Tottenham’s injury list is long and clearly a huge hinderance to them this season. But midfielder James Maddison was right to brand their first-half display at Everton as “unacceptable”.
Spurs fans may feel the same way about the first-half performance at Arsenal. Or the first 90 minutes of the cup game with Tamworth. If anything, the win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg is proof Spurs still have enough talent in the group to play far better than they have in the past week.
That falls on the players and it falls on the manager. Ange Postecoglou admitted he got the back-three set-up wrong at Everton but he could still expect more from a frontline of his captain Heung-min Son, Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski – players who have each received plenty of plaudits in the past.
It is not as though Spurs’ problems are merely contained within this period of absences, either. In their past 50 Premier League games they have lost 24 times. It is not good enough for Spurs. Daniel Levy, watching on glumly at Goodison, will feel that too.
On paper, this was a winnable game for Tottenham. Their next four fall into that category before the all-important Carabao Cup trip to Liverpool too. There can be no excuses if Spurs slip deeper into the mire.
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