| Match report
It gets a little depressing
writing match reports on Tottenham performances like this. All
the pre-match punditry was in favour of a Spurs victory, on
paper the Tottenham squad outnumbered that of the Blades and looked
better in terms of quality. But these things don't win
football matches. Neither does having nearly 70% of possession
throughout the match and coming out of it with a 1-3 defeat.
Sheffield United have had
success by being defensively sound (apart from their last two games)
and being effective at set-pieces and on breakaways. They are
difficult to break down, as Tottenham found, but they are good in
their build-up play, hitting the front man early and he helped hold
the ball up for the midfielders (and even the defenders) to get up
in support.
After nine days break, Jose Mourinho made only one change, with
Steven Bergwijn coming in for Dele, while the home team were injury
hit and could only name seven subs instead of nine.
From the start United were on Spurs players in possession very
quickly and they nipped in to take the ball inside the first minute,
allowing Baldock to have a shot from outside the box, but Hugo
Lloris was down to his left to get his body behind it. Tottenham’s
first attack came in the fifth minute, when Son won a corner on the
Spurs left. It was played in by Sonny, flat and fast with Dier
getting a flick on at the near post taking it to the far post, but
Moussa Sissoko was too far beyond the far post to be able to knock
it back. Son then broke forward from the halfway line, but his pass
to Bergwijn outside him on the left was short. Another move
foundered in the same way. When Sissoko took the ball forward but
the ball to Bergwijn sold him short, before Aurier played a one-two
with Bergwijn and his low ball into the box came off Basham and hit
Son, who couldn’t react to meet it with a firm contact.
Tottenham’s domination of possession wasn’t bearing fruit, but
Sissoko intercepted a loos United ball, setting Spurs away quickly
and Bergwijn played it in front of Kane to his right, but, with a
defender closing him, he sliced the ball and it flew to the right of
the goal. When Davies won an aerial ball in the left back position,
Tottenham moved it through the lines very quickly, with Son and
Bergwijn combining to pull the ball behind the defenders in the box,
but Lucas Moura couldn’t control it. It did fall into the path of
Sissoko and his side-footed effort didn’t have enough weight on it
to trouble goalkeeper Dean Henderson. When McGoldrick fouled Moura
30 yards out, Harry Kane had a goal, although his shot was off
target as it swerved away from Henderson’s goal instead of towards
it.
Totally against the run of play, United worked the ball across the
pitch form left to right and Basham pulled the ball back from the
dead ball line and Sander Berge took a touch and drilled it low
across Lloris to find the net with his first goal for the Blades.
It was a well created goal, but nobody picked up Berge as he
continued his run into the box and slack defensive work like this
has cost Tottenham too often this season.
Just 82 seconds after the opening goal, Spurs attacked with Davinson
Sanchez playing a long ball up to Kane, who didn’t win the ball but
it was dropped to Moura who was bundled over and the ball kicked
against him. It went right into Kane’s path, taking a touch inside
and sweeping it left footed past the keeper. VAR kicked in to rule
that the kick against Moura hit his hand. Well, firstly, it hit his
shoulder and secondly, it was kicked at him deliberately from point
blank range, which in the other penalty area would not have brought
a penalty.
United looked to make the most of their good fortune and McBurnie
put an effort over the bar from a long throw-in. Norwood was booked
for a trip on Moura, which saw the free-kick come off him for a
corner. When it was cleared, Norwood then made contact with Son’s
head with his fist, but this wasn’t reviewed by VAR. Lo Celso
made a great run from his own half, before Son was pushed wide by
Basham, then Aurier crossed to the far post and Davies pulled it
back, but Egan blocked Lo Celso’s shot.
Turning around a goal down, it could have been very difficult. A
goal disallowed and a second booking (at least) for Norwood would
have changed the face of the game.
Moura’s early determination won a corner, but it came to nothing, as
Sheffield United defended the low ball to the near post. A needless
corner to United from a loose touch from Sissoko brought a couple of
high balls into the box, but Hugo punched the first and caught the
second. Tottenham’s use of the ball wasn’t good enough, with the
home side holding the ball better when it was played forward.
Perhaps that it was why Mourinho sacrificed Bergwijn’s pace for
Lamela’s ability to hold the ball.
Spurs regained their poise and were getting into good crossing
positions, but not finding a light blue shirt when the ball was
played in. Lamela ran straight at goal from 30 yards but ran into
red and white shirts. On the hour, the action was around the Spurs
goal when a low cross was knocked up into the air by Lloris and
McGoldrick came in at the far post, but only put his shot into the
side-netting. When Tottenham tried to attack, they found a lot
of Sheffield United players in the way, as they dragged men back
behind the ball when they didn't have it.
Osbourn went running down the left and touched it back to the player
he received it from, Stevens and it was the Irishman's low ball that
was touched home by Mousset from a couple of yards out to double the
home lead. It was shocking defending by Spurs, letting the scorer
find space with three men around him and it came seconds before the
drinks break. Jose had been about to make a double substitution,
with Ndombele and Dele coming on for Sissoko and Aurier as he was
going to push for an equaliser, which now became a need for two
goals.
Spurs had a lot of the ball, but nothing accurate enough when the
ball moved into the final third. Ndombele played a good pass through
to Kane, who put it in, but was offside and he had it in the back of
the net again three minutes later, but had pushed a defender to make
that happen. It didn't spark too much more of a performance,
with possession without penetration.
Oli McBurnie finished the game off with a goal at the near post when
Burge broke into the box, leaving the striker to convert it from
three yards out. United are a hard-working side and one who can use
the ball well, but the amount of the ball Tottenham had and the
technical ability of our players, we should have been working their
defence and goalkeeper more than we did in this performance. It
wasn’t just a bad day at the office, it showed how ineffective our
players can be when they meet a side who are willing to set up to
frustrate. Decisions by the officials in the match aside, this match
was one that the Blades deserved to win and we need to be stronger
on the ball and be more aggressive when we haven’t got it. The
service into Kane was shocking until the 90th minute when Lamela’s
ball to Son inside the box on the left, playing a square ball first
time to leave Harry Kane the easy task of putting it into the net
from a couple of yards out.
The team who had lost two games heavily since the restart without
scoring a goal, they found it too easy to ease to victory against a
Spurs side who had done well in their two games and had a long rest.
The slow build up allowed Sheffield United to regroup behind the
ball and when the team made good space, the final ball was
inevitably lacking. Other than an attitude change among the
players, there is not a lot that will probably change this
season, with the perhaps inevitable missing out on Europe as other
clubs have overtaken us and have momentum moving up the table.
The VAR decision apart,
there is not a lot to complain about when it comes to the result.
There may be a fair bit to debate when it comes to the team's
performance though.
Stan Chun |
