Acting manager Ryan Mason’s words woke Tottenham Hotspur.
Tottenham drew 2-2 with Manchester United in the 33rd round of the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2022-23 season held at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England on the 28th at 4:15 am (Korean time). With this, Tottenham recorded 16 wins, 6 draws and 11 losses (54 points), maintaining the gap with ‘4th place’ Manchester United and continuing their hopes of entering the 4th place.
It was a must-win game for Tottenham. Tottenham, who aimed to escape without a military officer before the opening, went down one step as the season progressed. After dropping out of all cup competitions and being unrelated, he set a realistic goal of 4th place in the league. But even now it is not easy. Due to the loss against Newcastle United, the possibility was much reduced and it became impossible to guarantee even within the top six.
It was Mason’s first game as acting manager. Tottenham, who had sacked manager Antonio Conte, even sent out acting manager Christian Stellini, who took over the helm as his replacement after the loss against Newcastle last time. Mason, who took on the unprecedented role of acting manager, stuck to his existing framework without major changes.
The first half was tough. It was Tottenham’s home game, but Man United dominated. Based on the football statistics media ‘Whoscored’, the share was less than 40% and the shooting was only 6 times. In the 7th minute of the first half, Jadon Sancho gave up the lead, and at the end of the first half, Marcus Rashford scored an additional goal to finish the first half 0-2. 안전놀이터
A situation where the atmosphere needs to be changed somehow. Acting coach Mason used the short halftime time to chat with the players.
So Tottenham showed a different performance in the second half. Possession was higher than in the first half, and the shooting was attempted twice as much. I tried to continue to find stability by using appropriate replacements such as Dejan Kulusevski, Ben Davis, and Arnaud Danjuma. It also bore fruit. In the 11th minute of the second half, Pedro Poro kicked off the chase with an early comeback goal, and Son Heung-min scored an equalizer in the 34th minute of the second half. There was no additional goal after that, but it was definitely Tottenham’s share of the atmosphere in the second half.
At the post-match press conference, acting manager Mason revealed what he had to say in the second half. According to British media ‘Football London’, he said, “I always try to be consistent with my players. Players have to stick together every moment. If you want to be a team that doesn’t matter what happens on the pitch, you have to believe in each other and fight together. “If you do that, the fans will feel like they’re watching a team fighting for each other and playing for each other.”