PLAYER RATINGS: Tottenham 4:0 QPR

Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs finally hit top-gear at the expense of QPR on Harry Redknapp’s return to The Lane.

The ruthlessly efficient front 4 of Lamela, Eriksen, Chadli and Adebayor made light work of Ranger’s flimsy back 5 and it was the latter duo who combined to break the deadlock midway through the first half.

Erik Lamela then turned provider as young sensation Eric Dier made history becoming the first Premier League defender to score in his first 2 league games, powering home from the Argentine’s corner.

The game was over before half time as Chadli headed home after yet more amazing work from Lamela, before the unlikely figure of Danny Rose provided the assist for Emmanuel Adebayor’s deserved second half strike.

PLAYER RATINGS
Hugo Lloris - 7 – An impossible rating for the Frenchman who had so little to do thanks to his solid protection. Was always an out-ball and fantastically accurate with distribution.

Danny Rose - 8 – Ben who?! Rose had an outstanding game at the back as well as charging forward, claiming an assist as well as the clean sheet. The QPR wing-backs proved no match for our width, with the inverted wingers allowing Rose and Dier room to roam.

Jan Vertonghen - 7 – Surely the most skilful centre-half in the league, showing ridiculous composure at times. The pace might not be there but Loic Remy stood no chance for our ball-playing defender.

Younes Kaboul - 7 – Owned anything over head-height as usual. Rangers’ game plan was always to expose our lack of pace at the back but Kaboul didn’t let him cause trouble at all.

Eric Dier - 8 – My joint man of the match having played with the maturity of an experienced defender and grabbed a history-making goal to top it off. Two goals in two games and two clean sheets for £4million Dier, can we ask for more? His header was an absolute bullet and he has settled at right back quickly.

Etienne Capoue - 8 – Sat back and allowed the beauty to unfold ahead of him, mopping up the scraps and winning everything. Outnumbered against Barton, Mutch and Fer, but never once showed it. Miles ahead of Sandro in the pecking order who looks Napoli bound.

Nabil Bentaleb - 7 – Goes under the radar but does his job brilliantly. A step up in creativity from Capoue, eying some great passes. Him and his midfield partner simply had to feed the ball into the front 4 and let them do their work today.

Erik Lamela - 8 – What a performance from Lamela, who finally showed the rest of the league what he is made of. We saw glimpses in pre-season but today he did it at the highest level, and made Rangers pay. Two assists coupled with his two in midweek, including his spectacular run and cross for Chadli’s second.

Christian Eriksen - 7 – Another member of the magic three, interchanging with Chadli and Lamela perfectly. Would have loved a goal from the Denmark international, and his 30-yard free-kick was the closest he came – rattling the crossbar.

Nacer Chadli - 8 – Two great goals from Chadli who caused meltdown when he was announced as a starter ahead of Andros Townsend. Superbly lobbed Rob Green for the opener and powered home Lamela’s high cross not long after. Should cement his place on the wing should he play like that more often, dropping inside to support Ade.

Emmanuel Adebayor - 8 – Hearty performance from the Togo man who deservedly got himself on the scoresheet. Full of running and swung in an excellent cross for Nacer’s opener.

SUBS

Mousa Dembele - 7 – A solid showing from the Belgian who replaced Bentaleb not long after half time. Showed his ability further back on the field and did his job in setting off counters.

Harry Kane - 6 – Deserved an appearance after his performance against Limassol in midweek, and got on Adebayor’s shoulder playing mainly on the left.

Roberto Soldado - N/a – Didn’t see much from Bobby but might have to get used to a cameo role for the next few games.

Although it is important to not get carried away with the performance – after all QPR were relatively lackadaisical in their defence – we can rejoice in Pochettino’s free-flowing style for now.

The front 4 we showed today can be linked to the Southampton side boasting Lambert, Lallana, Rodriguez and Davis etc. that Poch deployed last season, and it looked fantastic.

More of the same please.

COYS

 

It was a truly brilliant performance. The passing and movement f me were exceptional and, as you rightly say, although the opposition was poor, we played attacking football at pace and with flair.
I thought Chadli was superb today and Lamela had a corker.

 

True it's only QPR, but that is two impressive shows in the bag. Last week, we expected them to dig in and save the point when Naughton was sent off, but that appears not to be good enough for Poch, and I am not complaining.

Just watched the Sun-v-Utd game, and I can't believe the bookies have Utd ahead of us in the betting. They looked like the way we played under George Graham.

 

Hard to pick a MOTM, everyone had a good game, for me special mentions for Dier, talk about composure and again, what a goal. in such an inflated market this kid is already the steal of the season if not the century. Jan was superb and controlled the back, and Danny Rose played the best game of his life at Spurs and might be hard to move. Capoue was again rock solid, something like 130 touches of the ball, Benteleb was also very good but did give the ball away too often but still very effective as a pairing, this looks like Poch's preffered CMs I thought that Dembele looked a bit lost out there. Eriksen looked a bit lacking in confidence to start but grew into the game and looks like getting back to his best, great free kick, unlucky. Chaldi, I had no problem before the game leaving out Lennon for Chaldi and he didn't let down, he needs to keep it up. and Lamela, hard to pick a MOTM but for me he is it. He's fast and fit and firing, finally we get to see the Erik Lamela weve been waiting for, pace, vision and creativity and surprisingly strong in the tackle. Bring on the pool..