200 in 300
After last weeks woeful outing against Antwerp, Spurs faired better away to the Bulgarian champions, Ludogorets with a comfortable 3-1 win. It was so comfortable that for a Thursday night Europa game I actually enjoyed it. Genuinely, it was quite pleasant to watch Spurs play with a sprinkle of refinement. I wouldn’t go as far as suggesting the intensity levels were high but high enough they were to dismantle the hosts with relative ease.
The poor performance in Belgium and Jose Mourinho’s edgy four man half time substitution massacre worked a treat in terms of an on-field response. Tottenham looked like a team and this group game actually works in the grand scheme of taking momentum from one match to the next. It was partly thanks to a relatively strong core in selection and the reality that we need to get the points in now and not struggle later with qualification. Get the job done early and quickly and convincingly. More or less on the latter.
Post-match Jose was quite harsh but perhaps realistic with his opinion that we ‘did enough to win’. Sort of complementary but not really. The conceded goal (more to do with luck than anything else, although Joe Hart was very slow/static with his movement) perhaps a contentious moment handing a little belief back to Ludogrets. I get it. Compare the first half of compact and tidy football, with Harry Winks progressive with vision and Spurs flowing quite delightfully. Second half, not so much. Not to the point of disaster, just a drop in standards that would be more evident to Jose than to me sat on the sofa with a double rum and coke, sipping whilst salivating over Harry Kane.
That’s what we really need to be talking about right now. Kane. 300 appearances. 200 goals. A phenom. A guaranteed hall of famer, record breaker. But what has ever won?!!!! He’s won our hearts. Great work for a one-season wonder.
It looked a bit ominous for him at the start with him firing over the bar and striking the post and testing the keeper. Then he scored. That’s now 12 in 13 this season with 10 assists. Man on fire. We are running out of superlatives for him. My only concern is that Carlos Vinicius isn’t looking sharp enough at the moment to be a decent alternative, but that’s me being a little harsh considering he’s only just got here and to his credit has proven he can play a bit of football. Which is what we need; a team player. He’ll get there. Much like Gareth Bale is getting there.
The Welshman started and delivered a solid hour or so. Gio Lo Celso was also hungry and inventive. The team had far more energy and the tempo was more fitting for a side that wanted to win and did just that. A very professional evenings work that demands a continuation (as the group has 3 out of 4 teams with 6 points).
Other minor highlights. Son’s immediate impact to assist Gio. Perhaps this is what annoyed Jose, having to sub on Son to get us 2 goals clear again. No Dele Alli. I’m going to discuss this on my one-man pod Bare Bones over at my Patreon. Appreciate the amazing response and support to this thus far. Early days, building for the future. Get involved yeah.
I rarely do Europa League articles. Honestly, hand on my heart here, I can’t be arsed because it always feels like I’m reporting on a weird exhibition type snooze fest. The selection and rotation and disjointed manner in which we often stumble around with is off putting and practically in isolation to the games where we line up with strength and curate that important momentum. But, I’ve made an exception because, well…it wasn’t bad viewing, was it? And worthy of a mention just for Kane.
Got to also give a shout out to the almost David Brent / dad like Instagram account of Jose Mourinho, posting badly taken photos of him in the post-match. It’s intentionally/unintentionally genius. Sure, he does it because his sponsors have asked him to do so but there is no social media manager directing and producing these nuggets of comedy. He has to go some distance to beat last weeks (sat on his own with mask on, in the coach post-game versus Antwerp, saying he wasn’t talking to anyone). Dare I say, Jose is showcasing very subtle self-deprecation here? My word! He’s got a bit of Tottenham inside of him! Ooh matron! He’s one of our own!
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