What on Earth happened Spurs fans?
An absolutely calamitous night in the history of Tottenham Hotspur saw the London side crash out of the Champions League at the hands of Monaco as they succumbed to a 2-1 defeat down by the Mediterranean.
Nice surroundings, yes, but ones the Spurs players will want to quickly forget after a nightmare evening that most Lilywhites fans will agree deserved to see them go out.
After Hugo Lloris saved a penalty from Falcao in the first half, that should have been the wake up call, Spurs sleepwalked into the second half too and saw Djibril Sidibe score.
Harry Kane restored some hope quickly after from the penalty spot, a draw being enough to keep them in the competition, but then Spurs did what they do best – blew it.
The White Hart Lane club went behind once again less than a minute after Kane’s goal and simply did not get going after that, slumping to a defeat that will tarnish them for some time.
We’ve learned plenty from it, regardless, and here are the five key lessons to have occurred…
Spurs need European experience
Spurs just cannot perform in the Champions League at the moment and seriously need to buy players accustomed to the competition if they want to do well in it.
Their summer signings did not exactly exude Champions League experience and that is something Mauricio Pochettino really needs to address if they qualify for next season. Their performances in the competition this year smacked of naivety and that won’t ever get them anywhere.
Hugo Lloris could play for anyone
There is one man and one man alone who can hold his head high after this disastrous campaign and he is Hugo Lloris.
In truth, Spurs were lucky to get to this point still in the competition because the Frenchman has put on a number of clinics in the group so far. He saved a penalty in the first half from Falcao but the rest of his team did not wake up and he’ll be disappointed to be out of a competition in which he clearly belongs.
Monaco are dark horses
Monaco may not win the whole thing but they cannot be underestimated for the way they have gone about their business in the tournament this season.
They are going well in Ligue 1 and have completely controlled this group from start to finish so will be confident going into the knockout stages. On paper Spurs are the better side but the team from the principality outclassed them twice and underlined exactly what experience can do.
Spurs losing their way
Spurs are having a bit of an identity crisis all of a sudden.
Last year we all knew what to expect from a Mauricio Pochettino team with great pressing, work rate, defensive nous and attacking flair yet that seems to have all gone down the drain. The players look unclear as to what they are expected to do and this was another game in recent weeks in which their infamous pressing game just did not get going at all, work to do.
This is Pochettino’s biggest test
And so begins, then, arguably Mauricio Pochettino’s biggest test in his Spurs and perhaps managerial career to date.
Spurs are by no means in a crisis, they’re unbeaten in the league, but the way they are playing that won’t last for long particularly with Chelsea on the horizon. The Argentine boss has chopped and change things recently and upset their rhythm badly. He needs to find what worked for them so well last season and then start instilling confidence in the players that it will work once more.