Daniel Wales and James Trembath discuss all the latest at Tottenham Hotspur.
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00:00Hello and welcome back to Talking Tottenham with myself Daniel and my co-host here James
00:16from National World. Well James it was an interesting lunchtime kickoff against Newcastle
00:21United at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Whitehot Lane, whatever you want to call it. Spurs
00:26certainly played probably the best they've played in a good few weeks, especially in
00:30that second half. You could argue that they were unlucky to come away with nothing in
00:34that game, but nothing again. That's the main point, isn't it? Spurs once again not picking
00:40up points. Yeah, I mean I was as frustrated as I've been in a long time from Saturday's
00:46game, not from the performance. I thought we were absolutely outstanding in the second
00:51half. Considering the circumstances, you know, so many injuries, illness sweeping through
00:56the camp. I mean we had to lose Radu Dragacin at half-time because he just couldn't keep
01:00going. Archie Gray had been on his sickbed all that morning I understand and he got out
01:05and played a terrific match. To end the game with, you know, Jed Spence at centre-back,
01:11Archie Gray at midfielder, who's 18, at the heart of the defence as well, and Sergio Reguilon
01:15who's had one foot out the exit door for about three years at Spurs and has barely kicked
01:20a ball. You know, the performance, hats off to the players. It was a terrific performance.
01:25I think it shows we're still with the manager, you know, we're really playing for him. And
01:29on another day, I think Ang said after the game, you know, all things being equal, we
01:34were well worth the draw on the day. I mean, very, very contentious equaliser in my opinion.
01:40You know, albeit, as we said, you know, second half we pushed on, we pressed, had lots of
01:45energy and intensity in our play, had a couple of really good chances, Ben and Johnson at
01:49the post, Maddison, inches wide when he came on, but we didn't really create lots and lots
01:54of clear-cut chances. We were exactly knocking the door down in terms of De Bravica making
01:58a lot of saves. But, you know, as you say, good performance, but you know, the bare facts
02:04are that's 10 defeats in the league this season and that's, you know, simply not good enough.
02:08No, it's really not. And I mean, we've spoken before about sort of Archiposte Koglu's naivety
02:13perhaps in terms of his management style. But I think, to be honest, when you had such
02:18issues with the squad in terms of availability at the weekend, I think actually going forward
02:23was probably the only way you could have got something against the Newcastle side who are
02:26flying at the moment.
02:27Yeah, and I think it showed in the second half. You know, the system works when we're
02:32fully charged and we're fully energised and when we play the way that Archiposte Koglu
02:36wants us to play, we get the press on. You know, like I say, Jed Spence and Archie Gray,
02:40the makeshift centre-back pairing in the second half, we're regular on that left back. And,
02:44you know, really, Newcastle barely had a sniff, to be honest, we did one chance for Gordon
02:48obviously that he smashed over the top. Should have done better, really. Perhaps that would
02:51have put the game out of sight. But apart from that, I mean, Jed Spence, you know, he's
02:55becoming a bit of an unsung hero. He's filling in at left back. He's obviously had his chance
03:00rationed really at right back. And then at centre-back, he was terrific. And Archie Gray
03:06just continues to put in, you know, solid performance after solid performance. So, you
03:11know, again, shows that the system can work, you know, when we do get the personnel back.
03:15I think it was almost maybe a bit of a turning point, perhaps a bit of a watershed moment
03:19to all the players and the fans that, you know, we've had a big malaise recently. The
03:24performances haven't been brilliant. We've played in spells and the results are obviously
03:29certainly not there. But, you know, as I say, that performance almost can be the blueprint
03:34now to get us back and almost make us turn the corner. You know, hopefully a couple of
03:38players are on the way back soon. We're with Charleston and Mikey Moore, Van der Ven-Romerum,
03:43a million miles away, I think, and hopefully we're going to make some early moves in the transfer market.
03:47Is the worry for Spurs is that as good as you were in the second half and as good as
03:52you actually started the game as well, there was that period sort of in the middle of the
03:55second half to right to the end of it where Newcastle did completely take charge and ultimately
04:00that's what's won the match for them. And it was sort of Spurs' own downfall in the
04:05sense that, obviously we've mentioned the handball, but it comes from sort of Spurs
04:09giving the ball away cheaply at the edge of the box. And then the second goal, of course,
04:13it's a lack of marking right in the middle, in front of goal as well, where Murphy plays a
04:19pretty average ball across goal and Isak's completely unmarked in the middle.
04:24Yeah, I think Radio Geneve was a little bit unlucky for that one. He got a turn to it,
04:28didn't he? And it sort of deflected onto Isak, who didn't really know a huge amount about it.
04:32But yeah, the first goal, you're absolutely right. Again, we get in front, good start,
04:37great goal from Solanke, brilliant cross from Poro. He had actually one of his best games
04:40of the season. I think Poro, he was terrific, especially in that second half. But again,
04:46yeah, a little bit of naivety. It was a poor pass from Sarr in the first place into Bergwall,
04:50who was on the stretch. And obviously then he sort of tried to flick it out wide and it
04:55deflected off Joe Linton's hand. But again, a little bit like we spoke about previously,
04:59it's that game management. You know, we're in front. Yeah, let's go for the second goal,
05:03but let's have full concentration if we are playing out. Let's make sure we're playing
05:07through, we're assured in that passing and not taking any unnecessary risks. And we did again
05:13and got punished, albeit a slightly controversial one. Indeed, yes. I just wanted to mention Poro
05:18there, actually, because he was, for me, one of Spurs' standout performers in that game. Some
05:23of the crosses he put in, especially for the goal a couple of minutes into the game, were
05:27outstanding. And you just have to wonder, why does he not do that on a more regular basis?
05:33I think there's been a little bit of burnout, to be honest. I think it's like with a lot of Spurs
05:37players, you can sort of tell when the energy levels have been sapped. He's played a lot of
05:41football this season, not a lot of rest and rotation for him with all the injuries. And you
05:45could see he'd had six days rest, as had some old squad, and it really showed in the performance.
05:51You know, I mean, he was such a threat down that right side. The deliveries coming into the box
05:55were sort of Alexander-Arnold-esque at times. And his defending was much better as well. I think
06:00that's one criticism I've always had of Poro. Going backwards, he is a little bit suspect,
06:04but actually on Saturday, he was very, very solid defensively, really on his A-game,
06:10and unlucky to be on the losing side, really. Indeed, yes. Now, of course, as well, Spurs
06:16had a new goalkeeper in between the sticks in Brandon Austin. And given the fact that Fraser
06:21Forster himself was ill and unavailable, and to be fair to him, he did pretty well,
06:27cleaned a lot of balls that came into the box, didn't look too frustrated, which some keepers
06:32can't do on their first start. You think, oh gosh, what's he going to be like with the pressure
06:38against a team who have got a really potent attack as well? But he seemed to cope with
06:43the pressure quite well. But albeit this is a position where Spurs have already now strengthened
06:48in the transfer window, so his opportunities will probably still be quite limited despite that
06:52display. Yeah, it was slightly ironic, wasn't it, that we end up playing the third-choice
06:57goalkeeper. He plays so well, and then literally in the background at the training ground,
07:01we're signing a new goalkeeper. But I think it needed to happen. Brandon Austin's been a
07:05real good servant to Spurs. He's never kicked a ball. Been out on loan a couple of times,
07:10went to the MLS once, but he's been at Spurs since a young boy in the academy.
07:15He was fantastic, and I think the one thing you would say is, why has he not been playing instead
07:18of Fraser Forster? He was very, very assured, commanded his box, made a couple of really,
07:23really strong saves, and he looked really, really assured with his feet. So I think
07:28Ali McCoy gave him man of the match. That's the first time he's ever given man of the match to
07:32a player on the losing team. So it tells you everything, really. But yeah, we've obviously
07:36brought in a goalkeeper. Don't know too much about Anton Inkinski from Slavia Prague.
07:43Allegedly very, very highly rated, extremely good with his feet and commands his box.
07:49And that brings me neatly onto that, because that is, of course, Spurs' next game. Newcastle,
07:52your previous opponents have also got their semi-final on Tuesday night. They're away
07:56against Arsenal, so they're staying in north London. As are Spurs, of course, they are at home
08:02to Liverpool. Now, to be fair, when that draw happened towards the back end of December,
08:08I think there was probably a lot of groans because, let's be honest, Liverpool were flying and
08:12they went on to beat Spurs 6-3 at White Hart Lane just a couple of weeks later in the Premier League.
08:17But Spurs, as we mentioned with that performance, have shown a bit of impetus and a bit of
08:25positivity. And Liverpool themselves had a disappointing performance against Manchester
08:30United in the Premier League, a 2-2 draw against a, let's be honest, very average Manchester United
08:35side, who they let impose themselves at Anfield. And so there is encouragement there for Spurs.
08:41And what is an important game in terms of the context of Spurs' season?
08:47Yeah, it's just a shame for me that the second leg isn't at home, I think, because I think
08:52Wednesday night is all about hanging in there, really, and having a game to play for
08:56at Anfield when we go back there in February. We're missing Sar, we're missing Maddison and,
09:01obviously, all the injured players that we know about. How some of the others are going to recover
09:05after the weekend and the bout of illness remains to be seen. I think, as I say, Austin will probably
09:11continue in goal. There's a chance for Charleston and Mikey Moore might be back on the bench,
09:15but it's going to be tough. It really will be tough. That said, you know, I think we showed
09:21in the game we lost 6-3 against Liverpool. They tore us to bits in the second half in particular,
09:26but we did hurt them and we can hurt any team. You know, Andy only wants us to play one way.
09:32We need to get a good rest in these next couple of days, try and freshen up as much as we possibly
09:37can. And as I say, I think it's just about hanging in there, isn't it? We're not going to change the
09:42way we play and our tactics, but we have to go to Anfield with something still in the game and
09:47something left to play for because, you know, when we come to February the 6th for the second leg,
09:52we're going to have the likes of van der Ven, Romero back among some of the others as well.
09:56So we're going to be much, much stronger. So whether we can hang in there remains to be seen.
10:01I think Liverpool will obviously rotate a little bit, or I'm hoping so. Perhaps Mo Salah could do
10:06with a rest, as could the rest of the front three, maybe bring a few kids in. But, you know,
10:11obviously they're the best team in the country at the moment. They were poor at the weekend,
10:16fair to say. That's probably one of their poorest performances of the season. So let's hope that
10:20continues on Wednesday night. And we've still got something to talk about on February the 6th
10:25because it's a huge, huge game for Spurs and the final would be absolutely fantastic for us.
10:29Indeed, yes. And then, of course, just following that, there is another cup tie at the weekend.
10:33Spurs taking on Tamworth and no disrespect to Tamworth, but let's be honest, it should be a
10:40formality for Tottenham. But again, it's another good opportunity to progress in a cup competition,
10:45which, let's be honest, given Spurs' league form, despite players are obviously coming back soon
10:49enough, they've got to take these cups seriously, I think, don't they? Yeah, the Cups are massive
10:54this season. Arguably, like you just said there, we're hanging our hats on the Cups
10:59this season. And, you know, the fact we're in a good place in Europe, we're obviously in the
11:03semi-finals of the Carabao, we're in the FA Cup third round of the weekend, we're only going to
11:07get stronger towards the end of the season as players come back to fitness. And as I say,
11:11hopefully we're making some early moves in the transfer market. So there's still a lot to play
11:15for. I really do believe we're going to have a much better second half of the season. Tamworth
11:19will be tough, you know, it'll be a hostile small crowd, but the pitch won't be very good,
11:24it'll be bobbling about all over the place. It's, you know, David V Goliath, isn't it,
11:29in the classic Cup tie. But, you know, Spurs should have far too much for them. We've just
11:34got to make sure the attitude, the application is right. You know, we're going to have to weather
11:38long balls coming into the box and be really on our metal. But yeah, you'd like to think that
11:43we should be in the fourth round come Monday. Indeed, yes. And well, that is all we have time
11:48for on this Talking Tottenham episode. A frustrating weekend, but hopefully the new
11:53week and the following weekend will bring some more positivity for Tottenham. But until then,
11:57thank you all very much for watching and for listening.