Saturday was…really bad. Tottenham Hotspur looked as dreadful as ever to open up the year, and supporters will have little patience even if most of the starting XI were not the players who should eventually occupy those spots once the transition from the summer is fully over. There were zero redeeming qualities from that display, and now Spurs must immediately regroup.
Perhaps this is the right opportunity to do so. Thanks to the lack of European competition this season, Tottenham enters the League
Cup in the Second Round, a rare occasion. The last time this occurred, Spurs promptly exited at this very point after losing to Fulham in the 2022/23 edition, but repeating that scenario would be disastrous.
Charlton Athletic comes to North London on Wednesday, looking to improve upon last year’s 19th-place finish in the Championship. That did come after five seasons down in League One, and the new campaign has seen two victories in two, with wins over Derby and West Ham (I guess it could always be worse!). It may be the Second Round of the League Cup, but Roberto De Zerbi really needs to win this one.
League Cup Second Round
Date: Wednesday, August 26
Time: 2:45 pm ET, 7:45 pm UK
Location: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
TV: Paramount+ (US), NOW (UK)
Not too many meetings between these clubs since Charlton left the Premier League. The only tie in the past 20 years was in the 2010/11 FA Cup Third Round, with Andros Townsend and Jermain Defoe combining for three second-half goals in a 3-0 win at White Hart Lane. Not Spurs related, but four years ago Charlton did make it to the quarterfinals of this competition.
Optimistically unfazed
As bad as the weekend was, Spurs should still be more than fine on Wednesday. Charlton is a rising side, but does sit in the Championship, which is miles below Tottenham’s quality…jokes aside, there can be no excuses in this sort of fixture. Coming back home will help, and surely De Zerbi gave his squad an earful, while also reminding them that plenty of ups and downs occur over the course of a season.
Cup ties often lead to rotation, though a combination of fitness and integration might make the decisions for the manager. For those who remain in the lineup by default, this is the quintessential bounce-back opportunity after terrible showings against Brentford. De Zerbi handled the adversity well last season, and I would be surprised to see anything short of a professional performance here.
Pessimistically feeling deja vu
If Charlton does pull off the upset, expect it to look similar to Tottenham’s opener. Like the Bees, the visitors will be confident in their press, aiming to make Spurs uncomfortable on the ball and ideally force some turnovers in vulnerable areas for Tyreece Campbell and friends to jump on. Their first two matches featured limited xG yet two goals apiece, meaning there need not be tons of chances for damage to be done.
Of course, opponent and style are almost irrelevant when it comes to drumming up pessimism in North London. Supporters just lived through one of the worst seasons ever and had that continue into the opening matchweek of this campaign. Saturday’s XI looked disjointed and disconnected and now faces a side that has plenty of positivity going for it. Good luck escaping another aggressive press.
Realistically taking a deep breath
This is always the worst scenario: win and very little is gained, lose patience starts evaporating very quickly. Normally the League Cup is the least important of the four competitions, but in a year with only three, it does feel important not to crash out now — especially in a very winnable tie. Add on the disaster against Brentford and suddenly we are right back to win-at-all-cost mode.
I feel ok saying this because I think Spurs understand that too. As bad as things looked to start, plenty of times a midweek contest gets things back on track, and all the elements are there for a rebound, even if not all of the new signings are in place yet. It probably will not be a “fun” contest, as even a lopsided win would be within the realm of expectation, but it sure would be nice to actually get to enjoy something again.
