A very solid, no-nonsense win today at home against Fulham. The loss of Bissouma didn't appear to be much of a problem, Hoj was fine stepping in and Sarr was very good. Really this game highlighted the strength of Romero and MVDV. Mickey's pace in particular was incredible at times, with the highlight being late in the game, after already playing a hard 85 minutes, his recovery speed to track down Harry Wilson, who should have been in on goal, to slow Wilson down and force a much more contested shot. I'll reiterate what I said before the break about Romero, he's giving you all of the good he gave last year but almost none of the bad. He's direct, emphatic, tenacious and avoiding costly mistakes.
The offense was sloppy in the final third at a lot of points, but they just were so active in winning the ball back and quickly and aggressively trying to create chances. Kulu had a very strong game, but had nothing to show for it. Son and Maddison both shined through with moments of brilliance, and the overall pressing of the front line and the full backs really pressured Fulham into two mistakes which led to the two goals, but Spurs really could have had 4-5 goals.
The limited negatives would be the reserves were very rusty after coming in, GLC, Brennan Johnson and Veliz were not very impressive during their cameo appearance. Skipp was fine coming on in the midfield, as was Emerson who came on at the '55 minute mark to relieve Udogie, who put in an extremely active shift. Richarlison also is really missing his finishing form, and it's getting to the point where you have to wonder if he will every break out of this slump.
The two dark thoughts I have on days like today are that it was incredible waste that Spurs went with veteran coaches with outdated philosophies in Jose and Conte instead of finding the next Poch. Spurs are a completely different team under Ange, the intricate passing and aggression they have on offense is just so dramatically different from what they were doing for the last few years. The second thought is what the team would look like with Kane starting instead of Richarlison (with the evidence being the four goals he scored in a preseason game against Shakthar Donetsk) but alas, it was not to be.
Good post. I'll add a few thoughts.
Starting with your dark thoughts, I wonder if Ange's success will open the door for other managers that don't come through the rarefied air of big 5 football. I mean,
we all have come to know and appreciate the brilliance of Ange's tactics and man management, but if an EPL club fires their manager midseason and can choose between a retread (let's just say, Nuno Espirito Santo for example) or some other manager who's been winning nonstop and building projects worldwide but is currently managing outside a big 5 league (let's just say Gallardo for example), perhaps now the club will consider the latter types more often.
All of which is to say that I think Levy/Paratici were trying to accomplish 2 things with the Mou/Conte era: 1) Keep Harry Kane happy and engaged, and 2) win a trophy. For all their faults, those 2 managers have a history of success and despite Levy being incredibly shrewd and forward-looking, I feel like he gave into the Spurs inferiority complex with those hires (especially Conte). The fact that Kane respected those managers and kept up his productivity during those seasons is a sign of limited success.
Vicario only had to make 3-4 saves on Monday, but 2 of them were exceptionally good. He's been excellent and he deserves a ton of praise.
I'm as big of a Romero fan as there is out there, but VDV was significantly better yesterday. His pressing led to the first goal FFS! His pace is something to behold, and while Romero also had a good game, he was playing second fiddle to VDV and that's totally OK. There's gonna be cagier games where Romero's skills are more important, but against Fulham it was VDV's time to shine.
I really hope Udogie's OK, because his underlapping runs ahead of Richy were really fun to watch and effective. The latest word I saw is that Ange expects him to be fit for Friday. Porro continues to impress and he's phenomenal. His defense has really come around and his decision-making is improving too.
Hoj is truly a fascinating player for spectators like me. He doesn't look like he's doing much, but he's quite effective when you look at it. He didn't do any of Bissouma's slick turns, but he was tidy (that's generous, he was very conservative) in possession, but he did hit some terrific long diagonals that put FFC on their back foot. He was solid enough defensively.
Sarr was excellent and it's pretty damn impressive how much ground he covers for the side. With Biss out he was the worker who let everyone else do their thing. While I can't wait for Ben10 to return, Sarr continues to perform and he still has a lot of runway to improve.
Madders was excellent again, and it's quite amazing how well he fits into Ange's side. He and Son should've combined for an additional goal or 2 (1 chance in the first half and another in the second had me screaming) but they were giving FFC's defense fits.
Richy's finishing doesn't seem to be coming around any time soon, but his final third passing has been outstanding and a pleasant surprise. Combine that with his world class pressing (highlighted by leading to the second goal) and we have a very useful player. The Extra Inch podcast was talking about how in an ideal world the LW is more of a 1v1 specialist, and Richy becomes an ideal backup to both the LW and Striker spot--i.e., what I think many of us expected him to be when Kane was still around.
What more can you say about Son? The guy is a world class finisher and he hasn't missed a beat, and really has improved, since moving BACK to striker (I still maintain that I saw this coming since most people seem to forget that Son did the striker job really well a few seasons ago when Kane went down injured).
Thinking back on it, I feel like Deki had a quiet game. Not a bad game by any means, he's playing so well lately, but more just that our attack was reliant on pressing rather than combo play.
The subs were rough--no other way to put it. I give Brennan Johnson and GLC passes since they're coming back from injury, but I thought Skipp was pretty poor (I still like him quite a bit and his workrate is quite insane), and Emerson is a big step down from the starters.
The dream lives on until Friday at least! COYS!!
