Hatters boss Declares He’s Not Having Spurs ‘Carnage’ Again; Luton Will Remain Bold

Hatters boss Declares He’s Not Having Spurs ‘Carnage’ Again; Luton Will Remain Bold

 

 

After never wanting to see his team start a game the same way they did against Tottenham Hotspur earlier in the season, Luton manager Rob Edwards will continue to be audacious in his attempt to lead the Hatters to Premier League safety this season.

 

In October of that year, the Hatters welcomed their first true big six side to Kenilworth Road in the north London club, just eight games into their first tier campaign with one win and one draw. The matchup should have saw the visitors out of sight in just 20 minutes as well, as the Hatters’ low block strategy kept them in the game, but their defense was repeatedly breached.

 

Ange Postecoglu’s team was kept out by Thomas Kaminski’s brilliant saves, while Richarlison, Pedro Porro, Son Heung-min, James Maddison, and Dejan Kulusevski all battered the hosts’ goal with careless finishing and desperate blocks. To their credit, Luton did show some improvement and menace in the second half, but they were defeated by a set-piece goal from Micky van De Ven.

 

Earlier in the season, Reece Burke stretches to block another Spurs attempt. Photo by Liam Smith

 

Earlier in the season, Reece Burke stretches to block another Spurs attempt. Photo by Liam Smith

Edwards was inspired by that game to never again set up his team in the same way. Although Luton has conceded goals early twice in their last two home games—Rasmus Hojlund for Manchester United scored after just 37 seconds and Erling Haaland for the blue side of Manchester within four minutes—these goals were the result of errors made further up the field, which the Town chief insists has nothing to do with the style of play.

 

He declared: “Amari’i (Bell) will hold his hands up for the early goal we gave up; it was just a one-time error against United.” In the other one the other night, we had a chance to improve; we could have tracked on Kevin De Bruyne’s run inside and won the ball back higher; but, De Bruyne stepped on Clicker (Jordan Clark’s foot), causing Clicker to stumble and fall.

 

“He’s running through, so it’s not a foul, but he’s stood on Clicker’s foot, tore his boot, and Clicker fell down. Clicker was in the perfect place and would have put an end to it. With those early goals against United and City, a few things have gone against us. We just made a mistake and an unlucky error in those two games when we should have been better higher up the pitch. If he doesn’t stand on Clicker’s foot and he doesn’t fall, it doesn’t happen. We didn’t allow an early goal at Anfield.

 

“There are a couple reasons why it happened, but I won’t get into it. Alright, guys, let’s go to defensive position for a bit and wait. Then, we have Tottenham, where we’re simply defending our goal line, and for the first eighteen minutes, it was flipping carnage. That won’t happen again. Instead, I’d rather be brave and try to score two goals, as we did in the first two minutes against Brighton, because it will be difficult to move 100 yards up the field when we’re defending the edge of our box. That’s what I’d prefer; we just need to stop making mistakes, and maybe the next time Kevin De Bruyne won’t stand on Clicker.

 

Since the beginning of the year, Town’s tactical change has allowed them to defeat both Brighton and Newcastle United by four goals. However, Luton’s four goals against Liverpool and six against Pep Guardiola’s team in midweek marked the beginning of their 19 goals in five games. That 4–4 tie at St. James’ Park was the first of those losses. Despite this, Edwards stated, “We will do (play the same way)” to demonstrate his willingness to go in a way that will give his team the best chance of winning. Please understand that there are things we have learned and intend to apply in order to get better.

 

In a strange manner, we made some blunders because we were trying to be too bold and take on too much responsibility, which perhaps didn’t assist others. You need to make an effort to perform one and a half duties well. We made a few mistakes since we were trying to take on the best, but overall it was a difficult night because everyone was eager to work against him.

 

“Having said that, we rewatched the game, and there were some excellent moments. We simply faced a superior team who played outstandingly that evening, but we are headed in the right direction. We aim to address the mistakes we made and move forward.

 

With 13 games remaining in the season, the Hatters are in the relegation zone, although they are just four points clear of Nottingham Forest and have a game in hand over the Reds. Edwards responded, “I don’t know, the way it’s actually gone and the way we’ve maybe grown into the season, understood it, understood ourselves, we can play in this league, maybe,” when asked if he would have taken that stance at the beginning of the campaign. We had a rough beginning, dropping the first four games before drawing with Wolves in the fifth.

 

We put ourselves through a lot when we first started, so it’s nice that we are still fighting now, but we all want more; after all, are we not a little bit greedy? We might all be a little bit higher up, and I think we can all admit to occasionally leaving a few points out there. We accept things as they are since that is the truth for now, but we do wish for more.