WITH HARMONY, NO SPLIT ENDS

TIME appears to move faster in football. So to say this was the old Spurs is not harking back to a golden age, but to a mere few months ago.

This was the Tottenham team which blazed a trail across Europe, the one which has finished in the top four for the past four seasons, the one which has gone tantalisingly close to a title challenge.

They showed passion, commitment, intensity. They were compelling on the break. They caused the Liverpool defence real problems. What’s not to like, you may ask? Well, the very fact they turned it on here. With the world watching, their big stars turned up.

Christian Eriksen (top) was outstanding, probing and pushing away between the Liverpool lines, creating space where it didn’t exist, and prompting a counterattacking game that was at times breathtaking.

Toby Alderweireld was his old self, defiant, strong, athletic, and perhaps unlucky to see his defence eventually concede two goals. Danny Rose (above) also stepped up. There is a common theme between the three. All have publicly stated they want to leave. All are at the tail-end of their contracts. All showed on the biggest stage they are elitelevel players.

But the suspicion is they turn it on only when they know the kind of clubs they dream of joining are watching closely.

Perhaps some blame must lie with the ‘clever’ negotiations of Daniel Levy. It’s all very well being tough, but when it means losing your best players for nothing, because you won’t reward them with the going rate, then is that wise?

Manager Mauricio Pochettino said at the end that this was an improved display and called for his team to stick together, to “show our support”. Was that a reference to sorting out all those contract disputes which seem to have undermined the spirit of the team? It is easy to read it that way.

Even in defeat here, you could see what a steady Spurs ship would look like. Had Heung-min Son scored at 1-0, they would probably have won. When you see how good they can be, you get a real sense of how fast it can sink without that harmony the manager calls for.