With Jose’s first year completed and the international break just behind us, now is a good time to pause and take stock before the chaos of the Premier League ensues once again. After a stuttering start to the season, it would appear the we’ve hit our straps – and after a successful summer transfer window (a rarity for Spurs’ fans!) it seems that optimism amongst the Spurs fan base is high.
Results – good ones
Looking back at the start of the season, a week in October stood out; it was a week for the ages – a vintage set of results that put a spring in our collective step. After Newcastle’s ridiculous injury time equaliser, dark clouds had threatened to form overhead. That game should have been well and truly dusted with all the chances that we had, but the nature of the farcical penalty decision with Dier being penalised for handling the ball as he jumped for a header left a bad taste in the mouth. But new season, new mentality (hopefully!) and we bounced back superbly. One down against Chelsea in the League Cup, plenty of other Spurs sides would have folded and limped out of the competition. But, the makeshift side – seemingly after a stern half time team talk – came out in the second half and did the business. The shootout penalties were a thing of calm, steely beauty. Signing winners gives you an edge and, for me, this was evident in that shoot out and we were off, into the quarter final of the League Cup. Two days later we were at it again against Maccabi Haifa in the Europa League. After their early equaliser, it was plain sailing and some lovely football was played on our way to the 7-2 romp. Football, it’s a funny old game. A year to the day since the 2-7 drubbing against Bayern Munich, and we were dishing out the punishment to the Israelis. Admittedly, it was against a far poorer caliber of opposition but, nonetheless, games such as these get the pulse racing. And then old Trafford. 1-6. Wow. What a pleasure it was to see United put to the sword on their home patch – recompense for years of frustrating results at their hands. Up next was the West Ham game – ah the proverbial game of two halves. At half time I thought we were in for a cricket score; alas, we weren’t, and after letting them back in the game, a wonder strike left us with a sickening draw that felt too much like a defeat. And after that a rally of sorts – unglamorous wins away at Burnley and home to Brighton and away to WBA left us us sitting pretty in the table. As with Spurs, there’s always a sense of what might have been and I can’t help but envision the league table if those 2 points verses Newcastle and West Ham were 6pts as they should have been. Ifs. Buts. Maybes. “If ifs were spliffs we’d all be high” – but I hope to God that a Champions League spot or – god forbid – silver is missed out on because of those two results. Sport is full of hard luck stories; let’s hope Spurs don’t have one this year. But fresh off the back of 2-0 win verses Man City and sitting pretty at the top of the table, you can’t help but start to believe it could be our year…
Time to brace ourselves…
The post international break run of fixtures for us doesn’t make for pretty reading. No bones about it, it will make or break our season in terms of the league. But the string of fixtures that got the naysayers doubting us and our rivals rubbing their hands has started brilliantly – a 2-0 victory over Man City, courtesy of goals from Sonny and Lo Celso. Nevertheless, there’s no time to rest on our laurels: up next is Chelsea (A), Arsenal (H), Liverpool (A), Leicester (H) and Wolves (A) before the fixture list becomes more palatable. We play Palace in between Arsenal and Liverpool so would hope for 3 points there. As tough as Leicester and Wolves are, if we’re going to where I hope we are I’d expect 6 points from those games. As for Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, dare I suggest that 5 points from those fixtures would keep us happy enough. That would leave us with 14 points from a possible 18 – and I envisage we could ride off into the New Year with ourselves very much still in the mix for the league. Oh – and we’d need to ensure that we beat Stoke in the EFL Cup Quarters just before Christmas so we don’t sully the festive season for ourselves.
Transfer business paying dividends
Regarding our transfers, the new boys seem to be settling in well. For me, Højbjerg seems to be the pick of them. Solid rather than spectacular – he seems to be a throw back of a player. Tough, niggly and an old school, no-nonsense player who does the basics well, he’s a player that this Spurs side badly needed. Admittedly, his debut against Everton was one to forget but since then he has been assured and has grown in stature and is arguably one of the first names on the team sheet. He has been immense. He’s still guilty of surrendering possession now and again, but every match he asserts his dominance and is becoming one of the side’s stand out players. On the flanks, Reggie is an absolute gem who seems to be able to do it all. It will be a great couple of years with him in the side – and I fully expect him to register a number of assists this season. As for Matt Doherty, he seems to have struggled somewhat to regain the form seen at Wolves over the last couple of years – before being struck down by a positive COVID test. However, an assist in the victory against WBA in the last outing before the international break bodes well and is hopefully something we’ll see more of. Gareth Bale – TOTTENHAM’S Gareth Bale – continues to grow in confidence and quality and there’s no doubt that prime Bale is currently “loading”. Growing in stature, what a moment it was when he rose to head the winner against Brighton at the stadium. It was beautiful – made all the more glorious for the 7 year parenthesis since his last one. With more football under his belt for Wales in the Nations League, I hope he begins to hit his straps in the next run of fixtures. Then the “Joes”: Hart has done well in the Europa; he comes across as an experienced voice who’s added more winner’s mentality to the squad. Rodon has yet to really feature – but with Sanchez’s fallibilities all too evident in defence, it’s only a matter of time before Rodon features more and more – especially when he will be eligible for the Europa League squad. I’ll put it out there now: Rodon may well be our first choice centre back by the season’s end. Against Ireland last weekend, some of his tackles were superb and would be more than enough to get the Spurs faithful purring. And then there’s Vinnie up top. He’s looked good in flashes – although it was always going to be a struggle being an understudy to Harry Kane. He’s sure to get enough game time in Europe and I think he’ll still play an important role in the squad this year. A couple of goals, and he’ll be on his way.
Harry and Sonny: A pair for the ages…
And finally, a review of the season so far couldn’t be written without a word on Harry and Sonny. What a partnership they are carving out – a partnership that will go down as one of the most potent in Premier League history – not just Spurs’. Their partnership has yielded 9 goals this season; 29 goals in total. If both can stay fit and keep up their rich vein of form then who knows where they’re partnership can take us this year. But for now, we’re top of the league and all seems well in N17.
A huge couple of months await…
Andy, South Wales. November ‘20
Spurs of the Moment 