After a difficult week, this ended up being a bitterly disappointing afternoon for Tottenham Hotspur.
Spurs led a scrappy affair from the third minute through Brennan Johnson’s first goal for the club, but ended up losing 2-1 after conceding two Wolves goals in second-half stoppage-time.
Here, Charlie Eccleshare breaks down the game’s key talking points.
Where does this defeat leave Spurs?
After Monday’s loss to Chelsea with nine men, this was another sickener for Tottenham. For so long, it looked like they would claim a precious victory to get their season back on track. Instead, they came unstuck late on and Ange Postecoglou is facing the biggest challenge of his short spell as their head coach.
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They are missing several key players and, having looked like potential title challengers a week ago, could end the weekend only a point inside the top four.
Should Champions League qualification now be the height of their ambitions for the season? It feels reactionary to completely alter expectations after a couple of defeats, but the nature of those results, coupled with all the unavailabilities this week has thrown up, make this feel like an extremely damaging period.
Postecoglou now has a huge job to lift his team.
How did the four players who came in get on?
After Tottenham were forced into four changes for this game, all eyes were on the quartet of players thrust into the starting line-up.
Emerson Royal was probably the one there was the least concern about, given how reliable he generally is — even when, as was the case today at Molineux, playing out of position at left-back. And sure enough, he didn’t let anyone down — making some important challenges and in the first half inverting into midfield. Naturally though, he didn’t look anything like as comfortable in that role as Spurs’ suspended usual starter Destiny Udogie.
In midfield, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg didn’t offer the injured James Maddison’s creativity but he was actually better there than when he was shifted to play as a No 6. It was when thrust into the deeper role for the final 15 minutes that he was caught out for the equaliser and then failed to track Pablo Sarabia’s run for the winner.
Which leaves the two centre-backs for the day, Eric Dier and Ben Davies.
For so long, it looked like they would do enough to help their team to a gritty away victory. In the end though, the Spurs defence was breached twice late on, with Davies not able to get a block on Sarabia for the first and Mario Lemina running in on Dier’s blindside to win it. Neither Davies nor Dier could be faulted for their effort levels and it shouldn’t be forgotten how well they played for the vast majority of this game, but both will be devastated they couldn’t quite hold out.
Eric Dier in action against Wolves on Saturday (Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)How much of a blow is losing Bissouma?
Yves Bissouma’s fifth booking of the season means he’ll be suspended for Spurs’ next game, at home against Aston Villa on the other side of the year’s final international break. With Maddison already missing from his midfield and Bissouma outstanding for much of these early months of the season, it will be another selection headache for Postecoglou.
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Hojbjerg filled in for Maddison in one of the No 8 positions against Wolves, and he would likely replace Bissouma against Villa in the deeper role — as he did when Bissouma was suspended for the match against Fulham last month, and for the final minutes here.
The Dane did well in that Fulham match, but was caught out at Molineux defensively and he lacks Bissouma’s confidence when taking the ball in tight areas. He also doesn’t have his ability to punch passes through the lines.
At least Bissouma’s booking and suspension means he’ll be back for the following weekend’s trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City. And his one-game absence may present Rodrigo Bentancur with the chance to make his first start since recovering from the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury he suffered in February.
(Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)What did Ange Postecoglou say?
“Disappointed obviously, particularly after it happened so late, but it’s part of the pain of football and when things happen in those circumstances you’ve just got to take it. Can’t fault the players’ effort or commitment. It was always going to be a tough game anyway at Wolves. We just couldn’t hold out.
“The first half, I felt we started well, but we could have been a bit more positive and be a little bit more aggressive with the ball. I’ve got to temper that with the fact that we’ve made so many changes and we’re not going to get the same type of fluency, especially when particularly three of your back four are virtually starting for the first time.
“Second half I thought wasn’t too bad, but I just thought, and maybe because we were winning the game, a lot of the guys, in the back of their minds, they haven’t played in a while and there was a little bit of self-preservation there to get us through to the end of the game. It’s all understandable stuff because of the line-up we had out there.
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“There’s a lot of positives to take from it; they’ll be better for the experience, they’ll be stronger, so plenty of positives.”
What next for Tottenham?
Sunday, November 26: Aston Villa (H), Premier League, 2pm GMT, 9am ET
After the international break, Spurs will entertain an impressive Villa side, who are currently fifth in the Premier League. With Maddison and Micky van de Ven both ruled out for months through injury, how will Postecoglou’s men cope in the absence of two of their most impressive summer 2023 signings?
Tottenham lost both games to Villa last season, including 2-0 at home on New Year’s Day, but had won eight of the clubs’ previous nine meetings across all competitions.
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(Top photo: Getty Images)
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