Spurs thump man United


Spurs thump man United




Mauricio Pochettino wore all black to Mourinho’s funeral last night as Spurs thumped Manchester United in the second half after being lucky to go into half-time 0-0.

Had Lukaku scored an open goal after a horrendous Danny Rose back pass then the game may well have been different. Mourinho sides usually shut up shop when they have scored one.

Hugo Lloris' arrest last week for drink driving came after a dinner with Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny and manager Mauricio Pochettino was "very, very angry" according to L'Équipe. 

The speculation whether he would play was plain daft, an editor doesn't stop publishing a journalist's pieces because of a drink-driving charge, why on earth should Lloris not play?

He did play and make a significant contribution with some excellent saves and a good all-round display that went unnoticed by many a fan on Twitter.

The Spurs motto is "Audere est Facere", which means "To Dare is To Do" and perhaps some Spurs fans should dare to support the side instead of slagging us off because the club isn't run to their failure recipe.

I have dared to dream (pre-season article) that we will finish second this season, behind Manchester City and ahead of Liverpool with Manchester United finishing 4th, Chelsea 5th and Arsenal 6th,
will be daring to dream that this could just be their year.

Nothing I saw last night leads me to change that opinion, yes we need to tighten up defensively, but we are not fully fit yet, some players have only had 3 weeks training so mentally as well as physically they are not sharp.

We finished third in 2015-16, second in 2016-17 and third in 2017-18. Can Tottenham be genuine title challengers this season? Maximum points after three games, two away and one at home, one of the top six rivals defeated.

I keep saying, since I suggested this path in April 2013, keep a young side together and they will grow together, they will learn the system better. The start to this season is evidence that you do not always have to spend big.

Net spends since June 2016:
Mourinho - £310m 
Chelsea - £145m 
Klopp - £108m 
Pochettino - £42m

Spurs started the day down in sixth, we ended it second as we joined Liverpool, Chelsea and Watford with three wins from their first three league games of the season.

If Harry Kane had slotted home his header at the back post or Dele Alli taken one of his chances or Lucas Moura put Dele through or Dele going down for a clear penalty, then that additional goal would have taken Mauricio Pochettino and the team to the top.

It was Harry Kane who opened the scoring with a guided header and he has now scored at 25 of the 28 grounds in which he has played in the Premier League. The exceptions being the Boleyn Ground (West Ham United), the Stadium of Light (Sunderland) and Cardiff City Stadium.

Lucas Moura grabbed himself a couple and the Brazilian has been directly involved in eight goals in his eight starts since joining Tottenham (4 goals and 4 assists).

Moura told Sky Sports after the game:

"I said before the game we are able to win. I did very well tonight, I am so proud of my team-mates. I cannot explain what I'm feeling in this minute.

"I came to Spurs to win because I believe in the project, the club and the players. If we play like this every game I know it's difficult but we are able to win the Premier League and that's why I am here.

"We are here - step by step to work hard. We will keep on working and let's see what happens."

His pace alongside Kane gives us something extra. He drives at defenders and teams cannot leave themselves exposed at the back. 

Players have to keep an eye on him and be wary of his pace even when he isn't doing anything. That frees up space for Christian Eriksen to operate and Nemanja Matić couldn't handle him.

He spent his time last season learning to prepare for this season, which is why I saw him as a new signing this summer without signing anyone.

He, Winks coming back from injury is another like a new signing, the emergence of Luke Amoss, the retaining of Mousa Dembele has allowed Mousa Sissoko to leave on loan for a season with Turkish side Fenerbache.

By the way, his departure frees up a non-homegrown place in our UEFA Champions League squad, so we can now name Erik Lamela in it after we had to omit his name from the group stages last season, although he was also recovering from injury.Juan Foyth had to be left out of the squad too.

Mention should go to Kieran Trippier again. He scored the winner last week and this week he came up with an assist. It was his corner that Kane headed home.

The England international has provided six Premier League assists for Harry Kane since the start of last season, which is more than any other Spurs player.

Trippier was substituted after 75 minutes after Marouane Fellaini had trodden on his foot. Let's hope it is nothing serious and that he hasn't broken a bone in his foot.

His game until then was:
 • Most touches (64) • Most aerial-duels won (4) • Most chances created (3) • Second-most passes (44)

Danny Rose was turned into an England international when his performances were worse than Serge Aurier last season. Kyle Walker was turned into a £50m player, another with constant errors. Kieran Trippier has been turned into an England international and Ben Davies is looking for more solid than when he first arrived.

Why not give Pochettino time to develop Serge Aurier instead of getting on the guys back? Just a thought.

Spurs fans are raving over Toby Alderweireld, seeming forgetting or not realising his positional errors that meant he had to make last-ditch interceptions to prevent United scoring. He had a very good game, but there was clear room for improvement.

Jan Vertonghen went about his business quietly and kept Romelu Lukaku in his pocket all night. He had one chance from that terrible Danny Rose back-pass and one header when drifting into Toby territory in the first half.

Incidentally, I'll repeat that all the talk of Danny Rose leaving for France is in my opinion nonsense. He is a homegrown player and his departure would once again reduce the number on non-homegrown players we could name in the Champions League. For that reason alone I do not see him being allowed to leave this summer.

I'd have been happy to swap him for Luke Shaw in the summer. Rose was nowhere near his old form so there is plenty of mental work to be done.

On 30 August 2013, Tottenham Hotspurs snapped up Ajax attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen for £11.5 million (€13.5m). I'll just let that sink in. The Twitter idiots have all been spouting the Eriksen to PSG rubbish. The French club have now explained they are not interested in him.

Sorry, but a journalist worth his salt ought to know PSG are looking to sell players to conform to Financial Fair Play, they simply can't afford a £100m player right now. Like I keep saying, if you look at things with logic and common sense the answers are there, not to today's journalists it seems.

Some say he had a quiet night but it was his run and cross to Lucas Moura for our second goal that all but sealed the game.

dele Alli was superb,as was Mousa Dembele, one could mention all the Spurs players, so I'll throw in a mention for Eric Dier before going off to Mauricio Pochettino and the TV interviews.

Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino was delighted with the win, congratulated all the players individually and the fans. He spoke to Sky Sports after the game in his usual open and honest style.

"It is a massive, massive victory. It can provide us very good confidence and trust with how we are working. We know the end of the season is too far away, we need to keep pushing, trying to be consistent. Let's keep calm and working hard is the most important thing.

"They were better than us in the first half. Second half we had the possibility to score and we dominated the game. I am so happy because 3-0 in the second half it is like the coaching staff have an effect, but the credit goes to the players. We have our philosophy and we try to respect that, but the credit goes to the players because they believe.

"We'll see what happens with the title challenge. The most important thing is to keep calm. If at the end of the season with 10 games to go and we are in a good position then we have already shown we can fight.

"We have good players and good staff, unbelievable fans. We are going to have one of the better stadiums. The club is working so hard and trying to deliver that as soon as possible."

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 live the Tottenham manager reiterated some points he made to Sky Sports and added to them.

"It is a massive victory for us and I am very proud of the performance. It is difficult to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. They were better in the first half but we dominated from then on, and the clean sheet was a bonus.

"It is only the start of the season and we need to be consistent. We need to be realistic but want to keep pushing and building our fitness. A lot of our players have only had three weeks training but we want to build something special.

"This is my fifth year and I have good relationship with my players. We have shared a lot of things over that time and the appreciation is normal. We are in a very important period for our club with the new stadium and everyone is showing a big commitment."


COYS