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Spurs 1-0 Man Utd: Five Tottenham Talking Points

AANP’s new book ‘All Action No Plot: Postecoglou’s First Season’, is out now for just £7.99 from Amazon (ebook from £6.99)

1. Maddison

I suppose a casual observer, idly swinging by and popping his head in, might note the scoreline and scorer, possibly drink in a brief highlight of Vicario pawing away a Utd shot or two. Putting two and two together, that same c.o. might then surmise that the restoration of the experienced heads had done the trick, and then be off on their way.

Strictly speaking there isn’t actually a way to disprove this. A clean sheet and a goal from the restored Maddison amount to a weighty argument from the prosecution.

And credit where due, the evidence of the eyes did point to Maddison contributing worthily to the whole. Taking the headline act, and his goal might not have been the most rip-roaring of its ilk, involving as it did an unopposed toe-poking of the ball from about three yards out.

The finish itself, however, was not really the sort of masterpiece that ‘ll be hung in the galleries for a spot of public gawping. Where Maddison really earned the monthly envelope was in having the good sense to hover on the tips of his toes as Bergvall lined up his initial shot. While the United lot treated the whole event as if VIP audience-members, idly drinking it all in without involving themselves to any degree, Maddison was already plotting the quickest route towards goal, and was off and running before the initial save had been made.

Even aside from his goal, however, this was one of Maddison’s starrier nights. One curling pass from deep in particular, late in the first half, seemed to drip with a bit of goose fat, and merited a better outcome.

And aside from the highlights reel, Maddison’s all-round game brimmed with useful inputs. In general I’ve been inclined to fix him with a stare and jab the finger a bit, as he’s had a tendency to collect the ball, pivot a few times and then shove it off a distance of about 5 yards. All well and good, but not the brand of muck that will scythe apart the meanest defence.

And while the 5-yard passes remained a feature, a little irritatingly, this time they at least had the vastly more endearing quality of being biffed early. There was a lot less of his tendency to plant a foot atop the ball and turn this way and that, umpteen times. Yesterday’s Maddison was an iteration that tended to receive the ball and fairly promptly give it, waving away the option of standing on ceremony.

United admittedly could not have been more welcoming, theirs being a midfield that didn’t really seem to believe in hard yards and defensive shifts, but Maddison nevertheless seemed to swan about the place in high spirits.

2. Vicario

As mentioned above, yesterday’s win also coincided with the return of our resident back-door custodian, Signor Vicario. Again, while it would be a tad lazy to equate the two as directly and solely correlating, the fellow’s gatekeeping was top-notch whenever required.

The proof of the pudding was in the clean sheet, a rarely-spotted species around these parts, so any garland that lands around his neck is well deserved. Again, of the headline-grabbing stuff, Vicario’s cup flowed over. Various acrobatics could be sighted in both halves – nothing revolutionary, I suppose, but still important stuff.

The low second half save, down to his right and changing direction, was a particularly memorable little number, but in general it was the sort of recital you’d expect from your resident Number One. Young Kinsky, one imagines, would have dealt with each effort similarly.

Apparently, however, there is more to this goalkeeping rannygazoo than shot-stopping alone, and when it came to the smallprint – collecting crosses, and playing low-key passes from the back – Vicario seemed similarly up on current affairs, ticking off all boxes with minimal fuss.

Short-passing from goal-kicks admittedly might not sound like the sort of agenda point on which to spend too much time, but we may perhaps be advised to pause at this point and tour the recesses of the memory. For one only has to go back about a week to find the first in a whole catalogue of instances of a rather unsteady pass being shipped from goalkeeper towards defender, missing something in the delivery and as a result leaving the collective in a whole sea of danger.  

As such, the very fact that we simply did not notice Vicario rolling his short passes this way and that ought to count as a mighty feather in his berretto.

3. Spence

Another pretty dominant innings from young Spence, who continues to be master of all he surveys, and from wherever he’s asked to survey it too.

Strictly speaking, he is employed as a defender, and when defending was required he seemed sufficiently alert and capable. United’s left-wing stomping was watched carefully enough, and for some added garnish at one point he flew across to the other side of the box to make the sort of sliding challenge that media bods are legally obliged to describe as ‘last-ditch’.

All well and good, and pretty necessary in any self-respecting left-back, but as ever it was the honest beaver’s northbound forays that caught the eye. It obviously helped that United set themselves up in a fashion so lop-sided it practically ushered forward any lilywhite who found themselves on the left. Nevertheless, it’s one thing to have the opposing lot step aside and wave you in, it’s another thing altogether to make the most of such invitations (just ask Sonny).

When Spence bounded forward he tended to do so to wholesome effect, alternating in pretty sophisticated fashion between the more conventional route along the left flank, and the achingly more progressive approach of cutting infield.

The more churlish observer might note that for all his studied build-up, his end-product never actually officially struck oil; but half the mission here was simply to land the United mob in a bit of a tizz, and this he seemed to do at every opportunity.

Outside reaction to his latest bravura display has not exactly been a model of restraint, with various choruses suggesting that he ought to be in the England squad, and others chiselling out Gareth Bale comparisons. No harm in basking in his successes I guess, but in the more immediate-term we do now have a very credible third full-back option, on other side.

4. Bergvall

A slightly less topical observation perhaps, but I thought young Bergvall pottered about the place impressively yesterday. With Maddison tasked with splashing creative juices about the place, and Bentancur more inclined to sit deep, whether in or out of possession, Bergvall provided the requisite firing pistons in midfield.

While I hesitate to compare the chap to one of the more esteemed former parishoners, Mousa Dembele – their respective physiques sitting at opposite ends of the spectrum after all – there were a couple of personality traits exuded by young Bergvall that made me tilt the head and wonder if I spotted a similarity.

Primarily, there was  the business of collecting the ball surrounded by a small swarm, and, keeping the thing well protected, wriggling from the aforementioned cul-de-sac of doom into a wide open midfield space. To the Bergvall jersey could also be pinned the quality of dipping a shoulder to side-step an opponent, and travelling with the ball over halfway and beyond.

They were features that I would categorise under ‘Glimpses’ rather than ‘Constant Directing of Affairs’, and as alluded to above, United’s midfield was hardly an impenetrable den. Nevertheless, in these little flashes Bergvall demonstrated some pretty useful value, generally helping to chivvy things along and contribute to the sense that, in midfield, our lot had the upper hand.

5. Game Management, Angeball Style

When all returns were in, it seemed reasonable enough to assert that our lot should have their noses in front. As mentioned, our midfield seemed slightly more familiar than the other lot with the basic concept of association football, and this marginal difference proved mightily useful, resulting as it did in their midfield wandering wherever took their fancy, while ours diligently ploughed through the gaps left accordingly.

With neither midfield remotely capable of providing any cover for those behind them, and neither defence especially watertight, the whole binge seemed to be decided by our lot having better and brighter ideas going forward.

Having eased into a lead, and neglected to build upon that, the final stages might have benefited from some considered strategy for controlling matters and ensuring that the win was kept under royal protection. ‘Game management’, I believe the boffins call it.

Of course, this being Angeball there was not a whiff of such a thing, and those final fifteen minutes or so instead unfolded like a particularly frantic children’s basketball jamboree, with both sides taking turns to pour forward every available man. Indeed, had that Zirkzee lad had a better grasp of aerodynamics then this tome might be aiming both barrels squarely at Ben Davies for picking a pretty ghastly moment to drift off and think of the valleys.

I suppose that from the moment he traipsed through the door, Our Glorious Leader’s approach to seeing out a game has been to score again and again, and the logic is, in a sense, irrefutable; but the failure to do so yesterday, coupled with the ease with which the other lot wandered up to our area, did cast a rather ominous shadow over things as we edged towards the end.

Still, our heroes hung on. Oddly enough, this is a second successive League win, which just goes to show that the right statistics can dolly up just about any breed of crisis. A rather messy route it might have taken, but with all manner of returnees now bundling their way through the door, in time for the European jolly, there are at least reasons for a cheerier outlook.

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12 replies on “Spurs 1-0 Man Utd: Five Tottenham Talking Points”

Well said. 3 points is 3 points M’lud, even against a team marginally worse than ourselves.

Hopefully some game time and another restful week will see our boys make further inroads to the top half – Ipswich here we come.

Also, the return of Solanke should improve things further. Tel has promise but he is not strong enough to hold the ball up.

Finally, I have just watched a clip of Ben Davies moments yesterday. I take what you say about Zirkzee’s near miss but otherwise he was pretty solid.

Audere est Facere!

Agree on all of that. I was perhaps harsh on BD, solid as you say, but that one lapse really should’ve cost us. And at his age, really.
And yes, Tel not quite fully developed as yet, is he? Which we all knew, to be fair, and he’s a handful in other ways.

Beautifully written as always AANP. We just needed to get a break yesterday and we got it in spades against a poor team that may be worse than Ipswich to play against.

Spence was superb as he has been for many matches – I will never understand how Conte was allowed to ignore him and then Ange followed on with the same treatment. Poor guy has probably been living a nightmare (albeit maybe that has made him stronger).

Maddison was okay but he reads too much press rather than doing it himself most weeks.

We’re not out of the woods yet though, we’ll probably gift Ipswich next as always.

All that’s left is a dream of Son raising that Europa League cup and giving us Champions League next season which should ensure some good players will want to join us in the summer.

Ha spot on re Maddison, and yes, with each passing week I wonder what the barrier was for Ange with Spence all that time.

If Man U are the standard for the Europa then things are looking up..,.

Maddison is a bit up his own backside, I can never forget when Maupay mimicked him after scoring and it seemed the only important thing on the pitch to him (admittedly we did win in the end). One day he’ll probably be earning a crust as a pundit and realise he has to try be honest 🙂

To be fair to Ange the mighty Spurs have never filled me with anything but angst anytime they tried so called game management. It always seemed to me to be sit back and invite the opposition to overwhelm us and score.
I admit that I had to look up a couple of your words in the dictionary, I normally only do that when I am reading an old classic.

Long time reader from the U.S., first time commenter. I don’t know, ManU are bad and they probably still should have won that game. They had a couple sitters and realistically should have scored 2 or 3? I don’t recall us really testing Onana too much, maybe one really good save? Our attach stops in the final third, our midfield is so inconsistent and our defense, well I think a goal can come at any minute.

Speaking of defense, can someone explain why our fullbacks are always tucked in when defending, leaving the winger wide open on the switch of field, where they then proceed to cross the ball fairly easily? How many goals have we given up on crosses this season? And yet, easy as you please again yesterday. I don’t see any tactical reason for it, the CB should have the striker, any runners from midfield should be picked up by our DM, our fullbacks should at least be within shouting distance of their winger, no?
I loved Angeball at first after the dismal displays over the preceding couple years but I’ve come to the conclusion that it just can’t work in the PL. The opposing players and coaches are too good, they will find your weakness (of which we have many, Defense being #1) and exploit it. Unless you have 11 sensational, best of class athletes out there, I just don’t see it working out for Ange as much as I would love it if it did.

Agree, agree – particularly the point about our full backs defending so narrowly! Drives me bonkers every blasted game. What the hell is it achieving? What’s the benefit?

Many good comments already, on that pretty ragged showing by our boys. Would echo the praise for Spence – MotM the last half-dozen times surely; was there some penny-dropping transformation point??
And for Bergvall – awareness, robustness, a modicum of swagger; this lad’s got star quality, and the necessary determination I think.

But we really need our CBs and striker back, don’t we? Reasons for optimism though…

I share your sentiments on how rugged/ flimsy our defensive setup looks…what I can’t figure out is how our past 12 opponents seem to score only twice against us (bar the 2 Liverpool games)….

That’s a serious chin scratcher

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