Tottenham players have received six red cards in the Premier League in 2014, giving them the worst disciplinary record in the division.
Jurgen Klinsmann watched this shambles play out from a comfy seat in the directors’ box at White Hart Lane. The temptation at half-time, when his beloved Tottenham trooped off 2-0 down to a chorus of boos, was to ask him to take charge after the break. Why wait?
These days Klinsmann, who turned down the Spurs job last year in the build-up to the World Cup, is the USA’s head coach. That side, playing catch-up on Tottenham’s 132-year history, understand the game better than the players allotted to Mauricio Pochettino.
There will be another inquest at the training ground today after Pochettino’s team slumped to their fourth home defeat in five Barclays Premier League matches.
Stoke were streets ahead: slick, organised, disciplined and focused — all the things Tottenham want to be. Doesn’t it hurt to be booed off at half-time? Isn’t it humiliating to be dragged off, as Christian Eriksen and Andros Townsend were, after just 45 minutes? ‘Tactical reasons,’ claimed Pochettino. Code for dreadful.
Pochettino, who is struggling to make an impact at Spurs, added: ‘We need to find the solution and I need to change the mentality of the players. They know my feelings like I know their feelings. We feel the same, very disappointed and frustrated and not happy because our performance wasn’t good enough.
‘It’s clear we need to improve a lot and quickly. This is my challenge in the next few weeks.’
Stoke were rampant in the first half, taking the lead through the wriggling figure of Bojan Krkic and doubling their advantage when Jonathan Walters scored with a simple tap-in.
Bar Nacer Chadli’s glorious volley at the back post 13 minutes from time, this was dreadful. There is no pattern to Tottenham’s play. We were promised one of the best coaches in world football, one of the most innovative in the Premier League, when Pochettino was head-hunted from Southampton. He doesn’t have the answers.
To watch Emmanuel Adebayor delay his arrival as a substitute when his team were 2-0 down by changing his boots makes you feel sick. That is what the half-hour warm-up is for and the weather conditions hadn’t changed. Instead, the storm clouds are gathering at Spurs again.
When they were chasing the game seven minutes from time, right back Kyle Naughton was dismissed for a foolish nudge on Victor Moses.
So, to Stoke, and this glitzy performance. Bojan’s first goal in English football was excellent, coasting past Tottenham’s defence to lash the ball beyond Hugo Lloris.Can Bojan, once tipped to be better than Lionel Messi at Barcelona, do it on a wet, windy night in Stoke? That’s not so clear-cut, but what we do know is that the little Spanish forward found White Hart Lane to his liking.
The beauty of playing Tottenham is that they always give you a chance sooner or later.
Stoke manager Mark Hughes admitted he had to be patient with Bojan, saying: ‘We are really pleased that he is finally coming to the fore. He started off like a house on fire when he joined us in pre-season and people got a bit carried away because we all felt it was going to take him time to adjust.
‘He has had the benefit of three or four months’ training at the intensity he needs and he looks a very accomplished player again.’
Even when Stoke were forced into a defensive reshuffle, they were untroubled throughout a first half dominated by Hughes’ side.
Phil Bardsley succumbed to injury after nine minutes and was replaced by Geoff Cameron. Marc Wilson was substituted for Marc Muniesa after 26. Moments later, Stoke scored again.
This Spurs defence needs sorting out because the goal Walters scored was too easy. Mame Diouf bounced through unchallenged into the danger zone and placed the ball into the path of Walters for the Stoke forward to finish the job.It was borderline embarrassing.
There are rumblings of discontent around these parts and it is becoming increasingly difficult to defend Pochettino.
Even Harry Kane — ‘He’s one of our own,’ the Spurs fans sing — couldn’t get going as Stoke’s giant centre half Ryan Shawcross handled him impeccably. The kid hardly got a kick.
Chadli gave Spurs hope when he picked the ball out of the air to beat Begovic with an angled volley, but the dismissal of Naughton confirmed the worst.
Kane’s desperate late attempt to repeat his last-minute free-kick against Aston Villa was drilled straight at the wall.
That was enough for Klinsmann and the rest of the US Soccer delegation, who made their excuses and left. Whether the German can face returning is another matter. – Daily Mail