Valiant Vorm & the Kids...

As we faced Liverpool in the 4th round of the EFL Cup at Anfield, it was with some trepidation that we joined the charter train at Euston, for our 13:20 departure, up to the North West.

Article by Ian Gunn @COYS64

It was brilliant that our club had worked wonders with its stakeholders and business partners to put on this train. This enabled us to get up to Liverpool for a midweek evening kick off and to support the team in some number.

Having had an uneventful train journey to Liverpool South Parkway, we were whisked to Anfield in a fleet of coaches.

As we carried out our pre-match 'rituals', news of our starting XI began to filter through to us via various social media channels.

Vorm in goal, plus starts for Wimmer, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Josh Onomah, Harry Winks and George-Kevin N'Koudou (or 'Set to Sign' as a fellow 'e-Spur christened him!)

This was not my first visit to Anfield and 'You'll Never Walk Alone' was sung with its usual vigour, swelled by those sat in the upper tier of the impressive new stand, situated to the right of us. As ever, we in the Spurs faithful did our best to make our voices heard too.

The game started and Liverpool were immediately on the front foot. Within 9 minutes, a slip from N'Koudou released a Liverpool player to play a dangerous ball into our box. Sturridge gambled and won, just managing to reach the ball before Vorm could intercept it.

Liverpool's endeavour along both of our flanks was the greater and the England striker and his colleagues in red had the opportunities to extend their lead before the break. Only some profligate finishing and decent defensive work prevented this.

Carroll and Winks, were struggling to get their passing game going and Onomah, N'Koudou and the indefatigable Janssen were being increasingly isolated.

The second half started in the same fashion as the first and Vorm had to be at his very best to keep us still within touching distance of the tie.

However, even Vorm's heroics could not stem the tide for long, as Sturridge grabbed his and Liverpool's second of the evening in the 64th minute, having sprung our ineffective offside trap.

Pochettino made some positive changes, by bringing Lamela, Wanyama and Harrison on and it was our Argentine who was fouled in the box.

Janssen dispatched the resulting penalty with aplomb, to reduce the arrears to just one goal.

We now had a purpose and could have had another penalty, but our appeals were waved away.

Harrison had a glorious opportunity to force Mingolet into action (and the tie into extra time) following a wonderful ball from Lamela, but he seemed to be caught in two minds and his chested control fell kindly for the Liverpool 'keeper.

The 4 minutes of added time evaporated all too soon and the referee brought the contest to its natural conclusion.

Liverpool deserved their win, they played with greater intensity, endeavour, width and in Sturridge have a striker of proven quality.

We then left the stadium for the long journey south, by coach, train & taxi. All in all 'a grand day out, slightly spoiled by the football'.

Ratings: Vorm (8) - a string of excellent saves kept the score respectable.

Trippier (5) - struggled to get forward and provide quality balls into Liverpool's box.

Carter-Vickers (6) - calm on the ball and courageous in the challenge. Will have learned a great deal from playing against a quality striker tonight.

Wimmer (5) - looked way off the pace tonight and often exposed by Liverpool's front runners.

Davies (5) - our Ben is not the most swashbuckling of full backs and he increasingly found himself employed in his own half as the game progressed.

Dier (6) - did his best to shield the defence and to live up to the Captains armband that he wore during his time on the pitch. Made way for Wanyama.

Carroll (5) - our Tom is a neat and tidy footballer, but the game seemed to pass him by tonight. Made way for Lamela.

Winks (6) - a few wayward passes, but he showed us some tantalising glimpses of the player we all hope he turns out to be?

Onomah (5) - increasingly had to go searching for the ball, needs to learn from tonight's experience.

N'Koudou (5) - offered us all too few glimpses of his strengths, tracked back well, but offered very little in the final third. Made way for Harrison.

Janssen (7) - our Vincent again ran and worked his socks off for the team tonight. Took his penalty well and linked up effectively with those who made the effort to join him.

Subs: Lamela (6) - seemed to take time to adapt to the pace of the game, but drew the foul in the box leading to Janssen's penalty.

Wanyama (6) - our Victor seems to be the glue which holds our team together at the moment. Provided the screen which enabled us to move the play up the pitch those key few metres.

Harrison (5) - as stated above, had a glorious chance to take the tie into extra time.

Tactics: I think we all knew that Pochettino would try something different tonight, but to make 10 changes was either bold, foolhardy or a indication of how he had prioritised this competition? In the end, Liverpool's greater intent and endeavour for the tie and quality of those picked for their starting XI were enough to shade the tie.

Pochettino would have leaned a great deal from tonight's performance about the qualities of his squad.

Based on tonight's performance, Winks and Carter-Vickers showed some promise, whilst others, like Onomah, Harrison and Carroll are still works in progress, although is time running out for our Tom?

Wimmer and N'Koudou need to grasp those opportunities afforded to them and I think we all saw tonight why Mauricio prefers others in their respective positions?

On tonight's performance, you could also understand why Wanyama has moved ahead of Dier in our EPL games.

In the end, a defeat is still a defeat, only the margin and magnitude of it could have been far worse tonight, but for Vorm's heroics. I get the old cliches about what our exit from the competition gives us, but a trophy is still a trophy. I can also state with some sadness that the legendary exploits of King, Keane, Berbatov and Woodgate in 2008 are rapidly receding into the mists of time!?

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