Tottenham vs Bayern Munich: Why ‘stale’ aftershocks of chastening Champions League loss cannot be dismissed

This was not just Mauricio Pochettino’s worst defeat in terms of numbers. It was his worst in terms of feel and potential meaning

As the humiliated Tottenham players trudged back into the dressing room immediately after such a humbling, Mauricio Pochettino knew it was pointless to say too much. There was no hairdryer. He knew it wouldn’t serve much use at that moment. They felt bad enough.

By the time Pochettino did come out of the dressing room to speak to the media, however, there was one particular piece of analysis getting repeatedly stated. It was that this 7-2 was really just a freak case of pretty much everything Bayern Munich hitting going in.

“They scored with every touch,” Pochettino argued, and it wasn’t just him saying it. Opposing manager Nico Kovac backed him up.

“All of our shots made it, and Manuel Neuer made the difference,” the Croatian began. “Our balls hit the net. It didn’t happen that much the other way around.”

Many of the stats back this up, particularly the xG. Bayern scored about three or four goals that, probability-wise, shouldn’t really have gone in. Hence it felt like absolutely everything they hit went in, and was thereby an outlier of a game.

As Pochettino did accurately add, too, Spurs had “a very good first 30 or 40 minutes” and “no one expected what happened in the second half”. That is undeniably true - but it doesn’t mean it was a total freak.

One of the reasons everything Bayern hit went in was because they were in the mood to try anything. There was that marked mental shift in the game.

It wasn’t just that Spurs had stopped pressing, in the way that was proving very effective in that impressive opening 40 minutes. It was that much more about their game had given way.

Their sharpness went, replaced by a laxness. They had gone from relentlessly closing space to so casually offering it up. Sensing this vulnerability, and buoyed by their own resilience, Bayern just went with it and went for them.

They pounced on everything. There was that predatory hunger to every Spurs slip, best displayed by the sensational Serge Gnabry and peerless Robert Lewandowski.

Serge Gnabry celebrates scoring one of his four goals for Bayern Munich (Reuters)

Even though Pochettino pointed to the last seven minutes as the spell where things really collapsed - and when Bayern scored three to really turn this from an exacting defeat to an absolute thrashing - it was a dynamic summed up by the third goal; the one that really started it all off.

Serge Aurier was a little lax in getting too far ahead of Gnabry, but the young forward took maximum advantage, with maximum application. He so fluidly rode Aurier’s desperate attempt at a challenge before charging purposefully at goal and then finishing with full conviction. There was no doubt in his mind.

There was the realisation that Spurs were there for the taking, and that spread. The big question now is how far it will spread, in all senses.

It is ultimately why this was not just Pochettino’s worst ever defeat in terms of pure numbers. It was also his worst in terms of the feel of it, the potential meaning, and why it can’t just be completely dismissed as a freak.

Mauricio Pochettino watches on as his team suffer their worst ever defeat (AFP/Getty)

That is why it presents far greater problems than just as regards the chances of getting through this group or getting the players back up on their feet.

It does give some greater form to the growing suggestions that it’s just gone “stale”, that the management are struggling to shake them out of this.

There have after all already been team meetings to discuss issues. There have already been “clear-the-airs”. And yet the air around the club now is not that optimistic.

It doesn’t mean this is insurmountable. Some of what Pochettino said remains true. But for a defeat this bad to happen this early? For a team to sense that they were coming apart at the seams here; that they could be so easily got at?

That maybe says even more than the score, or any statement.