Thoughts on what I saw against Brentford

Well, my thoughts on the captaincy seemed to very much align with Ange Postecoglou, with James Maddison and Cristian Romero as vice-captains.

I thought Maddison was directing things from the start and looked every inch a captain and indeed he was wearing the armband in his competitive debut.

We'll see how Romero takes to the role when he has an opportunioty but Maddison looks a captain in waiting.

Right, onto the game.

Vicario: he put in a performance, making his competitive debut, that was on a different level to anything we had seen in pre-season and started to show signs of why we signerd him. That starts to allay the fears and doubts about the position.

The issue I had, and I have this with all goalkeepers, is with penalties. Let's look at this specific penalty and the manner in which it was taken. Because he jumped higher in the air on his last stride waiting for the goalkeeper to move, he limits his options, power is out of the equation and that gives longer reaction time. Placement is therefore everything and he only has to real options with this technique, either corner of the net.

Down the middle isn't an option because the keeper, aeeing the style, shouldn't move too early, thus cutting off that option.

Everything, therefore, depends on two things, a keeper not moving early and the takers landing foot. A keeper should determine which way they are going to go by the position of the standing foot. Which way do the toes point?

It is probably directly forward, which generally means they will go to the 'natural' side. For a right-footer that means into the left-hand corner of the goal as we look at the goal ot for a left-footer, like yesterday, into the right-hand corner, which is where Vicario went.

I thought he went a fraction too early, making it easy for the striker to place it the other way. Forcing the striker to choose and then reacting, even if you give yourself less time, gives yourself a greater chance of saving a penalty to the keeper right, from a left-footer, because he has to use less power.

The other way, while more powerful, still isn't a powerful penalty and anything but a perfect penalty gives you a chance that way too.

Udogie, another making his competitive debut looks a quality player and left-back in in good hands when he is fit. His pace is an asset and he is very comfortable on the ball and going forward, looks composed too.

Micky Van de Ven: The next Jan Vertonghen. With hardly any training sessions and not fit he slotted straight in and looked at home in the Premier League. He looks to be an outstanding piece of business and a 'cheap option' too!

Romero: We know all about him but we still have to wait and see if the vice-captaincy responsibility brings out something more in him.

Sanchez: Had one of his better games, back on the right side of defence instead of the left. The reservations remain and so I do hope we can move him on and bring in a replacement. The issue he and Emerson had the whole game was the ball over the top. One long pass and they were both taken out of the game

Emerson: I have documented my concerns and I saw some of the same issues yesterday, even though he did take his chance very well and secured us a point. In the long run, I think we'll need to upgrade the right-back area to more of an Udogie standard. See the comments above.

Bissouma: Had his best game in a Spurs shirt by a country mile and started to show why we bought him at last. A totally different player in this system than a Conte system, which will be the same for many players.

This is one reason why you can't totally judge a player by last seasons, or indeed the last few years' performances. The only thing that matters is how they perform in this system.

Skipp: He must be loving this new lease of life, let off the leash from diving into tackles in front of the defence. The player that everyone believes is in there has the opportunity to come out and cement his place for years to come. Very important give he is club-trained, association-trained and homegrown. This benefits us in domestic and European competition.

Maddison: The article I wrote on Maddison, comparing him to Bruno Fernandez was born out in his performance. He is top class and at £40m is an absolute bargain. An excellent 'cheap option' buy that Conte didn't want and that didn't fit the Mourinho system either. A manager in Postecoglou that wants him, a club that wants him and a system that wants him.

That performance emphasized he is a leader and totally backs up my scouting report on him.

The front 3, I have concerns with the front 3. 

Son: He isn't a wide left-winger ans we want our wingers to stay wide, providing the width with the full-backs coming into the inside channels and acting like midfielders. Sonny in that position isn't a goal threat and clearly, he has goals in him. Yes he has scored them from there in the past, but he hasn't been required to stay wide before.

This is, in effect, a new role and one that potentially turns him into a provider more than a scorer and I think we need it the other way around. I think he is a centre-forward in this system.

The one big chance he had on his left-foot, I thought called for power but instead, he went more for placement at the near post and was easily saved.

Almost forgot the penalty, clearly caught his left-foot with a silly challenge inside the box. Try and block fine but it's too risky to try and tap the ball with the trailing leg and rightly a penalty. 

My issue is that he caught his left foot, which hw deliberately didn't put on the ground before deliberately falling over as any player would, BUT, he then rolled around clutching his right leg, the wrong leg!

Richarlison: He might be a centre-forward for Brazil, he might score goals for them, but he bever looks like scoring for us. Nobody doubts his work rate, his passion, his effort, but, in those vital key moments, he is found wanting for me.

He smacks of not being a natural goalscorer. What am I talking about? Well in the last 3 games there have been split-second chances where he has taken the wrong option. Twice this was an opportunity to, first-time, shoot with his left but he has instead controlled the ball and then tried to shoot and the chance is gone, the defender is then in the way.

It is the difference between a natural goalscorer and a goalscorer, it is that1% difference that makes all the difference. It's mental, it's in the head, it is instinct as opposed to the longer thinking process and then a second thought process of what am I going to do now.

A snap shot with the left takes less time than controlling and trying to shoot with the right, too long. Why do players today have to set the ball up so much. You see them given a pass and they roll it forward with the underside of their foot to get it into a position to cross.

Why noy just cross it without this extra touch, as per Kevin de Bruyne. I see so many opportunities lost because a player has to set the ball up perfectly rather than adjusting themselves while the ball is on the way.

Anyway, the bottom line is we need to bring in a striker in my view. Whether that is this window or next summer, we'll have to see how Richy develops and whether this is still a confidence issue, which it could be.

He has yet to convince me that he is the answer in the long run and as a coach, I'd be expecting him to show me more in that area and scouting that's one of the hings I'd be looking for, instinct.

Kulusevski: I like him, had many a good game in a Spurs shirt, yes he lacks the pace but he is skillful, couldn't manufacture himself a shooting chance but put in his usual decent effort without creating too much.

A question for you to ponder, how many shots did our front three have between them?

Kulusevski has none on target, Richarlison has 1 on target and Son had one on target, 7 shots between them.

Overall I'm happy with the first performance, a draw against a side who only lost twice at home last season and we controlled large parts of the game, while still learning and adapting to a new system/

The signs are positive, each player has to develop and adapt to the new system so definitive decisions can't be made yet, but the game certainly produced areas to work on, not least how we are going to defend that ball over the top.

Bye for now.

COYS