Tottenham lost their first game of the Europa League this season with a 3-2 away defeat to Galatasaray.
The hosts opened the scoring through Yunus Akgün in the sixth minute before Will Lankshear levelled the proceedings for Spurs 12 minutes later. Victor Osimhen then scored a quick-fire eight-minute brace to hand his side a two-goal advantage at the break. The Lilywhites did pull one back in the second half via Dominic Solanke approximately nine minutes after going down to ten men as Will Lankshear received a second yellow, but they failed to take anything away from the game.
In terms of talking points, however, there are plenty, and here are our three.
Shooting themselves in the foot
Everyone watching Spurs is well aware of Ange Potecoglou‘s “my way or no way” brand of football, which includes playing out from the back. Granted, this is not a new concept and possession-based teams have been demonstrating its long-term benefits for over a decade, but the Galatasaray game demonstrated that second-choice Tottenham defence line simply cannot play out the back as per their manager’s liking without getting into trouble, and trouble did find them in this game.
Spurs are going to have to need their full squad on board if they’re going to improve upon their results last season, but that clearly requires to have to adapt in-game, which has been a major point of contention with Postecoglou in general.
Goalkeeper conundrum
In particular, the quality gap between Spurs’ first-choice goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and Fraser Forster was on full display today, at least in terms of the way Postecoglou wants his shot-stoppers to operate. If Tottenham aren’t going to change their approach, they’re going to have to rely on Vicario almost all the time.
Vicario himself has shown a nerve or two this season, but he is clearly a better option for Postecoglou than Forster.
The youngsters are here to stay
Those who have watched football closely for a decade or more will know that it’s highly unlikely Postecoglou remains at Spurs for too long given his own preferences, the club’s targets and proclivities, as well as the overall nature of modern-day football.
However, since we tend to blame and praise managers for everything that happens at a club, Postecoglou’s work with Spurs’ technical director Johan Lange over establishing a project for the stars of tomorrow cannot be ignored. Lankshear, case in point, shone today—in both good and bad ways, but he looks bright. Archie Gray, Mikey Moore, Lucas Bergvall are all not only looking good in terms of talent but also in terms of industry.
Simply put, Spurs’ youth policy under Lange will set them up on a successful path for the long term, and while he most certainly won’t be a part of it for too long, Postecoglou deserves credit for the work he has put in.
