Tottenham produced a spirited display to draw 1-1 with Liverpool at Anfield.
Tottenham Hotspur earned a valuable point in their quest to avoid relegation when they travelled to Anfield to take on Liverpool on Sunday.
The Lilywhites spent stretches of the game chasing an equaliser after going down to a fantastic 30-yard free-kick from Dominik Szoboszlai in the 18th minute. Guglielmo Vicario should have done better to save, but after it happened, how Igor Tudor’s men would react to that was interesting to watch.
Credit to Tottenham players for not dropping their shoulders and getting sucked into the pressure of conceding first after it has happened several times this season. They stayed in the game by thwarting the home side’s wave of attacks before eventually silencing the Anfield crowd in the 90th minute via Richarlison’s goal.
Igor Tudor speaks about progress in Tottenham’s mentality after Liverpool draw
Igor Tudor has been under heavy pressure to spark an upturn after failing to win his first four matches in charge of Tottenham. Spurs eventually picked up their first point under him at Anfield, after being written off completely by several pundits.
The Croatian tactician suffered several setbacks heading into the game. As usual, he had a depleted squad to select his strongest XI, and our gaffer picked the best players to get a result. Tudor’s decision to start Richarlison up top with Dominic Solanke was vindicated, as the former scored the leveller at the death to end Tottenham’s woeful sequence of 11 league games without a win.
“There was progress in terms of mentality and will to stay and suffer. That for sure is progress,” Tudor said in an interview with BBC Match of the Day (h/t BBC Sport).
“I cannot speak about progress because we know what happened in the last two games. Today is a game where we came here with 12 players. This is something big for our fans, for the players. This is really something big.”
Tudor pleased with the team’s effort vs. Liverpool
Tudor has been speaking about the team’s lack of effort and poor mentality when competing with Premier League clubs since his arrival at N17 last month. Spurs were outsmarted and outworked by Arsenal, Fulham, Crystal Palace and Atletico Madrid, leaving them in a precarious position heading into the game against Arne Slot’s side.
The pressure was extremely high on Tudor and his group, especially after relegation rivals West Ham and Nottingham Forest had earned favourable results. However, the North Londoners showed much-needed resilience and fighting spirit to earn a credible point despite the difficult circumstances they came into the game in.
The effort, energy and commitment shown by the players should have pleased Tudor after weeks of frustration and agony. Seems like the big Croat’s “you can stay and cry or you can fight” quote in his presser last week worked.