Spurs were dumped out of the Champions League after just five group stage matches following a shambolic 2-1 defeat at the hands of group winners Monaco.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men went to Monaco knowing that they realistically needed a win to stand a reasonable chance of progressing to the last 16, but they had the fact in the back of their mind after CSKA’s 1-1 draw with Bayer Leverkusen, that a point would have been enough for now.
However, Spurs put in a shambolic first half performance, the highlight of which being Heung-min Son failing to convert a one-on-one chance with the Monaco keeper, failing to even get a shot off. Minutes later, Hugo Lloris saved a penalty and kept Spurs in the game, and were lucky to go into the break level.
Spurs fell behind shortly after the break, but were handed a lifeline when Dele Alli was fouled inside the box, and the referee pointed to the spot. Harry Kane stepped up to score his third penalty in three and fire Spurs back into contention. But in less than a minute, Spurs found themselves behind again. This time they did not recover and were dumped out of the Champions League.
Question marks were raised at the start of the evening regarding Mauricio Pochettino’s team selection, that saw both Jan Vertonghen and Christian Eriksen drop to the bench. It seemed that the Argentine was looking ahead to the Premier League clash with Chelsea on Saturday.
This caused huge anger among many Spurs fans, and failed to see how Pochettino failed to field his strongest team in a match of such great importance. Here is how they reacted on Twitter following the defeat, directing a lot of criticism towards the Spurs manager.
Pochettino needs to sort his priorities out. Last season we threw away Europa to concentrate on a slim chance to win the league, now this
— Dominic R-S (@DomRS10) 22 November 2016
Huge Pochettino fan not stupid to forget how far he’s taken us but his cup selections surely have to be called into serious question.#THFC
— Ricky Sacks (@RickSpur) 22 November 2016
Defensively poor. Sideways & backwards passing. Incorrect selection.
Ponderous. #Pochettino accountable. Deflated. #Spurs #ChampionsLeague— Ray Verma (@rayverma) 22 November 2016
As good as Pochettino is I’ll never forgive him for resting some of our best players in every CL game
— james (@james_mca95) 22 November 2016
Pochettino got it all wrong I’m afraid. Vertonghen needed to come on at HT. #thfc
— Sean (@Tottingham_Sean) 22 November 2016
That was appalling. One of the worst Spurs performances I have seen. Just shameful. Pochettino has to take a lot of blame for that #thfc
— Stefan Sealey (@stefansealey14) 22 November 2016
As for Pochettino, I’m in shock at the complete disrespect for the competition. His team selection mirrored that of a League Cup tie. #THFC
— Callum (@_Cxllxm_) 22 November 2016
Pochettino has to explain that team selection.
— Samy (@WasNeverAToon) 22 November 2016
Poch has disgraced himself on the big stage
— Jinxed (@ManVsSpace) 22 November 2016