The truth about Dejan Kulusevski's injury and Cristian Romero's strangely familiar interview
This was a Tottenham Hotspur match we've seen before. The supporters have seen it far too many times this season with early dismay, missed chances, late hope and ultimately disappointment.
Spurs are nothing if not record breakers. Nottingham Forest managed to produce just four touches in the Tottenham box on Monday night, while Spurs had 45 in the visitors' penalty area. That made for the fewest touches in the opposition’s box by a winning team in a Premier League game since Crystal Palace's two against Brighton in February 2021.
In all, Tottenham had 22 shots at the Forest goal to the away side's four. The visiting goalkeeper Matz Sels made four saves while Harry Toffolo produced a wonderful, flying goal line clearance to keep out Dejan Kulusevski's glancing header.
Yet Tottenham undid themselves as much with two woeful moments of early defending as they did with their profligacy in front of goal. Their own keeper Guglielmo Vicario endured another spot of weekend woe with his involvement in both Forest goals.
The first came just five minutes into the contest when, under no pressure, Pedro Porro headed the visitors' corner across the Spurs box. As Tottenham did at Molineux eight days before so opposition players were left unmarked on the edge of the box and the ball fell for Elliot Anderson to hit a powerful shot that deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur and Vicario could only palm it across his goal line.
Chris Wood fired home soon after in acres of space, getting behind Micky van de Ven and Vicario again only able to push the ball into his net, but fortunately for him the effort was ruled out by VAR for offside before Stockley Park had to temporarily leave proceedings after a fire alarm went off.
Wood did get on the scoresheet on 17 minutes when he took advantage of slack marking to breeze in between Cristian Romero and Van de Ven, having had a grapple with the latter, to head in Anthony Elanga's cross ahead of the flapping Vicario. The Italian had done his best Superman impression only to fly straight past the big striker.
In a pre-planned move, Romero - who was having one of those games when the red mist appeared to have descended - and Van de Ven were both replaced at the break by Kevin Danso and Ben Davies. It didn't affect Tottenham in any negative way. If anything the defence looked better for the change.
"I thought they needed to play some minutes tonight because it becomes 10 days leading into Liverpool," explained Ange Postecoglou. "With both of them we've got them in a really good place physically now and I just want to keep them ticking over.
"I felt that there was no need to play more than 45 minutes today and we needed to get a couple of others game time. I just felt that if it was Sunday we probably wouldn't have played them, but on a Monday, especially for Micky because he's been playing just one game a week, we need to build him up because he's in a really good place at the moment so I thought 45 minutes for both of them would be beneficial."
He also explained Destiny Udogie's absence - although Italian warmed up with the team - and the latest on James Maddison, who did not come on.
"Yeah, they're ok. Destiny was fine. We just left him out of the squad tonight. He put in a big physical shift on Thursday and the idea was always to rest him," he said. "I wasn't going to put him on so there was no point in putting him on the bench. Madders was pretty sore yesterday but in the last 24 hours he recovered and was keen to be on the bench. They're both fine."
Romero's evening was not done though, even if Tottenham might have thought it was. For a portion of an interview the centre-back had done with Argentinean journalist Gaston Edul was released to maximum effect an hour after the final whistle.
The World Cup winner had been asked what he has planned next in his career.
“No, well, I try, above all else, to always live day by day. There are almost two months left until the end of the season, and my focus is always on performing at my best and trying to finish in the best way possible," he said.
"We’re in the Europa League semi-final, which is an important step for the club. After so many years of not making it this far, I can say I’m happy, because in the end, I’d like to win it. It depends on many things.
"But yeah, after this, when the season ends, we’ll see. Honestly, I haven’t spoken with my agent yet, but I’m open to anything.
"My mindset is always about growing, also about going to new places to keep developing, but I don’t want to talk about that just yet because there are still a few months left before the season ends."
He was then asked what league he would like to play in next as he sat at Tottenham's Hotspur Way training complex.
"Yes, the league I’m missing is Spain’s. I’d love to, honestly. La Liga. I’d love to play there because it’s the one I haven’t played in yet," he said.
Romero also said he would like to play in his homeland again one day, adding: "I would love to return to Argentina at some point in my career, to live in Córdoba. If I go back, it’s to Belgrano, that’s decided. That’s where it’s at."
The full context of the quotes from the portion of the interview released are not quite as dramatic as the shortened versions that appeared on social media and the full interview will likely provide even more context when it is released in the days ahead.
However, it's certainly something to conduct an interview at your club's training ground talking about wanting to play elsewhere ahead of a major semi-final for the club, even if he was asked that specific question. It could have been waved away for a future interview.
Romero's interviews are rare and also rarely without incident as he speaks without filters because they are mostly done with media from Argentina.
There's also some irony that this talk of a move elsewhere comes towards the end of his worst season at Tottenham, with just 18 Premier League appearances to his name as hamstring and toe injuries have ensured he's played only 23 of Spurs' 52 games this season.
When he has played Romero has struggled to find his rhythm because of so much lost football, his performance in Frankfurt was his best in a while before Monday night's erratic display more in keeping with this season's efforts.
Spurs have missed his stronger defending, but also his goals with Romero having netted five in the Premier League last season, the competition's highest scoring defender, compared to his single goal this time around.
Tottenham fans might also find the timing of Romero's interview to be strangely familiar. The vice-captain's words on his future do stir echoes of Harry Kane's chat with Gary Neville which was released in May 2021.
The England captain admitted that his future might lie elsewhere just at a time in the final run of games when Spurs were trying to grab a Champions League spot with his close friend Ryan Mason in caretaker charge.
Kane didn't really dazzle in those remaining games, with two goals in the final five matches, and all the interview did was create more for Mason to speak about while the striker would not leave for another two years.
For Romero, it's fair to say he's less prized by Spurs and the fans than Kane. Tottenham will hold out for a big price for the World Cup and two-time Copa America winner but it's not out of the question that they would let him go with two years remaining on his deal if he shows little intention of signing a new one.
Much will depend on which clubs can afford to pay the sort of money Spurs would demand, regardless of how many more interviews Romero gives back home this summer.
In Monday night's game, with Romero, Tottenham had begun to create chances in the first half and without him, they continued that theme in the second while conceding no more chances at the other end.
Sels had already saved from Wilson Odobert and he added a fine low save from Richarlison after Toffolo's goal line heroics for the Champions League-chasing side's victory.
It wasn't until the 87th minute when Tottenham gave their fans their usual too late dose of hope as Richarlison finally took one of his chances with a fine header from Porro's cross, his fourth goal in his past five Premier League appearances.
Spurs huffed and puffed to the final whistle without being able to find a last-gasp equaliser.
It all had that feeling of deja vu. The Lilywhites have conceded early goals and flattered to deceive in finding a way back so many times this season in the Premier League. Postecoglou knows it as well as anyone.
"It’s another game we have lost where we shouldn’t lose and it’s been a big part of our season in that we are just making things really difficult for ourselves in key moments, just a little bit of concentration, giving away poor goals," he told football.london.
"It’s a shame because our football was outstanding and we totally dominated the game. Even with the two goals we conceded I still feel like we deserved to win the game. At the same time it’s another loss and another unacceptable loss.
"For us it’s just been a season where at times, even with the challenges we have had and we have had challenges today, having to make changes to the team, but it’s really frustrating because our football was so good. We have lost another game."
Unwanted records are looming. Spurs need eight points from their remaining five games to prevent this being their lowest ever points tally in the competition. That's looking a tough ask with trips to Anfield and Villa Park and London derbies against West Ham and Crystal Palace scheduled around the crunch Europa League semi-final legs against Bodo/Glimt.
A final day hosting of Brighton doesn't exactly scream three points either with the results this season.
This was Tottenham's 18th Premier League defeat of the season and they need to avoid losing two more games to prevent themselves recording their most defeats in a single season. They have already surpassed the most home defeats in a 38-game campaign.
When football.london reminded Postecoglou of the amount of defeats and asked what he could say to the fans after such an absurdly high number of them, he clearly bristled at the question.
"I don’t need to say anything to the fans. The fans are disappointed and angry as we are as well. It’s too many losses I know that," he said. "I don’t need to tell the fans anything. The fans clearly wouldn’t be happy with our results but neither am I or the players.
"From our perspective, it’s something we need to accept responsibility that we have fallen short of the standards we need to have. The flip side of that is that the frustrating bit is it’s not because of the way we are playing because our football today was very similar to the Frankfurt game at home which was another game we should have won."
Missed chances and poor defending while being open on the counter are problems that have littered Tottenham's season, regardless of whether Postecoglou has had all of his players fit and available or not.
It's ridiculous that the organised team that defended so well in Frankfurt on Thursday night can defend in two key moments as if they've just met each other only four days later. Postecoglou was asked whether it was a lack of leadership or experience.
"It shouldn't be because it's happened to us a few times this year," he said. "We should have learned from these things but it's a constant in our make-up at the moment and it's something we need to eradicate. At different times this year we've shown really good focus and concentration, Frankfurt being a classic case of that.
"But tonight, just at the start we didn't really sense the only threat that Forest were going to have was the counter-attack, which we handled really well in the second half, and set pieces. We let in two poor goals."
There were positives even in an 18th defeat with Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert at least looking threatening on the wings, Tel in particular starting to find his rhythm and the 19-year-old's confidence compared to his team-mates was on full display.
Spurs slung in 51 crosses on the night, the most of any team in a Premier League game this season and the club's most in a game since October 2022.
Postecoglou explained afterwards that it was the tactic to get around Forest's cluttered formation. While it seemed like the visiting defence's bread and butter at times, especially in the first half, it did create opportunities for Spurs with Richarlison's missed headers, Tel slicing a wild shot wide and the ball bouncing around the Forest box at times.
Richarlison's first start since February brought a rusty, mixed performance, with less quality with his feet than he brought in the air, even if he did send a couple of headed chances wide from good positions and had another saved well by Sels. He was receiving the service that Dominic Solanke has dreamed of this season.
The forward did score though, a header executed perfectly and with his fourth goal in five matches there's no doubting his impact when he's not injured, but that's the biggest problem for him, availability.
The Brazilian has started just three Premier League games this season, three in the Europa League and one in the Carabao Cup.
"It was part of the exercise today to get him and Wilson, Kulusevski, Kevin Danso some game time because they have missed a hell of a lot of football," said Postecoglou.
"Richy has hardly played all year, Deki has been a couple of months, same with Wilson and Kevin. From that perspective it was good they all got through it and got some meaningful minutes. We could rest a few others which was also useful for us. From that perspective it was a positive."
Kulusevski was making his first start since the win at Ipswich in February and while he looked to shake off the rust, he did almost score only for Toffolo to pull off that goal line clearance.
The Swede also revealed that he had suffered a stress fracture in his foot, which was the reason for his longer than expected absence. One positive for Tottenham is that the rest for him after a tiring mid-season coupled with a strong rehabilitation might hand them a fresh Kulusevski just when it matters the most.
"I'm very angry [with the defeat], but you've got to think about the process. You can't give up. It was good to be back playing football, I felt great and I've just got to be ready for the next game against Liverpool and then the Europa League," he said in his club interview after the match.
"I feel great, I've done everything possible to feel good when I came back because I know that with a stress fracture it's not easy, because I couldn't move for a month with a boot on my foot but I did everything right and thanks to that I'm fit now. I'm feeling great so nothing to complain about.
"Honestly I feel great. First start since Ipswich, I came close to scoring. I take the positives, I rest tomorrow and I'll be back the next day."
It was the team's defending that Kulusevski had more of an issue with on Monday night.
"We knew how they were going to play, the problem was that we conceded three goals in 10 minutes, with the offside goal. You can't win football games if you do that. It's too easy to score when you cross the ball and we don't defend. So that made us play the game," he said.
"We did our best, we did some good things. We created a lot of chances and in the end we got a goal, but it was too late. Of course we played good, but it's not about that. We lacked the focus in the first 10 minutes."
He added: "You've got to respect the game. It's not good enough doing it against Frankfurt. It was important to get a win [there] but we can't come out and concede these goals that we did now.
"Everybody has to take responsibility for that. Every player, every coach. It can't happen and in the end we lose points, points that we should not lose. It's very frustrating and it's been like this throughout this season so it's a lot to learn."
It was another disappointing day at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in front of a beleaguered fanbase. The official attendance stated 59,314 but the amount of empty seats visible around the ground suggested the actual figure was far lower. It perhaps was based on tickets sold or people just simply left mid-game or even just spent more time enjoying the bars.
You can hardly blame people for staying away. Home games have not exactly been a guaranteed great watch this season for all of the attacking endeavour that Postecoglou's teams are meant to bring. Spurs have won just six of their 17 Premier League matches at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this season and lost eight.
Only four teams have lost more in the division and only the bottom three have lost more games in all than the north London side.
You know it's been an awful league season when Spurs fans rejoiced in the fact that Arsenal beating Ipswich ensured Tottenham could not get relegated this season. It should not have had to come to that.
Postecoglou was asked whether avoiding the club's lowest ever Premier League points total was enough for the players to be motivated by or whether the Europa League games are the only motivation remaining this season.
"I don't know what that means. I don't think you saw a team that wasn't motivated," he said. "It's not like we lost because players chucked it in. If that's what people saw then they're watching something different to me.
"I don't think they lacked motivation today because I thought our football was outstanding, but again we've paid the price for lacking focus and concentration in key moments and it's another game we've let slip. So I don't think motivation is an issue."
The match also brought the return of Nuno Espirito Santo, who might have some feelings about Tottenham's 16th-place position in the league, knowing he was sacked in 2021 with the club in eighth place in the table.
When asked if there was some satisfaction to come back and win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Portuguese said: "No, you maybe don’t know me enough to ask this kind of question. I was honoured to be managing Tottenham, a huge, big club. I have a huge admiration and wish Tottenham the best for its future but you wouldn’t ask that if you know me better."
It was a touch of class from the former Spurs boss at a time when other managers would have taken the easy shot at their old club.
It is a different Tottenham Hotspur nowadays and the only way this season can end without utter misery is through the Europa League. It simply has to because the fans deserve better than the alternative.
