Carabao Cup offers lifeline for Postecoglou and Spurs

LONDON — Ange Postecoglou needed this. Wednesday’s 1-0 win over Liverpool may not be enough to reach the Carabao Cup Final given the semifinal’s second leg at Anfield awaits, but it buys him precious time to steer Tottenham Hotspur‘s season back on track.

The irony is that this vital result comes in a competition the 59-year-old manager has not particularly targeted, and through a performance which represents something of a departure from the high-risk style which has tested the locals’ faith in this part of north London.

It was nothing like a complete abandonment of Postecoglou’s principles, but more of a compromise than we’re used to seeing. Perhaps Rodrigo Bentancur‘s early head injury knocked them off stride, stretchered off and taken to hospital in what Postecoglou described as “a quite distressing sight” afterwards. Spurs later confirmed he was conscious and talking.

A line-up depleted through injury and the calibre of their opponents were undoubtedly also contributing factors. The first half was, atypically for Spurs, fairly dull. Postecoglou’s demeanour was also notable departure from the norm too; unusually expressive on the sideline, sinking to his knees when Pedro Porro failed to capitalise on an early second-half mistake from Alisson Becker.

Dominic Solanke‘s 77th-minute goal, ruled out on VAR review for offside and a chance to debut in-stadium refereeing announcements confirming that, yes, the man who might have been offside when he ran through and scored was, in fact, offside when he ran through and scored, prompting furious headshaking.

Lucas Bergvall‘s match-winning goal nine minutes later sparked jubilant celebrations which were resumed after the final whistle as Postecoglou blew kisses to loved ones and revelled in the party atmosphere which greeted a result that takes Spurs a step closer to their first trophy since 2008.

Postecoglou is usually a stoic figure but a recent run of four wins from 15 games has placed him under significant pressure.

“It has been an emotional time, mate,” he explained. “I keep saying: I am a human being. Like all of us, we’re in these roles of managers and I understand we have got positions of responsibility, but we are still human beings at our core and we react to things.

“I don’t like the fact that people who are working really hard for this club, on and off the field, have not had that feeling of victory. I don’t feel great about our supporters not having that feeling of victory.

“It weighs heavily on me. It is my responsibility. So yeah, I am a little bit more emotional than I usually am but that also probably means I do care, and I think that’s still important.”

This was only Liverpool’s second defeat under Arne Slot and Spurs achieved that with another patchwork team featuring a debutant, Antonin Kinsky, in goal, a teenage right-back at centre-back in Archie Gray and out-of-favour Djed Spence, respectively. The latter coped much better with Mohamed Salah than in the 6-3 Premier League defeat here 17 days earlier.

It felt as though an element of pragmatism had crept into Tottenham’s approach, but Postecoglou suggested that was more through circumstance than design.

“People said my midfield setup was a little bit more conservative today but that’s because I only had three midfielders to choose,” he said. “The others weren’t available. We certainly went about it the same way. Liverpool don’t allow you go about it the same way as other teams do, and our players every three days are playing a game without rest.

“You saw Liverpool at the end, they put on some significant talent, some really good footballers. I couldn’t do the same. And yet, the guys out there are consistently doing it. Maybe we are not as dominant as we want to be but there’s good reason, not through the lack of trying or different intent.”

Liverpool rotated before kick-off but Slot introduced Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Díaz and Darwin Núñez among his five substitutes in an effort to secure a first-leg advantage. Alexander-Arnold had a shot cleared off the line and Núñez twice went close, but it was Spurs who struck late on, benefitting from a dubious call by Stuart Attwell to allow Bergvall to go unpunished with what looked like a clear second yellow card for a late tackle on Kostas Tsimikas.

To compound the situation, Tsimikas was waiting to come back on the field when Solanke turned expertly and fed Bergvall, who slotted a fine low finish past Alisson.

“I don’t think there is any debate about that,” Slot said on whether Bergvall should have been dismissed.

Given Liverpool’s buoyancy under the Dutchman, they will hold high hopes of overturning the deficit on Feb. 6.

Both teams have seven games between now and then. Liverpool have their Premier League title push to focus on while Tottenham’s run includes the north London derby at Arsenal and tricky trips to Everton and Brentford, all while what feels like a pivotal transfer window remains open.

But for Postecoglou, there is now a fixed point of optimism on the horizon: a second leg in which they hold a pre-existing, if narrow, advantage, to shine as a beacon through a challenging month. It will require another mammoth effort to complete the job and reach Wembley but Postecoglou, for one, will feel reinvigorated for the fight.