Happy Spurs are misread by former players

Hello once again to Tottenham Table Toppers Talk with Tottenham Hotspur Blog News (THBN), the blog with more thought-provoking articles than any other Lilywhites blog.

Tottenham being top of the Premier League just demonstrates the situation at the North London club was far better than 'limited' journalists and fans could see.

The blind writing for the blind.

Son, 8 goals in 7 games playing central, he isn't a replacement for Harry Kane has been a consistent noise from these same intelligent fans for years. 

You have to laugh.

Here, we looked at the bigger picture, top 4 quality players playing below their ability through an unhappy mentality.

Put that right and you put the team right and give yourself a base to build from. yet others thought that was the level of the players, utterly ridiculous thinking.

Spurs have gone 5 points clear at the top of the English Premier League (EPL) for the first ever time in this era after beating a Crystal Palace side managed by Roy Hodgson taking charge of a side for his 500th Premier League game.

Roy Hodgson, the oldest manager in the top five European leagues is Palace born and bred and was a youth player at the club.

Tottenham have started the 5th successive season with a new manager.

In Premier League history, prior to this season, Tottenham have been top of the league for a total of 72 days.

This season, it's been 19 days (19 of the last 21).

Vicario made a decent save early on and has yet to be on the losing side for Tottenham.

FACT: Maddison has been involved in a goal in every away game.

Why wasn't Hughes booked for raking his studs down Van de Ven's Achilles heel after 10 minutes?

A clear and obvious yellow card that he couldn't complain about.

In this day and age of no-contact football (compared with the proper football of my day) you have to stamp this out early, preventing that player from yellow card offenses for the rest of the game.

Liverpool, for instance, are a side who prey on this leniency early on, as they did against us.

Joel Ward committed the same foul after 13 minutes on James Maddison, again, no yellow card.

Both players knew they were in the wrong as both players were immediately apologising.

Why did Bissouma take the free-kick when Maddison is a specialist?

How many free-kicks on a Saturday or Sunday morning do you see blasted over the bar by 20 yards in your local park?

Madders couldn't get over the ball after a brilliant Richarlison header at the far post from a Kulusevski cross, so Palace had a let-off.

Palace continued to commit foul after foul, particularly on Van de Ven.

FACT: Spurs have not conceded a goal from a corner this season.

Spurs last goal attempt in the first-half was after 20 minutes, despite 71% possession.

This was the first time this season that Ange Postecoglou's team had failed to have a first-half shot on target.

You expect things to be tight at Palace, they usually are so no surprise Tottenham had only 10 touches in the Palace penalty area in the first 45 minutes, the fewest this season by us.

Palace had more shots in the first-half than any side against Spurs this season, although more shots have been recorded in Spurs games this season than any other side.

Manchester United, Sheffield United and Luton Town were the other three games where the score has been 0-0 after the first period this campaign. We have converted all of those into victories.

Emmerson Royal came on to start the second half in place of Ben Davies who had a slight twinge.

We secured our first corner after 50 minutes and played a short one straight to a Crystal Palace player which resulted in them getting a throw-in. 

Not our finest corner routine!

Seven minutes from half-time, after Maddison had [resseed the Palace goalkeeper Sam Johnstone, our resulting attack saw our number 10 volley a shot wide )or was it a cross across the six-yead box) only to be turned into his own net by the Eagles captain Joel Ward.

0-1 to the Spurs.

A Bissouma error immediately gave Palace a corner that resulted in a free header around six yards out that Marc Guéhi headed well wide of the far post.

He needs to be more aware in those situations just outside our penalty box, although you could argue Romero shouldn't have played it to him.

Having just gone 0-1 up, surely that was the time to take some time and delay play. We weren't canny enough.

The ball was played to him from a short free-kick at it needed a first-time pass to Micky Van de Ven which Bissouma, facing goal, didn't make. 

Up the other end on 59 minutes, Maddison attempted a cross which was cleared, but Spurs' intent was shown with 4 men in the area rushing to get on the end of it, a far cry from last season's approach and one reason why we look a better side in a new system.

The Palace substitute came on and the very first thing he did was commit a foul, that tells you all you need to know about the Crystal Palace approach, foul after foul after foul to stop play.

Old-school Hodgson has not made more than three substitutions in any game this season prior to this game, he made the full five eventually though (77 mins).

Spurs brought on Johnson and Højbjerg with 28 minutes left for Richarlison and Bissouma.

The first thing Højbjerg did was recover a situation, regain the ball that could have been lost and play it to a Spurs player, slightly different from the Crystal Palace approach!

Palace fans didn't like Vicario and Romero continually passing the ball to each other to try and draw the entrenched Palace players forward out of their shape.

They soon had more to boo about.

Brennan Johnson heads the ball intelligently forward with his first touch. Sarr plays a long diagonal, Johnson heads on into the path of Maddison, who plays a beautiful outside-of-the-boot flick inside for the on-rushing Johnson to turn it back and Sonny left-footed it into the net.

0-2 after 66 minutes.

Two goals in 13 minutes and Son's 6th away goal this season, more than anyone else in the Premier League..

Palace put three past Wolves in early September but hadn't scored in any other home game so things were looking good for Spurs with Sonny then urging his team on as we waited for the re-start.

Only Manchester City and Arsenal had won at Crystal Palace in 2023

After 82 minutes after good work down the right and excellent play by Emerson , he dinked a cross to the far post for Johnson who headed it back when perhaps he should have scored himself.

88 minutes: Maddison off, Gil on for his first minutes this season and Kulusevski off, Bentancur on also for his first minutes of the season after his ACL injury back in February.

Johnson moved over to the right wing leaving the left side to the left-footed Bryan Gil.

Vicario at every opportunity was urging his defenders to concentrate put Porro completely missed a high ball to present Ayew with an easy goal with 4 minutes of the 7 minutes of injury-time left.

It just shows what one lapse of concentration can do, disappointing.

It did seem to hit his arm to help control the ball but as usual with VAR, it went against Spurs. The law says the goal must be disallowed.

You can shout Liverpool, I'll shout Brentford and Arsenal.

Maddison was clearly remonstrating this to the 4th official.

The referee, because it wouldn't affect the game, somehow managed to book three players in the final minute of added time!

The ref then added on 2 more minutes for the VAR incorrect decision delay.

Highest possession this season, lowest number of shots, lowest number of shots on target, a typical game at Palace where they don't concede many goals.

Some brilliant Ange after the game to journalists who have this daft notion that players think about winning the tile after 10 games because they do.

Players, people in football don't think like journalists and fans do it was brilliant of Postecoglou to inform the journalist that if you have players doing that now, you have the wrong players.

It will have gone in one ear and out the other no doubt.

It seems to be almost the only question he gets asked and even when it's answered they simply ask the same thing in a different form.

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