but it could have been worse.
After the first game in the league, could you imagine the chatter there would have been if Spurs hadn’t finished off second division Charlton, the 5-1 scoreline helped as well.
It could have gone bad, the first half had that typical Spurs ponderous struggle look about it. All the ball but no end product, lot of sideways and backwards passing and the wrong ball played when they finally got into dangerous areas.
41 minutes saw a change. For once Bentancur passed the ball forward – see he can do it but far too often he receives, or wins, the ball in the opposition half only for it to be at the feet of the Spurs centrebacks, in their own half, one pass later. The ball was to Moore who was more decisive with his cut inside and shot, than he had been when previously in possession. Banged his shot straight through the keeper.
The link up between Moore and Gray was there but not quite there. Gray was overlapping and with the right ball it would have worked a treat. On the other side it wasn’t working. Udogie has to understand overlapping because Tel cuts in all the time, if Udogie does it as well, then Robertson should see a lot more game time and we might miss Spence more than some might think. Doesn’t help that Tel is still quite clueless with his final ball.
Also clueless is Solanke – and people still think he’s going to be the saviour – well, he swung his boot at a ball that luckily came to him, he was of course nowhere near the ball or the action, just before the break to double the lead.
The main standout in the midfield was new boy Mateus Fernandes, his passing percentage may have been lower than the rest but for the most part that’s because he was trying to get the ball forward, starting moves, trying to prize open the Charlton defence. Something this Spurs team desperately need.
His set pieces also seemed to be an upgrade and it was from a free-kick that Danso scored the third, with his first touch. He’d come on with Porro and van de Ven for their first outing of the season.
Five minutes later and the then newest new boy made his bow. Apparently it’s not Savinho any more it’s Savio. It took him ten minutes to make an impact, cutting inside and banging in a shot. They’re all desperate for him to do that but unlike De Zerbi a winger doesn’t show his worth by the amount of goals but by the amount he creates for others. He did go forward though, forward with pace. He linked up well with Porro.
He would have had a second a few minutes later but for a deflection off Ben Davies, after a bit of back and forth in the box.
Just time for them to concede a consolation from a corner.
It was second division Charlton, who have only beaten the likes of Wet Spam, but it as said it could have been one of those real struggles Spurs put in, in these types of games, especially after the opening game struggle. So goals and new boys is something to be happy about, we’ll just have to see what he picks at the weekend…