Tottenham Fan View: Spurs have lost their buzz but Son provides hope

Another no-win situation

A bruising afternoon in Hertfordshire for Tottenham on Saturday, then. Harry Kane’s bones were rattled from start to finish by an uncompromising Watford side. A galaxy away from the dishwater outfit that were thumped back in January (and again in April).

Then, under Walter Mazzarri, the Hornets managed to ship four goals in under an hour and I’m not sure I remember a man in yellow making a tackle.

With Marco Silva in the dugout, however, they look a far meaner proposition. Yesterday, Watford were fully aware they were facing a team with confidence in short supply; Spurs had won just one of their last six domestic fixtures and were sliding down the table. Apply just the right amount of pressure and they’d collapse like rotten balsa wood.

Losing ground

In the end, you could make a case for it being a well-earned draw. ‘The performance was very good under the circumstances’, reflected Mauricio Pochettino in his post-match interview, with a calmness perhaps not endorsed by the majority of Tottenham fans.

But there is an argument. It could’ve been much worse. Away at Watford, a determined band of continental gunslingers, who’d already taken points from Liverpool and Arsenal this season. Going a goal down, then losing Davinson Sanchez to a more-than-worthy red card. To emerge from that kaleidoscope of horror with something— a point. In the right context, that’s a decent result.

Sadly, the only context we’re interested in now is the context in which we’re fifteen points adrift of Man City and five short of a Champions League place.

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Son is shining

Other than the fact that Spurs didn’t cave entirely, there was another encouraging performance from Heung-min Son. In a sea of ponderous counter-attacks and aimless, sterile possession, the Korean was an island of pace, energy and direct action. He was the rocket that Spurs needed in their breeches to get themselves back into the tie.

Many view Son as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option from the bench. When a game needs an injection of tempo; when Pochettino can sense the opposition’s legs are creaking and the very last thing they want to see, is a force of nature like Son. Hurtling towards them at breakneck speed.

Right now, though, it’s the rest of the Spurs team whose legs look shot. In their current malaise, and everything the former-Leverkusen forward offers, in terms of good old fashioned moxie, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be starting. Until Erik Lamela gets up to speed, he ought to be the first name on the team sheet.