Tottenham Hotspur Must Regroup to Finish Memorable Season Strongly
WHITE HART LANE, London — There is an episode of Friday Night Lights where the protagonist team's coach Eric Taylor is tasked with raising his players after a particularly hard-fought and crushing defeat. To put into context the achievements of a memorable season ended in agonising fashion.
"This is the game that people are gonna talk about for years to come," he tells his team. "This is the game you are gonna talk about. There's not a single person in this room that's ever gonna be the same."
Tottenham Hotspur are a world away from a fictional high school American football team. But you hope their coach Mauricio Pochettino had similar words for his players after Monday's 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion.
For Tottenham, it was not so much the match itself, more that it represented the likely denouement of a pride-inspiring Premier League title challenge that looks set to fall short to a relentless Leicester City. They produced a slog of an effort on a cold, dispiriting night, which they must now recover from to fulfill the additional ambitions that remain.
Pride, optimism and pragmatism. All three were on offer in different forms from Pochettino in his post-match press conference.
The optimism part was understandably a bit half-hearted. Rightly pointing out his team can still mathematically win the league but also admitting this was "a game we must win" to really have kept the hopes alive.
They are now seven points behind the league-leaders after a second-half Craig Dawson header cancelled out his earlier own goal. Leicester can claim the crown with one more victory.
The pride in his team Pochettino spoke of was legitimate. A feeling shared by a White Hart Lane faithful who knew at the final whistle their team could not have given much more (see below).
"I feel very proud and we all feel very proud of the season," Pochettino said. "From the beginning of the season, how we play, how we work. Now it’s normal that feel disappointed."
Though he also talked about the "need to use this experience for the next few seasons," the praise was rooted in realising he must get his team in the right mind for the next few weeks.
Reacting to this setback will not be easy. Not when it has left them so understandably despondent.
The substituted Dele Alli sat almost catatonic in the dugout until West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill woke him from his stupor to praise the midfielder's performance. The team-mates who trudged off after were just as disappointed. The buoyant figures that exited at the Britannia Stadium after last week's thrashing of Stoke City replaced by glum, worn-out shells.
"It’s true that the gap with Arsenal and Manchester City is five points," Pochettino said of his second-placed side and those still chasing and occupying the remaining UEFA Champions League spots. "We need to keep this gap but it’s important to win for if Leicester drop, to try to win the title."
Next Monday's visit to capital rivals Chelsea may prove too late for that if the Foxes beat Manchester United. But Pochettino knows another demoralising result will leave Spurs scrambling to stay in the runners-up spot.
Losing that now—particularly to fellow north Londoners Arsenal—would be heartbreaking.
Disappointing as the implications of this West Brom result are, it should not detract from what preceded it. It should not cloud their ability to finish these final three games like they are capable of.
This did not feel like the team, say, who blew a one-nil lead to lose 1-2 to Newcastle United back in December.
Spurs' complacency informed the way the momentum shifted in that match. Here, they gave everything, showcasing so many of the features that have taken them to this point.
Danny Rose and Kyle Walker dueled with typical relish in the full-back areas. Mousa Dembele was magnificent at times, combining power and grace with awe-inspiring ease as he drove away from opponents. Hungry attackers like Harry Kane and Erik Lamela went close with shots coming off the post.
Ultimately, West Brom's defiant defence proved too stifling, their attack—chiefly the forceful Salomon Rondon and the clever Stephane Sessegnon—too well-equipped to substantially resist their capitalising on Spurs' tiredness.
Baggies boss Tony Pulis rightly pointed out his side have been a tough obstacle to beat on the road for the Europe-chasing sides (save for what he admitted was a weak effort away away at Arsenal last week). They have held Leicester and Liverpool and earlier this month pushed Manchester City all the way, too.
Pulis also described Tottenham as "a fantastic team."
"I think that the future here is bright, and I mean that, for the next couple of years," he said. Later adding "for the club to be where they are at the moment is a fantastic achievement."
The least this club—this captivating team of impressive youth and influential experience that is potentially primed for greater things (and at the very least can record a Premier League-era best finish)—the least they deserve now is to be remembered well. That, champions or not, their efforts are talked about for years to come.
It is up to Tottenham now to make sure that will be the case.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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