Cristian Stellini explains why Tottenham couldn’t beat Sheffield United
The chances of Tottenham Hotspur winning a trophy this season took a giant hit after they were eliminated at the hands of Sheffield United in the FA Cup fifth round on 1 March.
Iliman Ndiaye scored a brilliant goal in the 79th minute to send us packing from Bramall Lane. It was the only goal of the game and it was, quite frankly, preventable.
No one got close to the 22-year-old Senegal international as he dribbled his way into the box and hit a rasping shot past Fraser Forster. We didn’t score for far too long in the game and when it gets to the last 15 minutes of the game, the chances of a smash-and-grab increase dramatically.
That’s what happened. The team looked devoid of any creativity and inspiration without Harry Kane up front. The Englishman was brought on with 25 minutes left on the clock but couldn’t do anything of notice in that time.
A woeful display
Speaking after the game, assistant coach Cristian Stellini explained that a lack of energy from Spurs players helped the Blades steal a win late on. He told BBC Radio 5 Live:
“We had opportunities to score, but now we have to analyse the goal we conceded. In the moment if you concede a goal you need time to recover.
” There was more energy from the changes, but we have to improve a lot. I can only apologise to the fans for our performance and they deserve much more than this.”
We had 17 shots to Sheffield United’s seven. Only four of them went on target for us, and none were on target. The Blades, meanwhile, scored with their only shot on target in the game.
It just didn’t seem to be our night. Cup games have a habit of pulling out surprises such as this. It’s just a shame that we were on the receiving end this time. It’s pointless to sit and dissect this because Sheffield United were pretty good and just wanted it more than us.
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Perhaps we needed someone like Antonio Conte to rile up the players when they were flatfooted and devoid of inspiration. Let’s hope he is back by the time we face AC Milan in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League round of 16.
