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| It’s only two games into the season, but you can sense a change. Gone are the dull, defensive days of footballing dinosaurs Mourinho and Conte and Ange Postecoglou has fitted the Tottenham Way like a glove. There are no touchline histrionics like his predecessors exhibited, but a calm authority of a man who knows how he wants the game to be played.
The pre-match protest about ticket prices was carried out outside the ground, leaving the atmosphere inside to be fully behind the team and the fans certainly had plenty to cheer about. Releasing the players to express themselves, rather than fit into rigid formations with little freedom seems to have been something that they have got on board with and while the new system will allow the opposition chances, the defence will firm up as time goes on. The team looks vulnerable down our right, where both Brentford and Man U targeted, but with the midfield duo of Sarr and Bissouma able to protect the full back on that side and there is still some understanding to be built between Romero and van de Ven about who will attack crosses coming into the box, the new defenders and goalkeeper have to develop as a unit. Having said that there was some magnificent blocking from the defenders and midfielders in the two matches, showing a willingness to defend when the need arises. With the full-backs inverted, it does leave space out wide on occasion and against United, once Porro had got through a sticky first twenty minutes, he soon adapted and showed his defensive qualities, getting back to deny Shaw and Rashford attacking space on the United left. On the left, Udogie continues to show his defensive strength in easing players off the ball, utilising his pace to track back, while also linking well with Sonny when Spurs go forward. Where Tottenham are really impressive at the moment is in the midfield area. Olly Skipp started the Brentford match, but was substituted, as Pape Matar Sarr replaced him and then the Senegal international was one of the outstanding players against United. Alongside the dominant force of Yves Bissouma, they form an axis for the side to turn defence into attack quickly. Both players have shone in Postecoglou’s system, with Bissouma showing incredible calm and awareness to shift the ball out of tight positions, while Sarr covers a huge amount of ground and tackles and passes very well. Skippy might find it a struggle to get back in, but with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg looking like he will be sold, our Academy product will still be a valuable squad member. Son and Kulusevski are both working hard for the team, taking up wide positions, but having the potential to roam inside as both players enjoy looking to curl shots towards the far post. Also working hard for the team is Richarlison, who has received some criticism for his lack of goals, but very few who make such comments look at the service he has been provided with. Being a more traditional number 9 than Kane’s 10, the Brazilian is more reliant on the ball coming into the box directly to him. There have been occasions in both games where he was in space waiting for a pass from a team-mate who chose to shoot instead. Hopefully, the goals will come, possibly when a partner for him arrives. And the number of players linked with Tottenham continues to grow. Some stories are outrageously contrived, with players linked because some hack reporter has put 2 and 7 together and got 4. The shockingly bad Leicester centre-half Wout Faes was one that cropped up and surely if you are signing a plyer, he should be better than what you already have, but that wouldn’t be the case in this insistence. Another transfer I don’t really want to come off is the rumoured link about signing Chelsea’s unwanted striker Romelu Lukaku. A player who would be on a huge salary would not give a great deal of value for money, being 30 years old already and having suffered injuries over the last couple of years. I’m not sure how he would fit into the new system, because he lacks mobility and has strength but not a lot of pace, with speed seemingly the asset most prized in the Premier League. This summer we have seen Liverpool and Chelsea gazumping each other over players one wants, that the other ends up signing. Spurs have been in for some players who have ended up signing for other clubs. Now, you don’t know if this is because they weren’t priority targets, whether we wouldn’t meet transfer fees or personal terms or whether it was just a matter of dithering, while other teams nipped in ahead of us. While the issue of rising transfer fees (paired with salary costs) are a major consideration, sometimes … just sometimes, you would like to see Tottenham identify the player they want and go for him. This comes with risk, as the signings of Ndombele and now Richarlison have proved when spending big money, but there was a time when we snapped up young talent to develop it and have some (relative) success. The on-going, “will he, won’t he” saga over Gent’s Gift Orban and the transfer of Alex Scott, the young former Bristol City midfielder, who signed for Bournemouth are just two cases in question. As soon as we are linked with players, there is a premium to be paid and that is probably higher now that clubs know we have the money from selling Kane, but Scott is viewed as one of the top youngsters in the country and in the past we have missed out on players, only to have to pay through the nose later on when they have proved themselves (James Maddison come to mind). While it is an obscene amount of money, taking a £25 million punt on a young player, is it any worse than having to pay £40 million or £50 million a few years later. The Spurs side that reached the Champions league final was Hugo Lloris (£12 million), Danny Rose (£1 million), Jan Vertonghen (£9.6 million), Toby Alderweireld (£6.8 million), Harry Winks (nothing), Kieran Trippier (£3.5 million), Christian Eriksen (£11 million), Moussa Sissoko (£30 million), Dele Alli (£5 million), Harry Kane (nothing) and Heung-Min Son (£22 million). Knowing that transfer fees were not then what they are now, but there are still some bargains in there for players who were snapped up young or perhaps not holding down first team places elsewhere. We did have some expensive signings on the bench (Sanchez, Moura, Aurier, Lamela), but also some more reasonably priced acquisitions in Juan Foyth (£8 million), Kyle Walker-Peters (nothing), Fernando Llorente (£12.1 million), Ben Davies (£11 million), Victor Wanyama (£11 million) and Eric Dier (£4 million). Before that, the side that had reached a League Cup final and a number of semis in both domestic cup competitions included Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon; both player signed for a song, who served the club very over a number of years. So, it is not how much you spend on a player, but the qualities that they bring to the team and that is where the scouting and recruitment department come into their own. Director of Football Fabio Paratici has done us proud before he got his ban for financial issues at Juventus that robbed us of his services, although he appears to have been working as a consultant for Spurs recently. His influence has added Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, Destiny Udogie, Ivan Perisic and Guglielmo Vicario to our ranks with all being young up and coming talents, apart from Perisic, who has added a professionalism that others can learn from. His knowledge of the Italian scene has undoubtedly assisted in snapping up player ahead of other, more successful, clubs and his work is being carried on by the presence of the man he brought in as Head Scout – Leonardo Gabbanini. His work with Udinese and Watford have brought in a number of players at a lower price, who are then sold for a major profit later on and his knowledge of players in South America is rumoured to be prolific, which no doubt helped in signing Argentine teenager striker Alejo Veliz this summer. Some headway has been made over the last couple of years with the the purchases of Charlie Sayers, Tyrell Ashcroft, Josh Keeley, Will Lankshear, Jude Soonsup-Bell, Herbie James, Roman Egan-Riley, Alfie Devine and now Ashley Phillips and Alejo Veliz. Raiding other academies is a good tactic to bring in young, hungry players to hopefully feed through into the first team at some stage. Admittedly, not all of the signings will work, as we have seen plenty of our young talent go off elsewhere, but if one or two can make that step up, it will be a good result for Spurs. A strong Academy and Development squad means that pressure can be put on first-teamers for a place in the side and take the pressure off the bank balance either by not having to sign new players or by selling players on to raise cash. It’s not always about spending the most money (although it is for some clubs) and it’s not always about buying all the best players (although it is for some clubs), but it is about being able to attract the players who will fit into a system and who will fit in with their team-mates. Being out of Europe does limit the field of players who you are likely to be able to bring in, but the vision of the coach and the ambition of the club to build and build for the future can be a unique selling point. James Maddison has said that he could always see himself joining Spurs at some point in his career because of the status of the club and the way they go about their football. He is likely to be a key player in our progress. The sort of creative play he offers has been missing under other managers and while he was no doubt licking his lips with the potential link-up with Harry Kane (much like Gary Lineker was with Chris Waddle before Spurs sold the winger off to Marseille), his play means that he will be able to create chances for whoever plays ahead of him. At the United match, Madders was hoping for a chant to welcome him to the THS, but it didn’t really materialise. We’re no real tunesmiths here at MEHSTG, but we’re putting these two out there for consideration. Firstly, a recycling of the Eriksen chant for our new midfield play-maker to the tune of “Agadoo”… “Maddison-son-son, He’s the Tottenham number ten, Or something a bit different to stand out from the usual chants, set to the theme of Glen Campbell’s “Galveston“. “Maddison, oh, Maddison, Or maybe some of you more musical readers can come up with something better ? It’s Bournemouth away tomorrow and we’ll see how things go against a new coach and another opportunity to show what we can do. Keep the faith. MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY OF THE CUPS AT WHITE HART LANE Bruce Grove |