PLAYER RATINGS: Spurs 2:1 Arsenal

Everywhere we go, it’s the Tottenham boys making all the noise, everywhere we go! And wasn’t the Lane rocking today?!

A Harry Kane brace saw off our North London rivals for our first win against them in two years, and is enough to send us into the top four.

Hugo Lloris – 7 – Didn’t stand a chance with Ozil’s goal, but was on top form to keep out Welbeck and Cazorla. Other than the goal and three other efforts, Hugo was rarely troubled.

Kyle Walker – 7 – Put in a solid performance again today. Was a big threat going forward and worked extremely hard to get back when we were out of possession.

Eric Dier – 7 – Like a lot of our youngsters in the starting XI, completely unfazed by the occasion. Looked solid next to Jan and put his body on the line to stifle Arsenal’s limited attacks.

Jan Vertonghen – 7 – May not be captain, but lead by example from his position today. Won 4 aerial duels and was on hand to sweep up and bring the ball out from the danger zones.

Danny Rose – 7 – Similar to Walker, was very good going forward – and was unfortunate not to get an assist after some threatening balls into dangerous areas. At fault for the goal with Welbeck ghosting past him, but recovered well.

Nabil Bentaleb – 8 – His return was truly noticed today. Made four tackles and made two successful dribbles. An exquisite assist for Kane’s second, and his work-rate was second to none.

Ryan Mason – 8 – Played with passion, pride and purpose. Was everywhere on the field – both attacking and defending with urgency and bite. Made four tackles and was the main reason why Cazorla and Ramsey had such little effect.

Erik Lamela – 7 – Some clever touches and intricate play was one of Erik’s main assets today. Made three tackles, underlining his brilliant work-rate, and provided a superb corner that lead to Kane’s first.

Christian Eriksen – 7 – His first touch was unplayable at times today, as he shifted the ball across the field with ease. Made two tackles and won two aerial duels. Always wanted the ball and fitness is incredible, going into the game's final moments.

Moussa Dembele – 7 – Struggled initially as he was crowded out by Arsenal’s deep, defensive line. But grew into the game and drew Arsenal players out of position with his close control and turns. Made three successful dribbles and was unlucky not to score.

Harry Kane – 9 – Without the goals, his performance was one of the highest order. His hold-up play and presence up-front had Mertesacker and Koscielny full of nerves whenever he was near them. His first finish was one of complete composure, while his second was reminiscent of Messi’s versus United in the 2009 CL final – a deft header, off the back foot. Sublime.

Subs

Nacer Chadli – N/A – Worked hard when he came, making one successful dribble.

Benjamin Stambouli – N/A – Had little time to influence the game.

Paulinho – N/A – Had little time to influence the game.

A victory that is massive boost for the club and our supporters – today is a day to give credit to Pochettino and his players.

With local, young, hungry footballers in our side – their desire and passion was there for all to see, and was enough to make us proud to be a part of this magical football club.

COYS

 

absolutely stunning performance. lamela only a 6 in my opinion but who cares!!!!!! No negatives today folks because that was awesome!!

 

Be interesting to learn the average age of our energetic, winning starting eleven. Rose,Dier,Mason,Benteleb,Lamela,Eriksen,Kane are all very early twenties ! Fantastic and mature performance today, we can surely get even better. Great display, a 9 out of 10 for the whole team ! Coys.

 

Wow! Great team effort, we dominated the entire game. Worked harder and deserve all 3 points. Danny Rose gets an 8 or higher, this kid played his heart out and put some dangerous crosses in the box. I wouldn't blame Rose for the first goal, Mason lost his marking in that instance. What a hell of a response after going down by a goal. A total team effort and win, well deserved. Kane just simply keeps amazing, I'm out of words!

 

To be exact 23.5 AND 5 are english

 

Fantastic team performance and all with a young team. Exiting times ahead I feel. I would give Lamela a 5 at best. Don't wanna put a downer on today but it's like playing with 10men with him playing. Chadli must start instead. Anyway, given time I think the future is bright for Spurs! Young players who know what it means in these games. Poch has their fitness levels at an impressive high level now and it's showing. There will be downs along the way but Poch's style is showing through now and with patience we can challenge for years to come if we keep this crop of players together. COYS and well done the lads!

 

You can take your Frank de Boers, Roberto Martinez' and LVG's, and shove them where the sun don't shine !!!

Because, Mauricio Pochettino is the ONLY man for Tottenham Hotspur at this stage of the clubs development. It's as simple as that!

I said that BEFORE he was appointed, when the team was struggling to adapt to his methods, and now the side finally begun to grasp what he demands. Pochettino is one of the very best young managers in the game today, and Levy made an excellent (yet fairly obvious, as far as I was concerned) decision to appoint him.

Some things just fit; Like, Cheese and pickle... JD' and coke... Carol Voderman and hard-ons...etc, etc, etc Hey, Somethings just work, you know!

Well, you can add 'Pochettino and Spurs' to what is a rather long list, because REGARDLESS of what happens in the remainder of the season, Tottenham Hotspur now have a manager who ticks ALL of the boxes in terms of what it takes to help guide this club to kind of success we all crave.

Tell me, when was the last time you heard a Spurs manager ONLY talk about getting 3 points (in every game), in spite of the opposition the team is facing?

When was the last time Spurs had a manager who ALWAYS speaks about improvements the team can make, even after victory?

And when was the last time, exactly, that Spurs had a manager who had a CLEARLY defined philosophy/ style of play, was able to implement it and was utterly RUTHLESS in doing so?

Because make no mistake about it, the players/team are benefiting IMMENSELY from all of these things.

People spoke a lot about signings in the summer, but for me, the best piece of business was signing Pochettino to a 5 and a half year deal!!!

Listen, Spurs have talented squads for the last 8-10 years. Some of which that on paper, could be argued, are maybe more accomplished than the one we currently find ourselves with.

But what the team/club has ALWAYS lacked, for me, is someone who can harness all of that ability, combine it with a strong team ethic and give the unit, as a whole, CLEAR direction.

Today was an SUPERB team display in which only 3/4 players were over the age of 26. Yes, Kane will get all the headlines after his goals/ recent form but the performances from the likes of Dier, Walker, Rose, Mason, Bentelab and Dembele should NOT go unnoticed.

Look, after a TEAM performance like that, it isn't really fair to go around singling anyone out, as everyone played their part.

I'm just going to conclude this post by stating that Pochettino is a winner, with a winners mentality. And, I think it is clear by the amount of times we have gone behind in games/ haven't been at our best (or scored late on) and yet still won, that the managers mentality is fast rubbing off on the entire squad.


If I decide to go away for a bit and you want to know where The Ram roams, you'll be sure to find me supporting Tottenham Hotspur, through the 'good' times...and the 'bad'!!!

BRING ON LIVERPOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Fantastic game, brilliant example of a team cohesion, but not the perfect performance.. we are still guilty of ball-watching in defence which leaves wide open spaces for the opposition to exploit and is painful to watch at times. Also Eriksen can't seem to take corners, but oddly enough Lamela rarely puts in a bad one!

 

Just a shame MP didnt recognise Kane's talent and ability fm day one! He woulda scored more AND we might've been 3 rd. Instead, he played ADE and Kabul. IMO both are finished!!!!

 

I think Kane needed that time in the EL to prove himself - and the confidence he got from doing so has definitely helped him. They play above themselves when they play together, and the manager makes them play together. Great stuff

 

Before the game I thought if we could keep Cazorla quiet, as he pulls all the strings, we would stand a chance. So it proved, but not after a fantastic all round team effort. Kane, Mason and Bentaleb stood out with there tireless effort. Poch is now starting to get this team to work , just like at southampton.They are certainly a lot fitter and now know their roles. I think Rose is still an issue and is loose cannon! Im glad we didnt chuck money away in the transfer window as this squad now are starting to gel and can only improve. We owe the scousers so lets hope another 3 points to cement top 4. Great performance today, which has bought some optimism back to the ever fickle spurs supporter!!! COYS!

 

Couldn't agree more Ramos,"cheese and pickle" are fantastic together. Think Harry Kane is proving alot of people wrong and i think we're all surprised how good he is ! But we can all cheer him on. Try a nice glass of red wine to celebrate with your cheese n pickle tonight. Lets hope we can produce a similar performance against Chelski in the Wembley Final. Coys

 

To be honest, not even I was able to foresee what Kane has achieved thus far this season. Yes, I knew he was a decent/good technical player, but my concerns about his game were centered around his mobility, and more importantly my belief that I did NOT see him as a natural finisher.

And as far as the latter is concerned, I STILL don't!!!

Listen, the kid CLEARLY has ability of that there can be no doubt. But up until now most if not all of his goals have been instinctive finishes more than great exhibits of composure.

Hey, this is NOT a criticism, but more of an considered observation. Confidence can take you a VERY long way in anything you attempt to do in life and Harry seems to have unlimited resources of the stuff, as things stand.

The kid has been unplayable at times this year and his performance against Chelsea was as good as anything I've seen in recent years in the Prem from a striker of his type.

But I am still waiting for that moment when he breaks an offside trap, has to run 30/40 yards, knowing that he has to beat a world-class goalkeeper.

It is only then that I will be able to really judge just how good this kid is/can be.

But make no mistake about, I would take him scoring instinctive goals all season if it means Spurs finishing in the top 4, and right now Kane looks like our very own £30m-£40m version of Diego Costa.

We should also bear in mind that this is his 1st season in the EPL, and that his 2nd one will , undoubtedly, be the acid test.

I was ALWAYS confident that Spurs could do well with this squad, providing we had a manager that was able to get the best out of his players, and so it is proving to be the case.

Because whilst other teams appear to be feeling a touch of fatigue in their legs, Spurs seem to be getting stronger in every aspect.

No, the team is still NOT the finished article but give Poch time and support, and it won't be too long before we start allowing ourselves to believe we are.

Jan Vertonghen has been disappointing, for me, in recent months after a bright start this season. His CONTINUOUS knack of NEEDLESSLY diving into tackles when he would be better served staying on his feet has left the team painfully exposed at times in games against:

• Leicester away (could easily have conceded a pen).
• West Brom away (Yakubu on the halfway line...led to Lloris being seriously called into action).

• Sheff Utd away (Led to their 2nd goal after being caught square and off-balance)

• And Arsenal home ( watch the build-up to their goal. Jan dives in for a tackle on Giroud on the halfway-line, misses it and Arsenal were able exploit the space he left behind by playing the ball back in to an unmarked Giroud, again, to hit the shot that led to the goal)

And bear in mind these are just the ones that I observed recently, and instantly spring to mind, but I am SURE there have been at least a few more.

Oh, what about the (stupid) foul that led to the Larsson FK against us at home.

The worrying thing is the guy doesn't seem to be learning, no matter how many times I try to 'encourage' him to do so on twitter.

Listen, I get that he is a front foot, pro active defender. I even like it. But as a defender you MUST understand that you cannot win every ball!!! Yet you can always make it difficult for an attacker by forcing him to make a decision/choice he doesn't necessarily want to make with your positioning, etc. I mean it's schoolboy stuff, it really is!

Getting bk to the team though and I don't for one second believe that Spurs have mastered the high press just yet. But what we are seeing is improvements.

The lads were INCREDIBLE today though. Winning EVERY 2nd ball and most of the 50/50's, their wasn't a player on the field that didn't look like they were totally driven to win the game. The team did us, the club and all the coaching staff proud, tonight and served up a treat consisting of committed, controlled and classy football.

WE SHALL SLEEP WELL...COYS

Like I have said before...It's an exciting time to be a Spurs supporter.

 

Great post Ramos. Always good to hear your point of view, always interesting when you throw your pennies worth in ! Spurs are playing with passion and verve again and its great to see. Coys

 

We bullied the Scum in every department today, there was no way we were leaving the pitch without the 3 points we deserved.
If this is the way we are going to play from now on with all playing for each other, the manager and the shirt then good times are ahead.
A run of consistency at that level is what's needed and I'm glad we've got Liverpool and Wet Sham coming up because theyre games we have to rise to the occasion for and should now be entering fearless and with some revenge in mind.

 

Oh, and Steve, my friend, just to let you know before I forget (again) that the red wine you recommended to accompany the cheese and pickle (crackers...I was out of bread) went down a treat!

Really enjoying seeing Dembele play as a no10, at the moment. Granted he didn't he the best of 1st half's today (although he was by no means bad) and he could REALLY benefit from the confidence a goal or two would bring, he is so effective at:

• thickening up the midfield defensively with his tenacious style and excellent work-rate.
• attracting the attentions of a number of his opponents with his drive and dribbling ability, thus freeing up space for his fellow teammates.
• And maintaining (good) possession (in advanced areas of the field) for the team against teams which attempt to deploy a high-press or simply try to restrict our space.

I could go on, but I won't.

Listen, anyone who has read my old posts will tell you I am a HUGE Dembele fan, and I will not deny that. But before being a fan of anything to do with football, I am a football man who studies the game intently at every opportunity...Especially, the games that involve THFC.

I can remember Ryan Mason getting injured against Chelsea in the 5-3 win at the Lane, and me turning to the person I was watching the game with and telling them that was the best thing that could've happened to Spurs as Dembele is the kind of (world-class) talent who could have both Matic and Fabregas chasing shadow...and guess what he did.

The ONLY thing stopping Moussa from being a world-class player is his mentality. Too laid back, the Belgian can often become complacent in his game, especially against the weaker sides in the EPL.

And yet just like any player confidence is a big thing, and if the Belgian can grab a goal in the next game or two, I think we will see an even scarier monster (of a player).

It's been no surprise to me that Dembele has kept his place since that Chelsea match, and Spurs' have looked all the better for it.

I think he will be an ABSOLUTELY crucial factor in Spurs winning the game up at Anfield on Tuesday, and I imagine he will revel, should he play, in the additional space he will get playing on that large surface.

 

My problem with Dembele is he looks utterly clueless going forward with nobody in front of him - it showed yesterday when he was on the edge of the box and with nobody to play a short pass to, he waited and waited and ended up losing possession

 

I think that, like every player, confidence definitely plays a part in the way Dembele approaches each game.

A byproduct of a lack of self-confidence/belief is sometimes a desire NOT to take as much responsibility as perhaps you would otherwise.

I am sure Moussa is aware or his goalscoring record at Spurs, and I have no doubt he will be desperate to improve it. But when you don't score for so long perhaps it is perfectly plausible to begin to question your own ability in front of goal.

To be honest, I can think of a few reason as to why MD is shying away from the headline -making moments, but I won't go into them all right now.

What I will say, though, is that the Belgian was EXCELLENT in the game on the weekend and played a HUGE part in the way Spurs were able to take complete control of proceedings.

I AGREE there were moments that he had me screaming at the tv for him to take more responsibility in the final third, but as I say I believe their are reasons for this, most of which (MAINLY, but not all) boarder around confidence.

Like I say, give him a couple of goals in quick succession. Give him that sense that he can be the matchwinner and main protagonist within the teams set-up. Allow him the chance to hear the fans acclaim, and feel as if his performances in the attacking third will have a great bearing on the clubs fortunes towards the end of the campaign, and I have no doubt we will see a completely different animal in the coming weeks.

The guy is a class act, who has the potential to be anything he (really) wants. I suppose the only questions now become: How much does he REALLY want to fulfill his potential? And what is he willing to risk in order to do so?

 

Hi Chaps. Magnificent win. Anyone know where I can see the game again? ( I would buy the DVD ).
Cheers
TSG