Five things learned as Tottenham Hotspur lose 2-0 to Crystal Palace

Tottenham Hotspur recorded their 20th defeat of the Premier League season this afternoon, putting a sour note on a week of celebration for the Lilywhites.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from Tottenham’s 2-0 defeat at home to Crystal Palace.

Tottenham players let themselves down

Forget about the result. Forget about where Tottenham are in the Premier League table. Forget about the fans who deserve so much more. The players let themselves down today more than anything. Yes, Ange Postecoglou made eight changes to the starting XI, but there were a bunch of fringe players out there who should be fighting for a chace to start in the final.

With James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall out, as well as fitness concerns for Heung-min Son, there is room for a few players to work their way into the XI. Unfortunately, no one showed any fight out there in the North London sun.

The running was lazy, Spurs were second to every ball, there was no press, no one moved for the man on the ball, and the defensive tracking was shocking. You can’t say any of the fringe players out there are exactly knocking on the door of a Europa League final chance on the back of that display.

Spurs can’t use Europa League final as an excuse

You often hear the argument that players take their foot off the gas out of fear of injury ahead of a final. Tottenham cannot use that excuse today. Crystal Palace have a huge final well before Spurs, yet they still turned up, showed right, and worked as a team today. Questions need to be asked.

Dejan Kulusevski injury is a huge problem

The last thing Tottenham needed today was another key injury. The last last thing Tottenham needed was a key injury to their only remaining attacking midfielder, Dejan Kulusevski.

Maddison and Bergvall will both miss the final and, if Kulusevski doesn’t shake that knee problem, who knows who Postecoglou will be forced to name in the number 10 role. Fingers crossed he can shake it, or Spurs will really struggle to create from central positions against Man United.

Heung-min Son returns from injury in time for Europa League final

One silver lining for Tottenham is that Heung-min Son looks likely to be fit enough to start the Europa League final, if required.

The Spurs captain got a good 30 minutes today and you would imagine he will get 45-60 against Aston Villa to get some minutes in his legs. Whether he will be in any kind of form for the final is another question.

Tottenham down to 17th in the Premier League table

This is beyond a joke now. If not for one of the poorest trio of relegated clubs in Premier League history, Tottenham would be in a relegation battle right now.

They haven’t even reached the magic 40 point safety mark yet, with 20 defeats and just 11 wins. Europa League or not, it has been a pathetic season for Spurs. Even without the injuries, Tottenham’s B-team is better than 17th.

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