Tottenham v Wolves, Ange Postecoglou, latest news, scores, comments, reactions, Tim Sherwood, Darren Bent

Falling behind early, taking the lead, missing a penalty kick, conceding a late goal, more injuries, and even being booed by fans have become all too familiar stories for Tottenham.

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The ever-repeating script was played out once again in the home game against relegation-threatened Wolves as investigations into Ange Postecoglou intensified.

The away team, which has been undefeated with 2 wins and 1 draw since coach Vitor Pereira took office, took the lead in the 7th minute of the first half when Hwang Hee-chan showed off a brilliant set play and scored with a stunning strike from the top of the penalty box. free kick.

To add to the groans and moans of the home fans, the first goal created an unwanted piece of history for Spurs.

It was the 15th time in 2024 that they have conceded the opening goal of a Premier League game at home, their most in a calendar year.

Tottenham took the lead at half-time when Brennan Johnson finished off Rodrigo Bentancur's header from a corner and Dejan Kulusevski's pass.

But it could have been a two-goal advantage as Son Heung-min's penalty was blocked and proved costly, although Johnson was brought down in the box minutes before his goal.

Tottenham looked tired in the second half and made them pay in the 87th minute when Strand Larsen smashed the ball into the roof of the net from an incredibly tight angle to equalize and create an even more unwanted record for Spurs.

They have now gone five consecutive Premier League home games without a win, their first since October 2008 when they failed to win eight games in a row at home before coach Juande Ramos was sacked.

Tottenham currently ranks 11th with 24 points from 19 games.

They have won once in their last seven games and are overcoming an injury crisis at the back.

All these factors are why Matt Law, the UK Telegraph's football news correspondent, wrote: “Watching Spurs should come with a health warning, even for the club's younger fans.”

Meanwhile, The Times' James Gheerbrant believes Postecoglou is now stuck in an awkward position during his Tottenham tenure.

“Right now they are either winning with style or succumbing to duress – an unfortunate dichotomy for any team and one that leaves them in the second half of the year and their manager Ange Postecoglou in an uncomfortable position of uncertainty,” he wrote.

“At the start of 2024, Tottenham were fifth in the Premier League, Postekoglou’s win rate was close to 60%, and the energy surrounding his project was vibrant. Results have slowed and positivity has evaporated over the past 12 months.

“Significant injuries and absences have hurt them this season, providing partial relief for their poor form, and for Postecoglou it may be starting to feel like a constant flood of bad news…”

Postecoglou made the bold call to use Radu Dragusin despite the centre-back clearly being unfit after suffering an ankle injury in Spurs' shock defeat to second-place Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day.

It was an example of things going from bad to worse, with Postecoglou justifying the decision to send the Romanian onto the pitch by saying “we had no choice”. If Radu doesn’t play, you don’t know who is playing.”

First-choice centre-backs Christian Romero and Mickey van der Ven have missed Tottenham's last six games through injury, while other option Ben Davis has not played since the away trip to Bournemouth earlier this month.

As a result, 18-year-old Archie Gray, who played mainly as a midfielder or right-back during his younger days, has been trying to hold down the fort in a central defensive position alongside Dragusin, and despite support from midfielder Yves, Bissouma when Dragusin fell in the woods.

Adding to the woes, left-back Destiny Udogie also suffered a hamstring injury and was ruled out of Saturday's game at home to Newcastle following Bentancur's late yellow card.

The selection headache creates a “fragile foundation”, as Postecoglou famously said of the club, after fans cheered them to lose to Manchester City in their penultimate game of last season to prevent rivals Arsenal from winning the league. Australian frustration.

“I don’t think everything is going smoothly,” Postecoglou said after the game. “As soon as you get one back, you lose another. We have to get over it. We still have a lot of work left to do. “In what lies ahead, we need to give our athletes all the support we can to help them perform at their best.”

In a post-match interview on Sky Sports, former Tottenham and England striker Darren Bent expressed his belief that most of Tottenham's problems stem from what happens at the club during the week rather than on match day.

Bent, who has scored four goals in 13 appearances on the international stage, is adamant that the form of Spurs' current playing group is not up to the standard required for Postecoglou's high-octane style of play.

“In the medical department, obviously Ange is saying, ‘What is going on here?’ Because at that point I feel he has too many injuries. But they need to look at it,” Bent said.

“We can’t allow the same players to keep going down with the same injuries.

“If you look at the way they play and the intensity of their play, it’s clear they aren’t training at the same level they play because injuries happen.

“Normally, if you train at a lower tempo and have to go out on a Saturday and play Angeball at 100 miles per hour, you're always going to break down.

“And the recovery situation. It will also be a problem to have players sustaining the same injuries over and over again, van de Ven, we know how fast he is. He changes the whole dynamic of the back line, but you can't have the same injuries, hamstrings, over and over again. At some point, someone has to leave. You know, he might be ready now, but we’ll give him another two or three weeks just to be sure.”

Speaking on the same panel discussion on Sky Sports, former Tottenham midfielder and manager Tim Sherwood agreed with Bent that more heat should be directed to Spurs' medical staff.

Sherwood, who captained Blackburn Rovers to a Premier League title in 1995, also believes Postekoglo needs more support from the club in the form of spending more money to build a larger squad in the upcoming January transfer window. .

“He will continue to do what he is doing. This is what he knows best: playing this way. “I suggest he just needs a bit of help in the January transfer window,” Sherwood said.

“I’m not sure what level of players we can bring back and whether we can bring back some of the players. Udogie suffered another hamstring injury today so something must be going on.

“I thought it had been eradicated from the world of sports scientists, but it seems to be increasing. I don't think they are overtrained. I think athletes these days lack training.

“I don’t know what happens on the training pitch on a day-to-day basis, but for muscle injuries to persist, it might be something to look at.”

As for how Postecoglou is managing this incredibly difficult period, Sherwood believes he is doing what he can.

“He doesn’t think he’s running out of ideas because he has a clear idea of ​​how he wants to play. I think what he is struggling with is the depth of the squad. He can’t rest his team,” Sherwood said.

“I pointed out during the game that we were missing two centre-backs, Mickey van der Ven and Romero, and our goalkeeper, Vicario.

“Other than that, it’s a full-strength aspect.

“The problem is that when he wants a change, he doesn't have the quality to make a change and everyone has to play all the time.

“He’s trying to get them to rest. He's trying to juggle them to keep them fresh.

“Talk about the sharpness of the final third. They have no problem scoring goals. We all know they can score goals. “We are trying to block the opposition party,” he said.

Tottenham fans recently protested against chairman Daniel Levy over his reluctance to spend more money to build a deeper squad.

It will be interesting to see how active Spurs are in the January transfer window. But before reinforcements can come, Levy will demand better from his existing forces.

“Levy looked thunderous in the stands and could be fearing the worst ahead of a series of games that include Newcastle United next, Liverpool in the Carabao Cup semi-final and away to Arsenal,” said Matt Law of the UK Telegraph. . wrote.

“The way things are going, Spurs may not feel particularly confident about their FA Cup trip to Tamworth.”