“Lads, it’s Tottenham.”
That, as legend has it, is all Sir Alex Ferguson needed to say to inspire one of his Manchester United teams to victory over Spurs. It’s an anecdote that has endured, and become a popular meme, because of how well it sums up the London club’s history of fielding sides that flatter to deceive, talented starting elevens always ready to crumble at the first sign of adversity.
Though there haven’t been any reports to suggest that’s what Jürgen Klopp told Liverpool before Saturday’s matchup with Tottenham, he might as well have. The game, which many assumed Spurs would win, was supposed to confirm the Reds’ season was done after a dreadful opening to 2017 in which they failed to notch a win in five Premier League games and got knocked out of both domestic cups. Instead, Klopp’s team came away from the game with its chance of finishing in the Champions League places alive and well. Spurs could only rue another in a miles-long list of missed opportunities.
What will hurt most for Mauricio Pochettino isn’t that Tottenham lost, but how easily they were undone. Liverpool started the game on the front foot and were rewarded with the lead in the 16th minute, when Sadio Mané easily beat replacement left back Ben Davies to give himself a point-blank shot that he easily converted. Just two minutes later, Mané clinched victory when he karate-kicked in a bouncing rebound that Spurs had ineptly failed to clear. Spurs barely threatened the Reds’ leaky defense for the remaining 72 minutes.
Liverpool beat Tottenham at their own game. Both sides have utilized the same basic game plan this season — relentless pressure on the ball to destabilize opponents and create chances. And Saturday was no different, except the Reds were able to execute the strategy while Spurs looked punch-drunk. It wasn’t just goal scorer Mané, either. Every time you looked, Jordan Henderson, Lucas Leiva or Georginio Wijnaldum were dispossessing their man and shuttling the ball up to a streaking Roberto Firmino or Adam Lallana, who made a rickety Spurs backline pay repeatedly.
That backline really created problems for Spurs. There’s an easy excuse for that: The Tottenham backline was ravaged by injuries, with Jan Vertonghen and Danny Rose both out. Rose’s replacement Davies, in particularly, was beaten nearly every time Mané ran at him. But that’s not a good enough excuse, especially for a team that so desperately wants to be taken seriously. You have to find ways to get the job done even when the lineup isn’t 100 percent, and this Tottenham team, like so many more before it, hasn’t shown it can do that.
The loss doesn’t really affect Tottenham’s title chances — even in second place, they were nine points behind a runaway Chelsea side — but it was the club’s chance to cement its claim as the best of a group of five teams fighting for a place in the top four. What an appropriately Spurs-like situation, to have a chance at being the best of the rest and still come up short. More than a decade later, Ferguson’s words still ring true. — B.H.
When Crystal Palace hired Sam Allardyce in December, it seemed like the perfect hire. Palace were 17th in the table, but had mid-table talent in their squad. Big Sam has built his reputation on getting more out of his teams than the sum of their parts. That’s why England hired him to manage the national team and it’s why he’s never been relegated despite managing a string of trainwreck clubs such as Sunderland and Blackburn Rovers.
But things have not gone according to plan in south London. Since Allardyce took over on Dec. 23, Palace have lost six, drawn one, and won only once in the Premier League.
Palace’s game against Stoke on Saturday was low on quality or entertainment, and was a good example of why they are in trouble. Neither team risked much going forward, seemingly more concerned about keeping a clean sheet than scoring goals. In many ways, it was a classic Allardyce game. His teams are known for being compact in defense, solid in midfield and cautious in attack. On another day, Palace might have grabbed all three points off of a random set piece or lucky counter-attack. Instead, they fell victim to a goal their coach would have loved.
Holding the ball up on the left flank, Stoke’s Marko Arnautović played a perfectly placed curling ball over the top to Ramadan Sobhi. Palace defender Patrick van Aanholt did well by keeping himself between Sobhi and the goal, but his teammates let him down. Joe Allen ghosted into the space van Aanholt had vacated, Sobhi laid the ball off and the Welshman slotted the ball into the far corner past a helpless Wayne Hennessey.
The goal was enough to win the game for Stoke and condemn Palace to 19th place. Amazingly, there is still reason for hope in south London. Palace, despite their poor form, are just two points from safety, and easily could climb the table if their star players — Belgium international striker Christian Benteke, French international midfielder Yohan Cabaye and the chronically underrated winger Wilfried Zaha — start producing. All three have been out of form this season, so if they merely raise their game to just a smidge above average, Palace could start picking up points against their relegation rivals, none of whom have the same level of talent.
However, there is a real possibility “Big Sam” has finally lost his touch. Allardyce’s career crescendoed when he got the England job. He was fired after just three months and one game because he blabbed about circumventing transfer rules to undercover reporters. Allardyce is at rock bottom and looking for redemption at Palace. That the team hasn’t responded to his management and motivational skills might mean he’s lost his mojo and won’t be able to save them from the drop. — M.B.
Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is a 6-foot-6 tower of a man, so it takes something special to beat him from distance. And that’s exactly what $12.5 million deadline-day signing Robbie Brady produced for Burnley on Sunday. Setting up 20 yards from Chelsea’s goal, Brady slammed home a curling free kick that earned the home team a draw against the league leaders.
Arsenal’s Alexis Sanchez was sprinting towards the Hull City goal when the ball ricocheted off goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic, hit the Chilean’s hand at point-blank range and went into the back of the net. Referee Mark Clattenburg awarded the goal, but at halftime he apparently apologized to Hull for awarding the goal. The referee’s association told NBC after the game the goal “did not sit well” and a player cannot score with his hand. The only problem with the ref’s union’s position: There is nothing written in the rules of the game to back up their position. Odd.
Everton’s fine run of form is slowed, Swansea emphatically shows it has what it takes to survive and Sunderland reminds fans that hope is a dangerous thing.
1. Chelsea (1)
2. Manchester City (3) *
3. Tottenham (2)
4. Manchester United (4)
5. Liverpool (6)
6. Arsenal (5)
7. Everton (7)
8. West Brom (8)
9. West Ham (9)
10. Southampton (11)
11. Stoke (10)
12. Burnley (13)
13. Watford (12)
14. Bournemouth (14) *
15. Swansea City (18)
16. Middlesbrough (17)
17. Hull City (15)
18. Leicester (16)
19. Sunderland (19)
20. Crystal Palace (20)
* Plays Monday
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