Tottenham's defeat at Nottingham Forest deepens Ange Postecoglou's troubles
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Tottenham have lost half of their 18 Premier League games this season, and their latest defeat was born of a limpness in front of goal. The late injury suffered by Radu Dragusin and stoppage-time red card picked up by Djed Spence on his return to the City Ground only served to further sully the mood on a miserable afternoon for Ange Postecoglou, his players, and the away fans.
They had been warned, those fans — warned by the travel chaos Boxing Day always has in store. Those who made it to the East Midlands might have wished, by the end, that they hadn’t bothered, such was the dearth of quality in the final third produced by the side who had a 70.4 per cent share of possession and still found a way to be beaten.
And so instead of Postecoglou it was a former Spurs manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, guiding his team to victory. It feels a long three years since he was sacked after just 10 league games in charge of Spurs; he has got Forest blossoming. While the returning Destiny Udogie did well to keep tabs on Anthony Elanga, who can be tricky, Elliot Anderson proved a thorn in Tottenham’s side, leading so many of the hosts’ counter-attacks with silky dribbles as he picked up pockets of space left wide open.
The gap between Dragusin and Archie Gray was often uncomfortably large. Chris Wood and Callum Hudson-Odoi looked to exploit that, including when the latter shifted in from the left and curled over the crossbar off his right foot. Spurs were seeing most of the ball, yet it was Forest causing posing more questions going forward. Soon it told, courtesy of Morgan Gibbs-White bursting into life with the killer pass.
