Welcome back to King or Kaboul. After matches this will be filled with fresh and raw takes from the latest Tottenham game. This will be followed, I promise this week, by my in-depth full match report later in the week as well as Spurs FPL Prospects Pre deadline. Between Job hunting and actual life, I have found it hard to get some down time to actually write and analyse. Less about me and more about Mourinho’s Spurs.

King – Winks

What a performance from the Birthday boy. Been a while since I have seen him put in a performance like that. From playing balls out from his deeper midfield position to breaking past the halfway line to tempt Zinchenko into his second booking. Stats never tell the whole story but he only lost possession 10 times. The same as Gundogan, but less than Rodri and KDB. Obviously KDB plays a little bit more advanced and takes more risks but still a great showing in that regard from our Harry.

He was so good in that central area, spinning out of trouble and playing the right pass when he needed to. He is a player that outsider’s and even a large part for our own fanbase do not know the impact he can have on games. Injuries and tactics sometimes dictate he plays alone centrally in the deepest position. Seemingly hard for a player not possessing the natural Defensive traits for that role. But I have seen him excel in huge games, like this and the Madrid games a few years ago. Hoping we have a midfield of Winks, Lo Celso and Ndombele in the future. Happy Birthday the Enfield Iniesta.

King – The Defence

Overall a great showing to keep out this City side and everyone one in the Back line played a part. I know City haven’t been at their best this year but they are still a side who can turn up and smash teams 4-5 goals easily. They still possess such fire power. But we did fairly well. Limiting them to 5 shots on target, only 3 inside the box. One of which was the penalty save from Mr 100%. Brilliant save from Hugo and like I said he was rarely tested apart from that all credit to the players in front of him.

Fullbacks

Serge was (again) rash in another penalty box incident but was fairly decent for most of the game. He got back and did his duties while also being the outlet on the right he has become. He also played some good early balls up the pitch to look to release Son on the counter. My faith is still not with him as our RB but he has come on this year and you cannot deny that.

Our left back was Tanganga, who has performed well since Mou has put him in the team. Obviously now trusted by Mou and has not let anyone down while in the team. He was playing the more reserved left back, often shifting back into a left-sided central role. Calm and composed against Mahrez and KDB on that side, he really did a good job in this big game.

First choice central partnership?

Is this now our first choice central pairing? They both started in the 1-0 loss against Liverpool and looked really comfortable with each other. Sanchez is a different beast when paired with Toby and I hope to see this more often for the remaining games. Looks like Jan maybe being phased out but will still have an important role to play before the season is out.

Kaboul – VAR

Fucking garbage, absolute fucking garbage. It is having a huge impact on my love for watching football in general at the minute. Sterling should have been sent off. No questions. Sterling’s awful challenge on Dele was not malicious or anything but he caught him studs on the ankle. Both players lucky to be on the pitch. Carra saying in comms that if it was higher, he would have been off, why is that? Can you not injure someones ankles? Fucking Idiot. Auba got sent off for something similar vs Meyer a few weeks back. Son has been sent off vs Everton for something less etc etc. VAR literally does not know what it is doing. While we have some things that only the on-pitch ref can make it will never work, VAR upholds some laws but then cannot make the easiest of decisions. Anyway, that’s my opinion and many will disagree.

King – Signings

Three of our signings in the past year made an impact in our win Yesterday. Lo Celso played so well. He was everywhere, winning the ball back, skipping past challenges and tryng to get us moving forward. Love having him in the team he is combining the work rate, aggression and technical ability that we have been missing.

Bergwijn made an instant impact in the game winning the ball back from Ex-spur Kyle Walker and dribbling away from him. Large cheers from the home support. He looked bright and lively and comfortable dribbling at players. Then the goal. Brilliant chipped ball into our new number 23 from Lucas. Who chested it down and volleyed it in the corner in one movement. Great celebration from the debutant. Looking forward to his impact in the coming months.

Then Tanguy enters the match on 70 minutes. One minute later he gets an assist. Lo Celso wins the ball back and then a passing exchange with Ndombele leads to him being the other side of Rodri. He shimmies past him and plays a great pass to Son, who is in between two defenders and is onside. Son takes a touch and shows his elite finishing and puts the ball in the net. Game over. So excited to see these three in the same team again and again. Hopefully the bed in and help us get back to where we want to be next year.

King Wins

King wins. Some real positives throughout the game. From our “settled” back line to the industry and craft in the midfield. To the class individual moments in the final third. Huge win vs what is still a very good team. We have our FA cup replay at home vs Saints on Wednesday, should be able to win that. I expect a few changes to the team, but it’s still a good opportunity to get our hands on a trophy come the end of the season.

Thanks for reading and hope you stick around for my other articles this week. Should have the full match report up for Wednesday, and have a little bit on the replay. Followed by the FPL prospects before the deadline.

COYS

Mr WP

@Writehartlane