration. it looks like we are always missing something but what, i don’t know. it’s difficult to explain. ‘sometimes if you try to find it you can’t. all you can do is keep going, keep working and try to be better. The League is long and we know we can win a lot of games before the end of the season.’
Everything was meant to come together once they escaped from temporary lodgings at Wembley and returned to the comfort of White Hart Lane, where spurs dropped only two points in their final season at the old stadium. But they seem to have stepped into a state-of-the-art home for the future with a stale team from the past. it might easily have been worse against sheffield united, who created enough chances to win and were harshly treated by the video referee Jon Moss, who took nearly four minutes before ruling out what would have been David McGoldrick’s first Premier League goal, for a very marginal offside against John Lundstram in the build-up. McGoldrick, who thought he had wiped out son Heung-min’s opener, was under orders from the club not to go public with his feelings. ‘i’d end up banned for 10 games,’ said the Blades striker. ‘VaR’s killed us,’ said full-back George Baldock, whose goal survived a VaR check to earn a point and who was trusted to
speak. ‘The margin is a differentsized boot. If you’re playing on the last man as a striker and you’ve got bigger feet than him, does that mean you’re offside?’ Tottenham suspect their gleaming new stadium is bringing the best out of opponents, who rise to the occasion like a cup final, but Pochettino’s team have been even worse on their travels. They have not won away from home since January, when Harry Winks scrambled a late winner at Fulham. Spurs are picking up points at a better rate in the Champions League but they were unable to beat Olympiacos and the thrashing by Bayern Munich makes it hard to imagine them going all the way. It would be unlikelier than last season’s highly unlikely run to the final.
▪ SHEFFIELD UNITED’S dean Henderson has been called into the england squad in place of injured Aston Villa goalkeeper Tom Heaton for the euro 2020 qualifiers against Montenegro and Kosovo. Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley is also ruled out but will not be replaced.
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga 6.5; Aurier 6 (Moura 86min), Sanchez 5, Dier 5.5, Davies 6; Ndombele 6 (Winks 46, 6.5), Sissoko 7; Lo Celso 6.5, Alli 7 (Foyth 72, 5), Son 6.5; Kane 6. Subs not used: Vorm, Alderweireld, Sessegnon, Eriksen. Booked: Dier, Foyth. Scorer: Son 58. Manager: Mauricio Pochettino 6.
SHEFFIELD UTD (3-5-2): Henderson 6; Basham 7, Egan 7, O’Connell 7; Baldock 7, Lundstram 7, Norwood 7, Fleck 7.5, Stevens 7; McGOLDRICK 8 (Freeman 90+5), Mousset 7 (Robinson 87). Subs not used: Moore, Besic, Jagielka, Sharp, McBurnie. Booked: Norwood, Basham. Scorer: Baldock 78.
Manager: Chris Wilder 7. Referee: Graham Scott 5.
Attendance: 59,781.