Olympiakos 2-2 Tottenham: No signs of Spurs taking next step – Matthew Upson
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From Matthew Upson
BBC Radio 5 live at Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium
I looked for some indications against Olympiakos since reaching last year’s Champions League final who Tottenham have improved as a group, but I didn’t actually see any.
Spurs will be thrilled to find a point in an abysmal 2-2 draw but, it was not the sort of performance that is composed their manager Mauricio Pochettino would have wanted to observe although they prevented defeat.
Their run in this competition last year depended on last-minute objectives and play, directly after it seemed like they would be going out in the group stage, when they pulled themselves out of despair.
It was a brilliant achievement, but it is definitely better to avoid being in the first place and they did not manage that here.
Yesthis was a catchy way for them to start out at Group B, with also a hostile home crowd, the heat in Piraeus, along with an Olympiakos side that was dangerous and full of attacking intent.
But the best Champions League teams can bargain by playing to take the bite out of the resistance and maintaining possession and silence the crowd.
For a variety of reasons, Spurs never did any of this well enough on Wednesday night.
I think that the absence of control they had right throughout the sport is since having that’s the next step that he understands they must take if they are going to have sustained achievement in Europe exactly what Pochettino would be disappointed about.
Even though me impressed , Tottenham made life difficult for themselves.
It was disappointing to realize they were in the opening minutes, if there were just two or three occasions at which they gave the ball away cheaply.
But even when they appeared lethargic and lacked urgency, Spurs reminded us that they have lots of quality in their aspect.
One of the reasons they ended up becoming so much in the Champions League last season was because, when they got an opportunity, they were able to take it.
This was exactly the same against Olympiakos, and in the first stages the outstanding finishing of Tottenham was that the sole difference between the two teams.
Their starting goal came from a penalty after a error but Harry Kane’s spot-kick was nevertheless delightful, and the strike of Lucas Moura a few minutes afterwards was world class.
At 2-0 up after 30 minutes, Spurs had done the difficult part but they still could not discover a means to prevent Olympiakos from applying pressure.
They might have done that just by keeping hold of the ball , but it just felt like too many Tottenham players have been under their levels and, even when that happens, you are not likely to receive the team performance.
Pochettino made five changes from last weekend’s win and there were. It showed.
Dele Alli all, Tanguy Ndombele and ben Davies struggled to impose themselves in the match, Davinson Sanchez didn’t click right-back, and it is uncommon to see Christian Eriksen give the ball away as frequently as he did.
I am not certain that has been down to individual tiredness. It was a mental sharpness which Spurs lacked, which led to errors.
It might have been worse – generally, like they did in a place like this in the Champions League, if you feel, you end up being beaten.
Olympiakos let them off the hook since he had been their principal danger man, after they shot Mathieu Valbuena off with 20 minutes to go. Without him, they didn’t carry the same threat.
The absolute most crucial thing for Spurs was they did not shed.
As remarkable as Olympiakos had been, following this particular result I would nevertheless back Spurs to finish them above and Red Star Belgrade in Group B and then make it through the past 16 and Bayern Munich.
Red Star defeat last year to Liverpool in Serbia, and Tottenham’s trip there in November will provide a evaluation that is challenging, much like lots of approaches to the one they faced in Greece.
But I am expecting Spurs’ house form to see through them, and I think that they may improve as the year continues.
As the Olympiakos game was stated before by Pochettino they are building momentum and finding – .
Matthew Upson spoke to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
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