A performance that deserved all three points, but, as is the story of Tottenham’s season so far, they remain without a win following a stalemate at home to Everton.
An open and occasionally feisty affair, Mauricio Pochettino will be very disappointed his Spurs side couldn’t turn their dominance into goals in what was their best performance of the season. But considering their lacklustre start, they didn’t set the bar very high to begin with.
At times an almost daunting, hostile atmosphere at White Hart Lane, with referee Mike Jones bearing the brunt of the abuse, Tottenham controlled the game for most of the 90 minutes, but countless missed chances made it a frustrating evening in North London.
Despite the performance, it will have done little to raise the spirits of some of the Tottenham faithful who are yet to be fully convinced of the club’s policy to focus on youth, rather than more established names. And if Spurs don’t take three points away from a stuttering Sunderland side in a fortnight’s time, more questions will be asked and the discontent will grow even louder. Here are my three main things to take from Saturday’s game:
Harry Kane needs help
To enter the season with just Harry Kane as the only senior striker was a stupid move from the club and placed far too much unnecessary pressure on the 22-year-old.
Having been a mainstay in the side since November, he almost single-handedly carried the team through last season, was a part of the club’s unnecessary post season tour of Australia and Malaysia and went to the Under 21 European Championships. There’s no doubt Kane hasn’t had nearly enough time to rest and has almost had a year of non-stop football.
He’s been sluggish this campaign and nowhere near as effective, but it’s not through the want of trying. At times, it feels like he’s leading the line all on his own, with no support around him and no forward runners. Spurs simply do not create enough chances.
He did however spurn the game’s biggest opportunity to score in the first half. Played clean through, one-on-one with Tim Howard, he fluffed his lines when it seemed easier to score. Whether it was pressure or expectation, the bottom line is that Spurs must rely on other players to step up and take the weight off Kane’s shoulders.
With new signings Clinton N’Jie and Son Heung-min expected to feature heavily, that should go some way in ensuring goals are adequately spread out amongst the team, but questions still remain as to why Spurs didn’t
sign a fuller strikeforce much earlier in the window.
Dier is making the midfield role his own
When Eric Dier revealed that he’d been playing in midfield in pre-season training, a fair few eyebrows were raised. Pre-season performances left a lot to be desired, but since the start of the season away
at Man United, the 21-year-old has improved with every performance.
He only misplaced two of his 57 passes, won 5/7 tackles and made three interceptions and three ball recoveries. In contrast, Nabil Bentaleb wasn’t nearly as effective in breaking up the play, completed just 79% of his
passes and was occasionally reckless.
But not content with holding the midfield, Dier also showed his willingness to go forward and contribute to attack. His confidence going forward is no doubt in part to his experiences at right back, but his confidence for someone so young is exemplary. In a Tottenham team that lacks leaders, Eric Dier is at the forefront , but, that doesn’t mean an experienced holding midfielder wouldn’t go amiss.
Spurs’ defence is much better
Having lacked guile, steel and experience in midfield, Spurs were always susceptible to conceding chances and the opening three games without a clean sheet is testament to that. Saturday was a much different story and at times when Everton threatened to open up Spurs, they stood firm and defended brilliantly.
Jan Vertonghen in particular had a much improved performance after his horror show against Leicester and looked much more assured when coping against tricky customers Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley, making seven clearances in all.
Danny Rose returned from injury and showed why he has been Spurs’ most consistent performer for the past two years. Pitted against Arouna Kone, the young left back more than held his own and was also a threat going forward.
The 24-year-old made nine ball recoveries and won five tackles in the first half, with no other player on the pitch bettering him and showed why he should be ahead of Ben Davies in the team. It’s been a long road to acceptance
for Rose after initially failing to establish himself as a left winger, but he’s probably the unsung hero of White Hart Lane and is firmly in the hearts of Spurs fans everywhere.
