none of you.
The animals
of Tottenham Hotspur ran over the visiting Watford to record another Premier League victory to move up to second in the league.
There’s a new one off setting in the premier League fantasy game where you can go all out attack, you end up with just two defenders and all your midfielders and forwards playing, Mauricio Pochettino pretty much pressed the button for this option against Watford.
He’d gone for a back three in the away game with the opposition playing two strikers, here they only fielded the one in the starting line up, so on paper both teams lined up in the same formation. But as the home side started their surge forward an on paper 4-2-3-1 became more an old school 2-3-5.
Toby and Wimmer hung back, a bit, well sometimes, while Dier swept up in front of them while the rest just bombed forward, no more so than the wingers, Davies and Trippier. Yes to most that would be a pair of fullbacks but not here.
Most of the best chances were coming from Davies’s charges into the box and in true Spurs fashion most of the chances were being kept out by a ‘keeper making his return to White Hart Lane. Welcome back Heurelho Gomes. You just know he would have thrown a couple of those into his own net if he had the chicken badge on his shirt.
Though he couldn’t help himself in his desire to be the real Heurelho Gomes, when he needlessly came out and took out Kane. First heading Kane’s leg and then grabbing his foot. It was a stone wall penalty and again would have been if he’d been on the other team, here however another abject failure by officialdom and nothing given.
But while Watford weren’t in it there was something missing from Spurs, some spark, while they went through the same old routine of having the ball but not putting teams away.
That spark came just after the hour. Cometh the hour, cometh the 19 year old kid. Dele Alli had missed out on a starting place after his dizzy spell in the previous, man of the match, game.
Within minutes of his arrival the opening goal came. Typical surging, gliding, run from Dembele, who again controlled things, onto Alli on the left wing, his outside of the foot cross curled across the face of goal until it reached Trippier – who John Motson obviously thinks comes from France rather than Bury with that pronunciation – who had charged pretty much the full length of the park to knock in his first goal for the club.
Much like an assist last week was well deserved for the lad so was this goal. He provides a great attacking outlet and some excellent crosses that more should be done with. Defensively he’s not the greatest ever, but he’s no worse than Walker and his lack of dithering makes a better player overall.
There was more chances to finish the game off but the usual nerviness was there but Watford’s only real chance of the afternoon was easily snuffed out by a combination of Wimmer and Dier.
Another win, another clean sheet, another increase in that goal difference, which is becoming like an extra point but we’re still not allowed to talk about it…