Here are five things we spotted in Tottenham’s 1-0 Premier League defeat against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Thursday evening
Tottenham’s inconsistent form continued on Thursday evening as they lost 1-0 against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Following last Sunday’s 1-1 draw away at Fulham, Ange Postecoglou made three changes to his Spursteam as Archie Gray, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke all came into the team.
The headline news, though, was the decision to drop Son Heung-min to the bench. Spurs had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring after eight minutes but Solanke could only shoot over the crossbar after using his strength to get the better of his marker.
Despite starting relatively well, Spurs unfortunately found themselves behind on 17 minutes as Dean Huijsen was left all alone to head home a corner at the back post. Bournemouth looked the side most likely to score the next goal, with Fraser Forster producing a fine save to his left to stop Marcus Tavernier’s header from finding the far corner.
Forster was again needed in the second half to deny Justin Kluivert after a positive run into the Spurs box, before Son had a goal disallowed for offside seconds after his introduction and Pedro Porro had a powerful half-volley saved. There was to be no way back into the game for Spurs and they missed out on moving into the Premier League’s top five as a result. Here are five things we spotted in the game on the south coast.
Postecoglou raised eyebrows with his Tottenham team selection for the Bournemouth game after electing to name Son amongst the substitutes. Always seen as an automatic pick in the XI when fit and available, the head coach decided it was time to rotate and not push the South Korean too much with the team already suffering with a number of injury issues at present.
“Just rotation, mate. We’ve got so many games and Kulusevski had a rest at the weekend, it’s Sonny’s turn today,” he told Amazon Prime when explaining his selection call. “We’ve got to be really careful as we’re thin on numbers and we’ve got to look after our players.”
You can count on one hand the amount of times Son has been cut from the team when available, with the player notably responding in the best way possible with a hat-trick in the space of 13 minutes after coming on against Leicester City in September 2022. Son’s absence saw Spurs initially line up with an attacking trio of Kulusevski, Solanke and Brennan Johnson before the captain was introduced just prior to the hour mark.
Son was to have an immediate impact on the game as he had a goal chalked off for offside and then teed James Maddison up for a chance that the midfielder curled wide. He even finished the game playing in a slightly deeper role to usual as Postecoglou made some attacking changes in hope of getting something from the game.
Right-back pecking order
Porro’s run of starting in all of Tottenham’s Premier League games this season finally came to an end at Bournemouth. An ever-present in the league for the Lilywhites, the Spaniard was given a breather as he dropped down to the bench as Gray came into the side.
Central midfield may be viewed as the youngster’s long-term position but for now he is clearly seen as a full-back in Postecoglou’s immediate thinking. It was in fact the 18-year-old’s first Premier League start for Tottenham, adding to his seven starts in the team’s cup fixtures this term.
Gray’s selection in Porro’s place also highlighted the pecking order when it comes to right-back as Djed Spence, who is a natural in the role, had to settle for a place on the bench as his former Leeds teammate was selected ahead of him. So far this term, the vast majority of Spence’s football has come on the opposite side of the
pitch.
Gray’s perfect timing
It was a big night for Gray as he made his first of what should be many starts in the Premier League for Tottenham. Just unable to get a consistent set of minutes in the league despite catching the eye in both the Carabao Cup and Europa League, the youngster didn’t look out of place at right-back before he later shifted across to centre-back.
There was one moment inside the first 11 minutes when Gray showed his undoubted quality as he dashed Bournemouth’s hopes on the counter. Looking to profit from a Spurs corner as they raced away upfield, Gray produced a sublime slide tackle on Kluivert midway inside his own half to come away with the ball.
He had to time it to perfection as he would have either picked up a booking for a foul or seen his opponent race towards Fraser Forster’s goal. Gray did indeed execute it perfectly as he demonstrated the quality that he has in his locker.
Same old story
It was a fairly comfortable evening for Bournemouth goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga with Tottenham barely forcing him into action. Apart from a very tame effort from Kulusevski in the opening minutes that was all too comfortable for the Spaniard, the experienced goalkeeper only had to palm away a couple of dangerous corners from Maddison after the break and save low down from Porro.
Postecoglou’s teams are known for their brave, attacking football but there was very little of that on show at the Vitality Stadium. Top goalscorer Johnson was hardly in the game and Maddisoncouldn’t have a say on proceedings when Spurs needed their skipper on the night to really influence things.
It’s not the first time this has happened, though, with a number of examples in recent months of Spurs just not playing positively enough, lacking energy and a failure to create chances on goal as a result. It was no wonder Postecoglou looked extremely unimpressed when watching on.
Spurs were better after the restart but they still didn’t do nowhere enough to leave the Vitality Stadium with points in the bag. Their inconsistent form, coupled with the injuries, is proving extremely problematic this season and now they have the small issue of free-scoring Chelsea making the trip across the capital on Sunday afternoon.
January transfer must
There appears to be no end in sight to Tottenham’s rotten luck on the injury front. Already without players such as Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven and Richarlison, Spurs were dealt more cruel luck against Bournemouth as another player limped off injured.
This time it was Ben Davies who made way midway through the second half with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. The Welshman went to ground after Maddison had shot wide and it resulted in an unwanted change in such a key position of the pitch.
Spurs are so short at centre-back right now and the hope will be that Romero and Van de Ven can make their comeback as soon as possible. Without a recognised centre-back on the bench, Gray was moved across to the left-sided centre-back role following Davies’ exit
