It had been possible to feel the demons circling from Tottenham’s previous cup tie; their only one before this under Ange Postecoglou. Back in August, the manager had made sweeping changes at Fulham in the Carabao Cup and watched his team exit on penalties.
Postecoglou knew that he could ill afford a repeat. The second half of the season might have come to look rather stripped back, especially with no European football.
