Tottenham Hotspur did not play a good match today in their 1-0 loss to Leeds United at Elland Road. But while it’d be difficult to say Spurs deserved a result after a distinctly underwhelming performance, they can assuredly be mad about what happened to Mathys Tel.
In the first half, Tel had his ankle stamped by Jarrod Bogle, an incident that eventually sent Tel off through injury, one that Spurs head coach Roberto De Zerbi called “bad” and that will seemingly keep him sidelined for a while. Match
official John Brooks did not issue a card to Bogle, and VAR spent over four minutes looking at several clear angles of the incident before declining to recommend Brooks view the incident on the pitchside monitor. Bogle escaped any punishment beyond a common foul and went on to play the rest of the match.
It was egregious, especially considering Brooks sent off Xavi Simons last season for a very similar incident in which he inadvertently stepped on the ankle of an opposition player. Now, according to the BBC, Spurs are planning to issue a formal complaint to refereeing body Pro Ref to ask why VAR and Brooks did not issue a red card.
Complaining to Pro Ref won’t do anything to overturn the result, but it will indicate the club’s displeasure over how the incident was handled. The Premier League’s KMI panel has already admitted two significant mistakes that went against Spurs in their win over Chelsea two weeks ago. This continues what has felt like a pattern where Spurs are officiated differently to other clubs in the league who experience similar situations during matches.
De Zerbi refused to comment on the incident, saying he had not seen it properly, but did say in his post-match press conference that the injury to Tel was not the reason why Spurs lost the match.
“Two different games in the same game. In the first half, we played the best game, but we were alive, we attacked, and we created two, three clear chances to score, and we didn’t suffer anything.
“In the second half, I don’t know why, but we suffered too much, and we deserved to lose the game. We didn’t win any duel; we didn’t win any one-to-one; there was space to play, and we didn’t take the right decision, take the right position; we didn’t show personality; we didn’t show what we are, who we are.
“It’s a part of the journey for sure; it’s not an excuse, but it can be normal in football, but we have to be honest because if you are not honest today, I think the future is not good. If you are honest to analyse honestly our behaviour in the second half, I think we can become a top team.”
Spurs are now on hiatus for the international break; their next match is in two weeks at home against newly-promoted Ipswich Town.
