Tame Tottenham Outfought by Tim Sherwood's Tough and Hungry Aston Villa

WHITE HART LANE, LONDON — Not with a bang, but with a whimper. That would usually be the appropriate description for the way Tottenham Hotspur's season appears to be petering out. Except, Saturday's 1-0 loss to Aston Villa was far uglier than "a whimper" implies.

Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham were outfought by a tough and hungry Villa side managed by his predecessor, Tim Sherwood. There was a realisation mid-game that an insipid performance was turning into one marked by frustration and despair.

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The obvious difference is that Villa are fighting for their Premier League lives, a battle given a sizable boost by these well deserved three points. But Spurs still had European qualification to play for. Perhaps even a Champions League place, despite the dent last week's draw away at Burnley put in that hope.

A return to continental competition remains mathematically possible—matches against rivals for those places, Southampton and Manchester City, could still see them claw their way back. You would not bet on it based on the Lilywhites' post-international break form.

Ineffective out on the flank in Spurs' impotent attacking display at Turf Moor last week, the restoration of Christian Eriksen to a central role initially appeared to have got them back in sync. Though still tentative, the greater involvement of their playmaker at least meant there was a semblance of forward momentum in their moves.

These initial glimmers of hope soon receded. Hesitant around the penalty area (bar Eriksen, who had several wayward attempts at goal), Spurs were also sloppy bringing the ball out of their own half.

Defenders Vlad Chiriches and Eric Dier were among the more frequent culprits, but it was a giveaway by Nabil Bentaleb on the 35th minute that proved most costly. Villa moved the ball out right to Leandro Bacuna, who crossed for Christian Benteke; the Belgian outjumped Federico Fazio to head in what proved to be the winner.   

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"I think that the first half was difficult because we put ourselves in difficulty with the pressure from [not] managing the ball properly," Pochettino said in his post-match press conference. "The goal that they scored was our mistake."

Most disconcerting was Tottenham's response to Benteke's goal. Or lack thereof.

"They scored and after it's normal they played to survive," Pochettino offered. "For us it was difficult to create a chance, but I think in the second half we played much better than the first."

It's true Spurs did play better after the interval. Harry Kane would fire just over, while Danny Rose and Andros Townsend threatened with crosses after working space down their respective flanks. But it was better by only a matter of a few degrees. Crucially, there was no greater sense of urgency to it.

Given the respective positions of the two clubs, the White Hart Lane faithful understandably expect more of their team. Instead, Aston Villa played more like a club comfortable in their safe top-half position.

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"We always carry a threat going forward," Sherwood observed post-match. "I let the strikers be strikers and let them run in behind and cause their defence problems, and let the guys behind them prop it up, and basically show quality of keeping the ball at the right times and see if we can create chances."

Gabriel Agbonlahor and Christian Benteke ran Spurs' makeshift defence ragged at times (Fazio came in for his first game since January with Kyle Walker out and Jan Vertonghen still absent). Ciaran Clark went off injured from Villa's back line, but they barely missed a beat when Nathan Baker came on in place.

Only Rose and the eager, energetic Ryan Mason came close to matching those and others like Fabian Delph, Jack Grealish and Carlos Sanchez for combined effort and quality. There were instances of both elsewhere, but sadly for Spurs, not anywhere near consistently enough to disturb Villa.

Pochettino's failure to make any changes until after the hour mark did not help either. Roberto Soldado was just lumped on in the hope two up front might make a difference. The introduction of Erik Lamela and debutant DeAndre Yedlin was too late in the scheme of things.

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The most passionate of all those at White Hart Lane on Saturday to have ever represented Tottenham Hotspur might have been one of those with "ex" affixed to his representation.

Spurs' lack of fight (save for the wrong kind, seen in several heated exchanges in a scrappy last few minutes) was in stark contrast to the touchline display of their former goalkeeper, goalkeeping coach and current Aston Villa coach Tony Parks. It was almost literally so after one disagreement with the nearby linesman in second-half stoppage time.

"Keep it rolling!" he could be heard to instruct in a more measured moment during one phase of play. His players responded, as they often did when his tone grew more urgent.

Relatively restrained by his usual standards, Parks' boss and fellow ex-Spur Sherwood indulged in some hearty final whistle celebrations (including a cry of "get in there!" and a shake of the fist either in response to or at the same time as some abuse from some of the home fans).

"That desire and heart and spirit has never been in question, even from the first game I was here," the delighted Villa boss said of his team. "It was just a little bit of guidance and quality in pressure-cooker situations, and I think we've found that."

Desire, heart, spirit, guidance and quality when needed. Tottenham have shown and utilised all of those qualities at points this season. Just not so much of late.

All quotes obtained firsthand.