Tottenham vs Red Star Belgrade: Five things we learned as Spurs ease to Champions League victory
Tottenham 5-0 Red Star Belgrade: Last year’s finalists achieved their widest ever margin of victory in the competition
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1) Scars from Bayern defeat are fading
In Spurs’ last Champions League outing, they hosted a harrowing, humiliating 7-2 defeat to Bundesliga titleholders Bayern Munich. The stars aligned for FC Hollywood at Tottenham’s red carpet stadium, as Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich and – most unpalatably for the home fans – former Arsenal midfielder Serge Gnabry found the back of Hugo Lloris’ net with alarming ease. Gnabry’s four goals constituted the most scarring component of the dissection of Mauricio Pochettino’s team, but the north London side are on the road to recovery, judging by their performance on Tuesday night.
They largely looked calm and confident against Red Star Belgrade, and though Spurs fans will have hoped for such qualities against a very beatable side, those merits shouldn’t be taken for granted in light of Tottenham’s recent travails. Nevertheless, they were on full display at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
2) Spurs have the tools to get back on track
You can question Tottenham’s… okay, ‘bottle’… all you want, but every now and then they show they aren’t as fragile mentally as is typically made out. They proved that against Manchester City and Ajax in this tournament last season, and from the first whistle on Tuesday they set about proving it again.
It often happens that underwhelming results give way to a frustrated forcefulness that sees performances falling flat (or in less alliterative terms, you try too hard and it all goes wrong). But Spurs got the balance right on Tuesday, proving a point while enjoying their football. That could be seen in the contributions of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and Erik Lamela.
They were hungry, combined slickly with relative effortlessness, and that was that. They resembled the versions of themselves from last season – the ones that took their club to the final of this competition – and in doing so reminded those watching of how much quality really exists within this Tottenham team.
3) Eriksen needs to move on – for the good of the club
Pochettino admitted before kick-off that Eriksen had been training over the last few days, so his exclusion from the starting eleven and absence during the 90+ minutes was not a matter of fitness. It’s no secret that the Dane’s intention is to be playing football elsewhere come next season, or even the new year, and it would likely be best if Tottenham facilitated that eventuality.
When was the last time the club were at odds with a key player that wanted a way out? Struggling to think of an example? Take a look back through Spurs’ departures since Pochettino took charge and it quickly becomes apparent that this is entirely new ground for the north London club in the Argentine’s tenure. It would therefore be no surprise if the inexperience of Tottenham’s current incarnation when it comes to dealing with such a situation was central to the wider malaise infesting the team.
Moving Eriksen on might well simplify things at the club and go a long way to clearing the haze that surrounds it.
4) The fans are still behind Pochettino
The manager’s future has been at the heart of many a discussion about his side’s struggles recently. Does he want to leave? Should he want to? Do the fans want him to leave? Should they want him to?
One of those questions needs no debate. The choruses showering down from the stands at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday signified steadfast support of Pochettino.
Whether or not that will have an effect on the Argentine and his desire to stay or go is yet to be seen, but Tuesday’s crowd suggested there’s a healthy supply of patience among the Spurs faithful.
5) Tottenham balance out their goal difference
Having conceded seven to Bayern last time out in the Champions League, Spurs essentially had their own ‘Bayern moment’ on Tuesday, and the final scoreline represented their widest ever margin of victory in the competition.
The home side entered the match with a -5 goal difference thanks to Bayern, but brought it up to 0 on Tuesday night... So, that’s something.
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