This is it! We need to pull off a minor Liverpool to go through to the final. While we were flaming out at Bournemouth, Ajax walked the Dutch Cup Final over Wilhelm II by 4-0. They will field their full team, Poch will wheel out whoever's still standing. They have won 15 of their last 17, we have lost 9 of our last 15.
And here are the teams! Super Jan is back and Lamela returns to the bench. We will be wearing our green, slumber-party pyjama kit. Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Wanyama, Sissoko, Eriksen, Dele, Lucas, Son. Subs: Gazzaniga, Foyth, Davies, Dier, Skipp, Lamela, Llorente. Ajax: Onana, de Ligt, van de Beek, Neres, Tadic, Mazraoui, Blind, Schone, de Jong, Ziyech, Tagliafico. Subs: Varela, Veltman, Sinkgraven, Huntelaar, Magallan, Dolberg, de Wit.
I would've dressed Kane for this game. Now before you say, "yeah but everyone knows he's injured" here me out. If you have Kane do anything strenuous, obviously it's going to make his injury worse. But, as long as he's not doing anything that requires him to put a lot of weight on that ankle, he's still useful as a sub...even if you know there's no chance he'll play. Anytime you feel that you feel the team needs a boost, you tell the spiritual leader of the club (and yes that's what he is) to warm up. Anytime you feel Ajax has the momentum, you tell him to warm up. Is it all smoke and mirrors? Yes. Will anyone on the pitch fall for it? Doubtful. But why not try it? I can name two guys listed as subs right now who have less than a 1% chance of playing so it's not like you're wasting a spot on him. If you're not playing mind games, you're not trying hard enough. Also, let's face it, Kane at 50% is still better than Llorente at 100%.
Just saw the replay for the goal. For some reason we assigned one of our smallest players, Trippier, to mark a tall defender. Dreadful.
Dele makes a good run, but as he has done so often this season, he dwells on the ball and gets closed down.
Spurs have learned nothing from the 1st leg, again we try to play out from the back, Sissoko gets caught in possession and gives away a free kick.