Ange Postecoglou's Toothless Tottenham was given another lesson last night when they said goodbye to their best chance of winning a much -needed trophy in years.
Spurs were on the receiving side of a 4-0 walkover from Liverpool in Anfield in the semi-final second stage of the Carabao Cup.
It is no secret that Spurs has a bad season with the North -London club that is confronted with the real prospect of a relegation dog fight in the Premier League.
But there has been a small reservation in their disastrous campaign that Postecoglou Ange always wins “in his second season.
A warning that now seems to reach much more difficult after they were easily sent on Thursday in the Cup Semi-Final.
Every team that is a second stage would want a goal for the good, even if they play the best team in the country away from home.
But for Spurs it seemed that they didn't even think they could force a draw, let alone put Liverpool under the Cosh.
The usual playing style of Postecoglou seemed to be completely leaving because they failed to register a single shot on goal during the 90 minutes.
It is the first time in the reign of the Aussie that Spurs did not do this and a stat that surprised the former player Jamie Redknapp.
He said on Sky Sports: “I can't get my head around them, not a shot at goal in a semi -final.
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“I don't have a single shot on goal in the semi -final second stage when you try to change the course of your history.”
Spurs succeeded in a total of only five shots, a figure that was overshadowed by the 26 efforts that Liverpool paved in the direction of the 21-year-old keeper Antonin Kinsky.
Before last night, Spurs had an average of 13.9 shots per match and 5.6 shots on goal – far away from their efforts on Merseyside.
Liverpool dominated the competition, kept 64 percent of the possession and successfully completed nearly 150 passes in the last third part of Spurs.
The side of Arne Slot was even so dominant that they essentially forced traces to sit in their own half.
The average position of each Spurs player in the night shows that only son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski were able to stand on a semi-line base.
Between them, son and Kulusevski managed three shots, with only one out of the box.
Postecoglou can now feel the pressure from above, because questions are still being asked.
However, the 59-year-old can still point out the horror injury record that he had to endure this season-a record that deteriorated last night when Richarlison was enforced in the first half.
Postecoglou is forced to roll the dice on children, so that this season they have given more minutes to players aged 18 or younger than any other Premier League team.
The former Celtic boss has given up for 4,072 minutes of football to those players, almost double the amount of arsenal that this period has given to young people most minutes (2,034).
But there is an argument that Postecoglou does not do enough with what he has, and patience seems to wear thin.
Redknapp added: “Everyone seems to find a way to beat this side of Tottenham.
“And now the manager he sometimes surprises me with his tactics. I think he is completely lost in what he is trying to do.”
Perhaps it is not his fault and in the words of Giorgi Chiellini it is simply “the history of the Tottenham”.
Jamie Carragher seems to think so.
The matte performance of a team that should put everything at stake to reach a final, he said: “It was never doubtful for the game [that Liverpool would win].
“It's Tottenham. When does Tottenham ever win a big game? When does Tottenham ever go somewhere and surprise us and do they win against the opportunities?”
Add: “They never shock you, they never do anything special.
“I try to think of the last big game they have won and I would probably have to go back to that Ajax game in the semi-final [of the 2019 Champions League].
“I was in the stadium that night and I don't want to take anything away from Tottenham, but they were very lucky.
“They were damaged most of the game and then got a coincidence and then they got two goals in the last minute.
“But when they go in a big game like a football club, nobody ever believes they will win.”
Spurs still have two shots on a trophy this season.
Starting with their FA Cup fourth round visit to Aston Villa on Sunday, a competition that now feels like a must-win.
Although they also succeeded in going to the Europa League last 16, where they take on one of the real Sociedad, Galatasaray, AZ Alkmaar or Midtjylland.
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