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When it rains, it pours, and Tottenham Hotspur are sure to be feeling the effects of the storm right now after Wolverhampton Wanderers‘ two late goals snatched victory from Ange Postecoglou to conclude a miserable week.
Just one week ago, Spurs were flying in the Premier League and revelling in an extraordinary start to the season under the Australian manager’s wing, but an anarchic match against Chelsea resulted in a 4-1 loss after injuries to key players James Maddison and Micky van de Ven, as well as dismissals to Destiny Udogie and Cristian Romero.
This exacerbation of problems resulted in a much-changed backline at Molineux today, with the notable absence of Maddison’s creative ingenuity in the centre also felt.
And despite taking the lead through Brennan Johnson’s early strike – his first for Tottenham – a lack of control in the centre allowed Wolves to gain a foothold, with poor finishing from the hosts the only thing stopped parity from being restored earlier on.
And with two stoppage-time goals from Pablo Sarabia and Mario Lemina turning the game on its head in the dying embers, questions must be asked of the attacking options on the pitch, with captain Heung-min Son at the epicentre.
Heung-min Son’s performance vs Wolves
Son extended an unwanted individual record against the Old Gold today, extending his record of 11 matches against the club without scoring, with such a statistic emblematic of the South Korean’s performance at Molineux today.
Ineffective in his centre-forward position, the 31-year-old took just 36 touches and completed 83% of his passes, with his only shot of the game blocked in the late stages, right before the turnaround, as per Sofascore.
The dynamic attacker did make one key pass, but he was definitely out of sorts in comparison to his fantastic feats this season, scoring eight goals across his past eight games as the focal frontman in the Premier League before today.
Handing him a 5/10 score in his post-match player ratings, the Evening Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick wrote: ‘Missing the service for long periods but struggled to get into the game or hold up the ball effectively.’
Son did drop deeper and out wide on multiple occasions to get the ball rolling, so to speak, and did feel the void left in Maddison’s wake, but it was one of his arguably worst displays under Postecoglou and he will now hope to return to blistering form after the forthcoming international break.
He was not the only offensive outlet to have flattered to deceive, with winger Dejan Kulusevski not really building on a strong start and ultimately leaving much to be desired.
Dejan Kulusevski’s stats vs Wolves
To be fair, many of Kulusevski’s best attributes were on display in the Midlands, with the Swede’s relentless running and high energy charging the right channel; it is for this reason that Postecoglou has given him a starting berth across all 12 league encounters this season, having scored three goals.
Kulusevski started with a brilliant contribution, latching onto Pape Sarr’s cross-field pass to weave it into the path of Pedro Porro, whose incisive whipped delivery was turned in by Johnson for his maiden Spurs goal.
But that proved to be the end of Tottenham’s attacking intent, with the host taking control and launching a fusillade of efforts on Guglielmo Vicario’s goal over the duration of the contest – it was only poor finishing that ensured the lead was preserved for as long as it was.
Kulusevski was indeed as energetic as ever but he failed to contribute defensively – making no tackles, clearances, or interceptions – and was actually dribbled past on five occasions, having failed with both of his own attempted carries with the ball at his feet.
Moreover, the 23-year-old only won two duels all game despite contesting in 16; having also lost the ball 13 times, the 45-touch wideman endured an afternoon to forget and will hope to rekindle his better form when his side return to action in a few weeks.
It’s important to remain calm, with Spurs still thriving after Postecoglou’s summer arrival and still in a promising position. With a fully-fit squad, it’s plausible that the London club would still be undefeated in the Premier League this season.
But alas, calamity struck, and now is the time to rally together and ensure that the early-season exploits do not turn out to be a false dawn.
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