The thing about being a Spurs fan is that nothing goes the way it should. It’s just a fact of life. And I really, really should have seen it coming. I’m always excited to see Tottenham play, but I was much more so thinking that our game against Sunderland would be an easy win. For future reference – there are no easy wins in the Premier League. Unless you’re playing against Chelsea.
The Black Cats gave us a run for our money. Defoe was deployed out in the middle of their strike force – something that makes sense, but I didn’t see coming. Advocaat, Sunderland’s manager, has stated that he won’t play Defoe in the middle. Yet for this game he did, and and Defoe along with his partners in crime Lens and Borini proved to be a huge nuisance to Tottenham’s backline. Defoe’s runs were on an absolutely other level in the first half. It was incredible to watch until I realized that he was coming incredibly close to scoring against his former team.
He had a great strike that hit the wrong (or, from my perspective, right) side of the post and saw the ball dribble away harmlessly. Overall he did very well linking up Sunderland’s counter-attacks – something I didn’t expect.
I also didn’t expect Sunderland to play out of their skin. Their defense was compact, their midfielders hungry and industrious. Something tells me Spurs players read my match preview post predicting an easy win, and consequently took the foot off the gas and played like sh*t. This was definitely the worst performance that Spurs have put out this season.
Our defense was turned inside out by Sunderland on numerous occasions, and we were certainly lucky that the post kept out two would-be goals. But when a centerback like Kaboul looks like Ashley Young, you know that something is not quite right defensively. I was disappointed to see Rose on the bench but Davies did a serviceable job on the left. Our defensive line was sub-par, but I guess their performance combined with the hand of God saw us keep a clean sheet.
Much of the credit is due to Eric Dier. His performance turned out to be as important as I expected. He was an absolute beast in the middle of the park. He no longer looks like a centerback filling in for a midfielder – he looks to be a deadset anchor for Spurs as a dynamic center defensive midfielder.
Dier put in the best defensive performance by far, with four blocked shots, eight successful tackles, and five clearances (not to mention his defensive positioning throughout the game).
Indeed, Spurs sparkled in the midfield. Ryan Mason, voted MoTM across various websites, proved to be a huge asset in a stale attack. Mason was excellent in providing energy and hunger to a subdued Spurs, and his quality runs were the keys that unlocked the Sunderland defense. He created two chances and overall linked the defense and offense pretty well. He was a bit suspect defensively and gave Toivonen too much space, but his attacking play was incredibly spot on so I’ll happily overlook the lack of his defensive contribution. (Skip to 4:00 on the video below to see his goal.)
Son and Chadli, on the other hand, were underwhelming in general. Son’s debut was a tad disappointing but I’m glad he has his first game under his belt, and he can look to improve either in the Europa League, against Crystal Palace next weekend, or both. I’m reluctant to give Chadli a pass. He was horribly ineffective on the left and caused few, if any, problems for Billy Jones. He managed to create two chances which is the typical Chadli story – wholly invisible for 95% of the game but provides an important contribution (a chance, an assist, a goal) the other 10%. There’s no in-between for him, which is frustrating because he could be a really solid player that Spurs can rely on, but his inconsistency holds him back.
At the end of the game Townsend provided what I hoped Son and Chadli would throughout the game. He looked to take on Van Aanholt every opportunity he got, getting past him 2/3’s of the time. This was exactly what I expected Son to do – stick to the wing and take on his fullback – but instead both he (and Chadli) chose to cut inside, ultimately clogging up space for Kane and giving Kaboul and O’Shea an opportunity to shine.
Harry Kane himself has a lot to work on, putting in what was probably his worse performance of the season. He merely needs to pick up his head and look for the pass more often. He has great dribbling ability but he has to learn when to use it, and when to look for a simple pass to keep possession. The temptation to go for goal at every opportunity is evident – but he has to fight his inner demons and wait for the right time.
It was a disappointing performance, no doubt. But there are positives to take from the match; Dier looks like he will be the backbone of the team, Mason may be the first name on the teamsheet (barring injury), and, at the end of the day, 3 points is 3 points. The very best teams don’t always play perfectly – but they do find a way to get a positive result even when they’re being outplayed.
3 points.
First win.
I’ll take it.
Tactics, Antics, And Semantics 