Tottenham Hotspur are a tired and injured team, lacking confidence and quality players, and they fell into a (slow) crisis away to Bournemouth on Thursday. Spurs conceded an early goal from a corner and were unable to muster enough forward to secure a result, resulting in a disappointing 1-0 defeat at the Vitality Stadium.

Tottenham tried to play their football but looked flat up front and a bit open in midfield. Bournemouth seemed content to play smash-and-counter football, but their goal came from a set-piece corner kick that was fired at the back post. 19-year-old Dean Huijsen made a good run and missed the chance with a header to become Bournemouth’s youngest ever Premier League goalscorer and give the Cherries their only goal of the game.

Spurs performed slightly better in the second third, especially after Son Heung-Min came on midway through the half. But an injury to Ben Davies in the second half meant Archie Gray had to deputize in central defense for much of the half. Spurs were very lucky not to be down 2-0 late in the game after Forster had a terrible pass from behind and a resulting rebound goal from Evanilson called back for offside.

Spurs had a few good looks at goal, including shots from Gray and Pedro Porro that were saved by Bournemouth keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, but could not find a way past the Cherries’ stubborn defense. Meanwhile, Bournemouth turned up the attack dial and piled up numerous open shot attempts towards the end of the game. Despite timely substitutions by Ange Postecoglou, the traffic was largely one-way, which didn’t work in Spurs’ favor.

The final score was 1-0. It could have been much worse.

Match Reactions:

• Well, that was terrible. Final xG: 3.27 – 0.58. (Is that bad?)
• Remember how we played like shit in years past and were still somehow able to get a result unfairly or something like that? I feel like that hasn’t happened yet this season. Not that Spurs deserved a point – they didn’t – but there was also a lot of bad luck.
• Solanke’s pressing and strength were on full display in this game, at least in the first half, which is something we really missed in the game against Fulham. But once again he failed to convert that branch into a goal or an assist.
• Another stupid goal conceded at the start of a standard situation. Spurs have been better at corners this season, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it. This is as much about Forster as it is about whoever was supposed to mark Huijsen; Forster had no one on him and stuck to his line when he could have come out and secured the floating corner.
• Bissouma didn’t do the Spurs much favors in this game – a combination of erratic positioning and poor passing. Spurs were very open in the middle and Bournemouth took advantage to create several opportunities through hoof and counter-attacks, particularly in the first half.
• Spurs struggled to generate an offense that didn’t run through James Maddison or Dominic Solanke in the first half. There just aren’t enough passes on this team to get Ange-Ball going on a regular basis.
• Tottenham were a little better in the second half – a little more determined, a little more progressive. It’s safe to say they had their chances, none better than Sonny’s combination with Maddison, which James somehow missed.
• Ben Davies left under his own steam, but his absence has a huge impact on the month ahead. Hopefully his injury isn’t serious.
• Archie Gray did pretty well overall. Constant presence at RB, passing game (mostly) good and had a few shot attempts (one even with his left foot). Looked capable, if not outstanding, out of necessity at RCB. One of Spurs’ better performers on the day, if not the best, and considering he’s a teenager playing in his third position, that’s not a good sign.
• The main story of this game is that Tottenham ran out of energy late on and didn’t get what they needed from their substitutes to change the game.
• Bournemouth are a decent team and were favorites to win this game (albeit narrowly), but this was another poor, unimpressive performance from Tottenham. For the most part they seemed unimaginative, lacking self-confidence and very, very tired. I’m very worried about the rest of the month.
• Next up is Chelsea. Someone hold me and tell me everything will be okay.