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This is a difficult moment for Tottenham Hotspur. They have lost their last two games 1-0 and now find themselves staring upwards at Liverpool, six points clear of them in fourth and playing football that will only widen the gap.
Manager Tim Sherwood was very disappointed after Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Norwich City and said it was the “first major setback” of his time in charge and that they needed to respond quickly. “We are looking for a bounce-back,” Sherwood said, “and we need characters in the dressing room to do that.”
One of those figures ought to be Jan Vertonghen, comfortably Spurs’ best defender and, arguably, all-round player. Vertonghen is a regular for Belgium and joined from Ajax. Clearly, he should be playing in the Champions League. And when he was asked, after the match, if he would stay at Spurs should they be playing Europa League next season, he would not say yes.
“Those are always difficult questions,” Vertonghen replied. “What I want is to play in the Champions League with Tottenham, so hopefully I will get there this year.”
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match picturesShow all 77 1 /77Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Tim Sherwood has a joke as he helps his gilet onto the fan
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Emmanuel Adebayor does his salute celebration after scoring Spurs' third
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Emmanuel Adebayor scores from a penalty
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Harry Kane and Paulinho celebrate after Tottenham's second, an own goal from Nathan Baker
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Aston Villa 0 Paulinho celebrates after opening the scoring for Spurs
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Emmanuel Adebayor looks on frustrated during his team's defeat
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stewart Downing celebrates his goal with teammates Andy Carroll and Mark Noble
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Stwart Downing puts West Ham two up with a free kick
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Mohamed Diame clears the ball in acrobatic style
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Andy Carroll celebrates after West Ham take the lead, the goal would go down as a Harry Kane og
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Ham 2 Tottenham 0 Referee Phil Dowd shows Younes Kaboul a red card
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Steven Nzonzi and Danny Rose square up after clashing in a tackle
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Harry Kane races away from Ryan Shawcross
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Marko Arnautovic is tackled by Nacer Chadli
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Tottenham players celebrate with Danny Rose after he puts the away team in front
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Stoke 0 Tottenham 1 Danny Rose celebrates with Aaron Lennon after heading in Tottenham's opening goal
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Younes Kaboul celebrates his goal after putting Spurs 3-1 up
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Steve Sidwell and Danny Rose contest for the ball
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Hugo Lloris produces a superb save after Hugo Rodallega's header
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Harry Kane scores and gives Spurs there lead back
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Steve Sidwell puts Fulham level with a chipped effort over Hugo Lloris
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Christian Eriksen controls the ball despite pressure from Alex Kacaniklic
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Tottenham Hotspur's Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (R) celebrates after scoring his team's third goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Harry Kane of Spurs is congratulated by teammates after scoring his team's second goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Stephane Sessegnon celebrates scoring the third goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Emmanuel Adebayor of Spurs misses a with a penalty attempt
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 Chris Brunt of West Bromwich celebrates after scoring his team's second goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures West Brom 3 Tottenham 3 West Bromwich Albion's Czech forward Matej Vydra celebrates after scoring the opening goal
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Emmanuel Adebayor of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his second goal against Sunderland by saluting manager Tim Sherwood
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Fabio Borini of Sunderland shoots as he is challenged by Aaron Lennon of Tottenham Hotspur during the Barclays Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 5 Sunderland 1 Tim Sherwood greets Sunderland manager Gus Poyet before Tottenham’s 5-1 win
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Daniel Sturridge congratulates Jordan Henderson after the midfielder's goal
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Philippe Coutinho fires in Liverpool's third
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Brendan Rodgers looks on from the touchline
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Luis Suarez of Liverpool celebrates the second goal against Tottenham
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Liverpool 4 Tottenham 0 Younes Kaboul scores an own goal in the second minute
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson scores a late winner for Spurs with a thunderous strike
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Christian Eriksen gets to Roberto Soldado's cross ahead of Calum Chambers to tap in Tottenham's equaliser
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Eriksen scores Tottenham's first goal after a slip from Nathaniel Clyne
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Eriksen battles for the ball with Clyne and James Ward-Prowse
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Adam Lallana slips the ball under Hugo Lloris to make it 2-0 to Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 3 Southampton 2 Jay Rodriguez steers the ball past Younes Kaboul for Southampton's first goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Rodrigo Lima celebrates his goal
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Tottenham players appeal for a penalty after Harry Kane goes down in the box
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Gylfi Sigurdsson sees his header saved late on
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Nacer Chadli scores to put Tottenham ahead and give them hope
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Benfica 2 Tottenham 2 Roberto Soldado has an effort at goal
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Lukas Podolski celebrates with the Arsenal fans after the win at White Hart Lane
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tottenham Hotspur's goalkeeper Hugo Lloris takes out team-mate Danny Rose as he collects the ball
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (right) and Tottenham Hotspur's Nacer Chadli battle for the ball
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Arsenal's French defender Laurent Koscielny (2nd left) challenges Tottenham Hotspur's Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen (4th left)
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tomas Rosicky fires Arsenal ahead with rocket of a shot
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 0 Arsenal 1 Tomas Rosicky of Arsenal shrugs off the challenge from Danny Rose
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Tim Sherwood and Jorge Jesus clash on the sidelines
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Rodrigo (centre) slots Benfica’s opening goal past a helpless Hugo Lloris of Spurs last night
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Benfica 3 Tottenham Hotspur's Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen (R) celebrates after scoring his team's first goal from a free-kick during the UEFA Europa League round of 16 first leg against Benfica
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Kyle Walker holds off Eden Hazard
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Eden Hazard rounds goalkeeper Hugo Lloris but misses the open goal
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Samuel Eto'o and Hugo Lloris exchange words
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Chelsea 4 Tottenham 0 Samuel Eto'o goes down under a challenge from Hugo Lloris
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 A relieved Roberto Soldado opens the scoring
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 Fabio of Cardiff City clashes with Tottenham's Andros Townsend
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Cardiff 0 Craig Bellamy fends off Ezekiel Fryers
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures FC Dnipro 1 Tottenham 0 Dnipro's Victor Giuliano (left) vies with Tottenham Hotspur's Etienne Capoue
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures FC Dnipro 1 Tottenham 0 The starting line ups of Dnipro and Tottenham observe a minutes silence prior to their Europa League Last 32 match due to the recent events in the Ukraine
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor scores for Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates opening the scoring for Spurs
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Emmanuel Adebayor makes it 3-0 with his second of the night
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 Newcastle keeper Tim Krul dives but fails to stop Nacer Chadli's fine effort
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Newcastle 0 Tottenham 4 The Newcastle players look shell-shocked after they concede a fourth
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Tottenham 1 Everton 0 Emmanuel Adebayor celebrates scoring the only goal of the game against Everton
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Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Shane Long scores the opening goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Shane Long celebrates the opening goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Hull celebrate the opening goal
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Danny Rose challenges for the ball
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Paulinho celebrates his equaliser
Tottenham Hotspur: The latest match pictures Hull City 1 Tottenham 1 Hugo Lloris looks on
He said that all he could do was suspend a decision until the summer. Vertonghen was just as honest about Spurs’ dismal display as Sherwood was. “We need to raise our game to compete with the other top teams,” he said. “Before it was because of the defence not doing well enough – which includes everybody – and now we are not scoring enough goals to bounce back from a 1-0 deficit after half-time or whatever. We need to start playing as a team more because individually we are good enough.”
Spurs host Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk on Thursday, needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit. Vertonghen is looking up, whether Spurs take it seriously or not. “A good run in the Europa League could give us confidence and it means in just a few days’ time we have a chance to bounce back.”
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