Spurs provide a fitting ending to

Spurs draw with Palace to secure Europa League spot! | Crystal Palace 1-1 Tottenham | EPL Highlights

an abortion of a season.

If hanging on against Crystal Palace doesn’t sum up Spurs season, I don’t know what does, I suppose we should be grateful they actually managed it, it’s all so very 2020.

In the eight games since the restart Palace had lost seven of them, won one, gone goalless in six and scored a whole four. hell, they hadn’t scored more than two in a game in the whole league season – they managed 2 goals 8 times.

And yet here we have Spurs hanging on for over half an hour, after Palace got their equaliser, glad that Wolves were losing and that even though Palace had nearly twice as many shots as Spurs, they matched them for the two on target.

All for the glory of the Europa League.

Lads… it’s Palace… it’s Palace managed by Roy Hodgson.

Spurs were doing their sit back routine again, it had worked over the last few games to get the results required to get into sixth spot, after Wolves last day failure.

Lads… it’s Palace… it’s Palace managed by Roy Hodgson.

Away from home and with no fans in attendance you’ll get away with it. When fans are allowed back in stadiums, if you’re doing this against Palace then the new stadium is more likely to resemble it during restart. Empty.

Lads… it’s Palace… it’s Palace managed by Roy Hodgson.

When harry opened the scoring, after 13 minutes, it should have been the opening of the floodgates.To go another 82 minutes and only muster one more shot on target is embarrassing.

Lads… it’s Palace… it’s Palace managed by Roy Hodgson.

Davies pressurised Townsend, whose clearance was headed back by, the returning, Dier, who thankfully beat Winks to it or it would have gone sideways and not forward. Son fought for it and it bounced towards a palace player, who had it taken off him by Lo Celso. Who after a little run played a lovely ball through to Kane who after a touch banged it in the near post.

The rest of the half was spent sat back. They came out in the second half like the team talk at the break had been given by Gareth Southgate. Dopey and slack. Which pretty summed up their midfield pairing. It’s been a Winks and Sissoko in midfield season.

Again what is the point of Winks. He tried to pass the ball forward once and made a right mess of it. He made one tackle all game and even his fanbois were pointing out his inept play in giving the ball away and playing others into trouble.

The equaliser came from a corner. Who didn’t see this coming? No Spurs defender got to the back post ball, or really even pressured the Palace player who nodded it back and the three bodies in front of Schlupp when he scored didn’t block it.

Jose did his usual Poch style subs. Lo Celso coming off after the hour, maybe it is an injury thing because there’s no other reason to remove him. The dimwit commentator said his replacement, Bergwijn, was more defensive minded. Yeah, cause Lo Celso doesn’t tackle. Dear god. Move him back and take off Winks, then you’d actually have someone putting in the effort back there.

Moura put in his usual rate of tackling of late. A fifth of the number the whole team managed. Also he’s passing in situations where previously you know he would have had a shot. Jose has had a word with him.

Then they hung on. Got lucky and are heading off to parts unknown, in the outer reaches of Eastern Europe for the Europa League. Yes, I know the Bill Nick quote about being in Europe but he’d never been in the Europa League on a Thursday night.

So they scraped 6th by goal difference from Wolves. I know you can’t judge Jose on part of a season and this end part was so completely different to the norm. But it’s been a horrible season. Yes after restart they had the fourth best record and would have finished fourth, again on goal difference from Wolves, if the season had started when Jose took over in November.

They did finish three points off 5th, which is where they started under Jose.

But stat that the season has seen Tottenham taking the least amount of shots since Opta began collecting data in 1997-98, is very, very telling. And yet harry, though missing a number of games didn’t finish that far behind the winner, Vardy, in the race for the Golden Boot.

And we’ve now said goodbye to Jan Vertonghen, even hanging on at the end there, when Jose introduced another defender he didn’t give Jan one last chance to take the field after 8 years at the club. A nice parting gift from Daniel Levy will have made up for it. A watch, an expensive watch, that Levy probably got free as the company are a club sponsor.

Over 300 games for the club. That goal against United when we were introduced to Super Jan to go with that offside in his own half. The seasons with Toby and Dier in front, when the goals conceded were the best the club has achieved for decades. Shame trophies didn’t follow.

What can we expect from the summer and next season? You say it couldn’t get any worse… but this is Spurs…

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