Tottenham Hotspur produced a lackluster display in the 1-0 defeat to AZ Alkmaar on Thursday evening

Tottenham Hotspur have work to do in the UEFA Europa second leg of last-16 tie against AZ Alkmaar next week to progress in the competition.

Ange Postecoglou’s side fell to a 1-0 defeat in Thursday’s first leg at the AFAS Stadion, with Lucas Bergvall’s unlucky own goal proving the difference on the night. Spurs were flat and barely produced anything substantial to test AZ Alkmaar’s goalkeeper, registering just one shot on target during the entire game.

Despite having over a week’s rest, the Lilywhites simply did not look up to the challenge. The intensity, the hunger, the energy and the aggression were all missing. It was a completely lacklustre display in the Netherlands which should have massively surprised Ange Postecoglou, especially with the rest they got and a near-full squad.

Interestingly, Tottenham legend Glenn Hoddle believes the North London outfit will be “happy” with the result going into the second leg. Despite the poor performance, the ex-football-turned-pundit thinks that Big Ange’s side will not be too down.

“They were lacklustre in their performance. But that’s a better result for Tottenham than it is for AZ,” Glenn Hoddle told TNR Sports (h/t BBC Sport).

“To play so mediocre and come home with just a one-goal deficit, they’ll be happy with that. Not the performance, but the result.”

Eliminated from both domestic cup competitions in February and with their Premier League season now a dead rubber, any hopes of silverware for Tottenham rests solely on the Europa League. Of course, the North Londoners are touted as one of the favourites to lift the Europa League, but the kind of performance put in by the boys on Thursday should be worrying for Big Ange and the fans.

In reality, a 1-0 defeat at AZ Alkmaar flattered Spurs. We were outplayed in every department by the Eredivisie side for large parts of the game, and our goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario made three vital saves to keep us alive in the competition. Big Ange’s troops were fortunate to escape without a heavier defeat, especially after former academy starlet Troy Parrott missed a huge chance to further extend AZ’s advantage.

Thus, we completely agree with Hoddle’s assessment and why he thinks the result is not a bad one to take for Spurs. At home, in front of our fans and trailing just 1-0, the players will back themselves to produce a better performance and overcome AZ to advance to the last eight of the competition.

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However, Tottenham will have to do without Rodrigo Bentancur for the return leg after his third booking of the continental campaign, while Dominic Solanke picked up a back injury in midweek.