Tottenham - Dull & Inspired

Tottenham Hotspur defender Jan Vertonghen (CC BY 2.0) by Ben Sutherland

But for below-par performances against the Merseyside duo of Everton and Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur would be facing Manchester City this weekend, level on points albeit with an inferior goal difference.

Having tailed off so badly at the end of last season, few expected Tottenham to recover this quickly and to be sitting second in the Premier League table. And to be honest, they haven’t always played particularly well either, with the North London side currently at 18/1 to win this year's EPL according to the current football odds.

It was a mixed summer at White Hart Lane. The early signings of Victor Wanyama and Vincent Janssen suggested the board were backing Mauricio Pochettino to the hilt; last season wasn’t going to be a one-off, this time Tottenham wanted to remain title challengers.

Then nothing until deadline day when Moussa Sissoko arrived from Newcastle United and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou from Marseille. By this time, four points had been dropped already and murmurings of discontent could be heard. The opening three games of this season were definitely a hangover from the last.

2016 – 17 has been a most ‘un – Tottenham’ like campaign. This is a club with a reputation for enterprising and attacking football, accompanied by more than a little defensive sloppiness. The attacking verve has been largely missing so far but then so have the defensive frailties, bar the Everton and Monaco matches.

How have they risen so high if it has been so dull? The answer is mental strength. On the opening day, Tottenham were abysmal in the first half and could have had few complaints had they been trailing to Everton by more than a single goal. The second forty-five minutes was the polar opposite. Spurs were inspired and were disappointed to leave Goodison Park with a point. A whole season encapsulated in one game.

A key criticism last season was the over-reliance on Harry Kane. Tottenham scored 69 goals with Kane grabbing 25 of them. He didn’t score until the seventh game of 2015/16 and Spurs won just two of the opening six matches. Tellingly, when Kane didn’t score, Tottenham only managed more than one goal in a game on three occasions in the Premier League.

Mauricio Pochettino recognised the problem and signing Janssen was part of the solution but the pattern has been repeating this season. Kane didn’t break his season’s duck until the 4 – 0 win at Stoke City, the first time Spurs had netted more than once. Following that with the winner against Sunderland seemed to signal a rediscovery of his form after a disheartening and abysmal Euro 2016.

Leaving the pitch on a stretcher was the Paxton Road’s worst fears coming true. A prognosis of six to eight weeks absence is tempered by the imminent international break taking up a third of that time. Hope that the problem has been solved comes with the brace from Son Heung-min at Middlesbrough with the club having put five past Gillingham in the EFL Cup the preceding midweek.

Much of their hopes will depend on how well they cope with Kane’s absence. They haven’t fired on all cylinders this season but are still in second place. The ability to cope with pressure was missing in 2015 - 16 when it mattered. If Spurs are to build on their start to the season, they must continue with the positive response to this first tribulation.

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