Ange Postecoglou reaction to Rodrigo Bentancur incident and Mathys Tel Tottenham frustration
Tottenham were unable to make it four Premier League wins on the trot after falling to a 1-0 defeat at home to Manchester City on Wednesday evening. Fresh from Saturday's 4-1 win at Ipswich Town, Ange Postecoglou made three changes to his Spurs side as Pedro Porro, James Maddison and Wilson Odobert came into the XI.
It was City who opened the scoring on 12 minutes as Erling Haaland on his return to the team scored from close range after Jeremy Doku was given time and space to run at the Spurs backline. Doku himself had an opportunity to add to the scoreline, with Savinho and Haaland also going close to doubling the tally.
Spurs threatened for the first time on the stroke of half-time as Kevin Danso forced Ederson to tip his header over the crossbar after connecting with Porro's free-kick just inside the box. The hosts had a great opening to restore parity on 55 minutes but Odobert couldn't guide the ball home at the back post after a wicked delivery from the right from Porro.
Tottenham, in what was a much improved second-half showing, did have more opportunities to draw level, notably through Son Heung-min and Pape Matar Sarr, but they couldn't net an equaliser as Haaland had a goal ruled out by VAR in stoppage time. Here are five things we spotted in the game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium:
Notable alterations
Postecoglou's Tottenham selection certainly raised a few eyebrows when it was announced at 6:15pm. It was more about the players dropping out of the team rather than those coming in that startled a few people.
The headline news was the decision to name Djed Spence, Dejan Kulusevski and Son on the substitutes' bench. Kulusevski and Son have certainly needed a breather for quite a while, with Spence no doubt still relatively fresh in comparison to others due to a lack of football in the opening few months of the campaign.
The trio weren't dropped from the side, though, as it was more about them getting a required rest after playing so much football over the past couple of months. Perhaps the main question for some was Postecoglou's decision to do it against reigning champions Manchester City instead of doing it last Saturday against relegation-threatened Ipswich Town.
Regardless of his decision against City, it is just nice for Postecoglou to have the option to rest his key players for once.
No place for Mikey
There was to be one change to the matchday squad from the 4-1 win at Portman Road. Timo Werner was the player to come into the 20-man party as Mikey Moore dropped out altogether.
It was the first time Werner had been included since the FA Cup third round win at Tamworth after picking up a hamstring injury in that game. It's hard to see the German having a long-term future at Tottenham beyond his loan spell but Postecoglou clearly wanted the experience of Werner on his bench for such a big game.
Moore will have to wait for his next opportunity to return to the matchday squad, with that very likely to come in the team's next fixture against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League. The increase in attacking options available to Postecoglou highlights the challenge on Moore's hands when it comes to getting into the Tottenham squad in the Premier League between now and May, which in turn is likely to restrict his chances of getting league minutes with plenty of players ahead of him in the pecking order.
Doku nightmare
Tottenham's opponents have had some real joy down Porro's side of the pitch this season and many fans went into the game fearing the worst with the Spaniard up against Doku. The Manchester City man is an incredibly tricky customer due to his blistering pace coupled with his quality on the ball.
As expected, the winger gave Spurs a real headache and was heavily involved throughout. Firstly teeing Haaland up for the opener after he was given so much space to operate, he then forced Guglielmo Vicario into action after he skipped beyond a gathering of Tottenham players on the edge of the box.
Doku continued to torment Spurs and he really should have had an assist to his name when he put the ball on a plate for Savinho, who in turn hit the ball into the ground and over the crossbar when in such an inviting position. Doku's influence on proceedings wasn't as great after the break with Tottenham upping the ante but he had already caused enough damage in the opening 45 minutes.
Tel frustration
Things just didn't go to plan for Mathys Tel in his previous Tottenham outing against Ipswich but the new signing kept his place in the team to face Manchester City. The Frenchman once again led the line but he had very few opportunities in the final third to make a name for himself.
In fact, he was virtually feeding off scraps with next to nothing coming his way on what was a frustrating night for him. The 19-year-old was limited to just 11 touches of the ball in the first half as City dominated proceedings and Spurs failed to lay a glove on their opponents, with the player only managing one further touch after the break as Spurs delivered a better showing.
Just prior to Tel's exit on 65 minutes, Matheus Nunes nipped in at the crucial moment just as the striker was given a glorious opening following Destiny Udogie's pass across the face of the goal. At a time when Danso has come straight into the Spurs team and immediately looked at home, Tel's adaption to the Premier League has not been as straightforward.
It must be remembered that it takes foreign players some time to get used to the pace and intensity of the Premier League, with Tel also having to get used to a new country at such a young age. It will come for Tel at Tottenham but patience is going to be required.
Lucky Bentancur
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game, Postecoglou mentioned that Rodrigo Bentancur, is this current period, "is getting back to the levels he wants to be". In a really poor first half from Spurs against Man City, Bentancur was a standout figure for the Lilywhites as he delivered a strong display.
Using the ball well and putting in a number of tackles to frustrate the visitors, he was perhaps lucky to still be on the pitch midway through the second half after almost bringing Doku down just past the halfway line as City looked to hit Tottenham at speed. Had Doku gone to ground rather than staying on his feet to carry on his run as the pair tussled for the ball, there's a good chance Bentancur may have been handed a second yellow card of the contest and dismissed from the field of play.
Having already faced a seven-match domestic ban this season and also a separate one-match ban in the league for five yellow cards, another suspension is the last thing Bentancur would have wanted. It came as no surprise to see the Uruguayan hooked moments later as Sarr was introduced in his place.
Already lining up a triple change with Son, Spence and Kulusevski standing on the touchline for what seemed like an eternity waiting to come on, Postecoglou made it a quadruple change all in one go as he reacted immediately to that Bentancur challenge. The ex-Juventus man is such a key player in the middle of the park for Tottenham and Postecoglou clearly realised that he couldn't risk him any longer when on a booking.
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