Tottenham were 1-0 down to Coventry City in the 63rd minute away from home. Spurs had been trying hard since the start of the match but could not score and were hit by a counterattack. The visitors then had a few more scares when Coventry took advantage of the victory and wanted to decide the match.
It was not until the 88th minute that Djed Spence equalized. That moment seemed to revive Ange Postecoglou and his team. In the 90+2 minute, Brennan Johnson ended an evening that almost turned into a nightmare for the "Roosters" when he scored to seal a 2-1 victory.
It was unthinkable that Tottenham would lose this game, having lost their third successive home game to arch-rivals Arsenal just days earlier. Throughout the first half and at half-time, at Coventry’s Ricoh Stadium, Tottenham fans booed the club, fed up with the way they were playing. They continued to show their displeasure when Ange Postecoglou replaced Lucas Bergvall with James Maddison, just before Coventry scored. If Spurs were eliminated playing this badly, it’s doubtful the crowd would have gone mad.
The first half against Coventry was perhaps the worst 45 minutes of Postecoglou’s Tottenham career. Spurs’ stars passed the ball back and forth, not moving it anywhere. They didn’t even seem to have the desire to get the ball into the opposition’s penalty area.
What had to happen happened in the second half, from such an emotionless situation, Coventry stole the ball and scored.
Postecoglou said after the game that the game was tough and revealing. It gave Tottenham fans a taste of the end of Antonio Conte, Nuno Santo and Jose Mourinho's spells in charge of the club. Ange Postecoglou came in to clear those dark clouds but after just 14 months, it seems like things are back to normal.
The anger of the fans may not be as serious as the fact that Spurs are now losing momentum right at the beginning of the season. 4 points after the first 4 matches of the Premier League season means that the "Roosters" have been knocked out of the Top 4 race. The victories against Chelsea and Aston Villa last season are now just a thing of the past. The biggest difference lies in the psychological warfare. The players are tired, the fans are angry and skeptical. I wonder if Tottenham will collapse if they lose to Coventry City?
Tottenham brought eight changes to the Ricoh Stadium from the North London Derby last weekend. The difficult match showed that Spurs' squad was in very poor condition, and it was only when starters Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and to some extent Brennan Johnson came on that things started to improve.
Postecoglou is not the only Tottenham manager in recent years to try to rotate his squad across the board. His predecessors have tried and failed because depth is a luxury.
The League Cup is considered much easier than the FA Cup and Europa League - the playgrounds where Tottenham can win their first title in 16 years. However, if they continue to show their face like this, the risk of being eliminated early from the FA Cup and Europa League is real.
After a narrow escape in the League Cup, Postecoglou's men are in the last 16. The games are due to take place at the end of October. Between now and then, it's all about the Europa League. Postecoglou has talked a lot about Tottenham's perseverance in recent months. Now it's time for fans to see if that's all just talk.
