A win is a win. This was a vital 3 points in reality. With Chelsea and Arsenal drawing and Man Utd’s loss at home. Keeps is just about dreaming of top 4. That is what is it though, a dream. With more performances like this I just do not see us doing enough to get that coveted top 4 spot. Sluggish, sloppy and again lacking some killer instinct. Truth be told when Pukki slotted away his penalty I had just settled for the draw in my head. As I said in my Watford piece, I have no real expectations in the league when we take to the pitch. Feels like those Sherwood days, or even early Poch. When he was so heavily doubted and was still finding his style and dealing with a fractious dressing room.

The thing I suppose then was we only had a small sample size of Poch and knew we had to give him time. Slightly different this time, we know about the old Mou and what he is like. They say a Leopard cannot change his spots, I am hoping that is wrong. Tottenham is my club, it is in my veins. I want it to succeed. For me I understand the job Mou has on his hands is not the easiest. He was out of management for a while, and the landscape has changed so much in that time. He has come into a club part-way through a season, a club that has underperformed in the league for the best part of 18 months. A club that has had self-imposed buying embargos for the majority of the last transfer windows. Also, the inevitable comparisons (as I have done) to our former manager. Roll on June.

Tactics

Out of Possession 4-3-3

Huge surprise in goal with Lloris coming back from his injury he sustained last year against Brighton. Big bonus for the confidence of our defenders. A change in our back four with the impressive Tanganga dropping to the bench. We started with Aurier on the right, Sessegnon on the left and Toby and Jan on their respective favoured sides. Hard to see Tanganga dropped but he will get his chance again. Sanchez hopefully just rested with some big games to come, in the league and in Europe.

The midfield 3 comprised of Dele to the left again, Winks in the middle (injured on 56 with Dier replacing). Lo Celso again starting (Fire, Heart, Kiss Emoji) to the right. The front three again was Son to the left, Lamela to the right and Lucas ploughing his lone furrow up top.

In Possession 4-2-1-3

These are the rough positions of the players when we had the ball. Sess pushing up as a left full back, using his attacking instincts. Would love to see him constantly running at the opposition. Starts will do him the world of good confidence wise. Aurier, is much to my amazement/disappointment is so key to what Mourinho is trying to achieve tactics wise. Getting another assist for Dele’s goal in this game as well. He has improved markedly over the last 6 games. Mostly as he is urged to be away from our penalty area when possible. But he is THE out ball for our attacks. The left side sometimes looks to congested with a left back, Son and then Dele drifting out there. This often makes the right side a little more open to attacking.

Our trio in the middle cover different areas, with Winks in the centre trying to get the tempo going. Dele played more central this game, popping up in the box and that central number 10 area until the Dane came on. Great touch to get on the end of Serge’s cross for our opener. Lo Celso gravitated to the right side, always looking forward. Such an asset, hope we sign him permanently this window then he is ours.

Up top Lucas was again all effort not real end product. Son had some nice touches and a few chances. As well as following up Dele’s deflected shot for the winning goal. Lamela was frustrating but that Rabona cross, if only!

Surrendering the middle

Rough positions for the players when Eriksen came on. Lo Celso moving wide right to link up with Aurier, Dele and Lucas interchanging up front, sometimes in tandem. Eriksen playing number 10, when he wasn’t pulling out of challenges near our box. You can see that with just Dier in the centre, (who was also pressing and harrying the opposition) we let them have more possession as we pushed for the winner late on. Could have been worse against a more dominant midfield.

A Glimpse into the Future?

Two players I have loved watching this year have been Max Aarons and Todd Cantwell. Now Aarons has been on my radar for more than a year, such a bright young fullback with attacking instincts and pace. Would love him at Spurs, we should be looking at this profile of player to buy and develop. Cantwell on the other hand is a surprise to me as to Norwich fans. He only made 27 appearances last year as the Canaries came up and as far as I have seen was not considered a Key player. This year he is so key to how they play. Drifting inside, player close to Pukki. He looks a great prospect and I do like what I see from the 21 year old. As probably do many clubs. Again, fits the profile as we build to the future in this painful rebuild we will ultimately have to go through to come out of the other side stronger. Buendia was missing as was Jamal Lewis, another 2 that I would welcome with open arms.

Gio Lo Dynamo

What a great performance from our number 18. He has shown glimpses since he signed on loan, and has taken a while to get in the side due to injury and our system. But on the right of that midfield three, drifting wide he looks at home. Forward passing, probing passing, touches, tackling and winning the ball back, (yes, I am looking at you Erik). A very impressive display where he showed it all. Won the ball back that eventually got to Serge crossing for Dele. Then played a beautiful pass into Dele for his shot that deflected to Son for 2-1. Looking forward to watching more of him as the season goes on. Hopefully he replaces some of the creativity that the departing Eriksen gave us.

Next up

Saints away in the FA cup, a great time to get revenge on them and dump them out of the cup. RH has got them playing some good stuff and I feel the players are finally getting to grips with his system. They look more solid defensively and have still been scoring with Ings not bagging in the last few. Harder than it looks on paper, hoping we turn up on Saturday and keep that winning feeling.

COYS

Thanks for reading my Match Review on my site. All feedback welcome as well as support. Means a lot that people still want to read my views. Please get in touch if you have any questions regarding Spurs.

Mr WP

@Writehartlane