Can we manage to put this one behind us?
Sunday's home defeat to West Brom, and most especially the manner of the team's performance sadly stands alongside some of the worst performances in recent times under different head coaches.
The Spurs Odyssey audience is unforgiving when assessing bad performances and results, and this match was no exception, with the overall assessment of only 33.2% only marginally better than the away defeat to West Ham in the penultimate game last season. The thrashings received against Liverpool (twice) and away to Man City were considerably worse.
Spurs are now without a win in their last 4 matches, three of which have been in the Premier League, and we've now failed to score in two of our last three league games, and three of the last four games in all. We are going to have a job putting that right on Saturday, aren't we?
Once again, and this pattern has been repeated so often over the last year, Hugo Lloris was the only Spurs player to emerge with real credit, and therefore he was your Spurs man of the match by a margin.
It cannot be right that 9 of the 14 players used were considered worthy of less than 5 out of 10. Chiriches' mark of 3.2 was the worst by a defensive player since he managed just 3.5 when we played West Brom away in April, and drew 3-3. West Brom might not have beaten us for 10 games and for nigh on 30 years at The Lane, but we only drew both games last season.
So, can we put this one behind us yet? I fear not. I'd be tempted to make this selected team play again tomorrow night against Forest and prove their worth, with the exception of Lloris. The team, and tactics need a shake-up before we travel down the Seven Sisters Road on Saturday.
· See the spursometer for this game in full.
Meanwhile, under a new manager, and seeingly decimated by the loss of players, Mauricio Pochettino's former club sits in second place, and must be relishing their visit to White Hart Lane on October 5th.
The defeats suffered this week-end by Liverpool, Manchester United, and Everton, all of whom are below us in the league only go to prove Jimmy Greaves was right when he said "It's a funny old game, Saint".
Results 20-21.09.14
QPR 2-2 Stoke
A. Villa 0-3 Arsenal
Burnley 0-0 S'derland
Newcastle 2-2 Hull
Swansea 0-1 S'hampton
West Ham 3-1 Liverpool
Leicester 5-3 Man Utd
Spurs 0-1 West Brom
Everton 2-3 C. Palace
Man City 1-1 Chelsea
Barclays Premier League
P W D L F-A GD Pts
1. Chelsea 5 4 1 0 16-7 9 13
2. S'hampton 5 3 1 1 9-3 6 10
3. A. Villa 5 3 1 1 4-4 0 10
4. Arsenal 5 2 3 0 10-6 4 9
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5. Swansea 5 3 0 2 8-6 2 9
6. Man City 5 2 2 1 8-5 3 8
7. Leicester 5 2 2 1 9-8 1 8
8. West Ham 5 2 1 2 9-8 1 7
9. Spurs 5 2 1 2 7-6 1 7
10. Hull 5 1 3 1 7-7 0 6
11. Liverpool 5 2 0 3 7-8 -1 6
12. Man Utd 5 1 2 2 9-8 1 5
13. Stoke 5 1 2 2 4-5 -1 5
14. Everton 5 1 2 2 11-13 -2 5
15. C. Palace 5 1 2 2 8-10 -2 5
16. West Brom 5 1 2 2 3-7 -4 5
17. S'derland 5 0 4 1 5-6 -1 4
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18. QPR 5 1 1 3 3-11 -8 4
19. Burnley 5 0 3 2 1-4 -3 3
20. Newcastle 5 0 3 2 5-11 -6 3
