Well, I promised y’all match notes and observations as soon as I had the chance to watch the game, and that’s what you’re getting. Tottenham’s 1-1 draw at Leicester City felt like one that got away — a mostly solid performance against a newly-promoted team that nonetheless displayed some of the same deficiencies that plagued the team all last season. Should we be worried about that? I dunno. We definitely shouldn’t overreact to an away draw, but this did feel like one that could’ve — and should’ve — gone very differently.
Here are my takeaways from a frustrating draw at the King Power.
Spurs were mostly good against a bad team
Tottenham got two good chances inside 10 minutes — one off a set piece flick-on from Cuti Romero that was cleared off the line and another shot by Rodrigo Bentancur saved — and did well when Leicester allowed them to have the ball, which was a lot of the first half. There were lots of runs and touches in the box, they mostly kept the home side pinned in their own half and you could dismiss the missed chances as first-game wobbles. Tottenham’s goal was vintage Ange-ball: fast passing, progressive, a great ball in from James Maddison, and a well-placed header from Pedro Porro. All good stuff.
But Spurs failing to capitalize on all of that positive field tilt was frustrating, and the wheels really fell off after Leicester equalized. Between that and the Bentancur injury Spurs quickly went from organized to disjointed, exhausted, and off-kilter. Spurs’ subs didn’t look comfortable playing with each other and struggled when Steve Cooper’s side sat back and started playing defend-and-counter. There are warning signs here, but also if one of Romero or Solanke’s early chances go in, I think Spurs cruise in this one and win big. There were some familiar (negative) signs, especially in the second half, but not enough to really worry me… yet.
Solanke’s role is apparent, if the finishing isn’t
We haven’t had a chance to see Dominic Solanke play for Tottenham until now, and his first match was a pretty clear indication on how Ange Postecoglou plans to use him. Solanke was fast, direct, and liked to get onto the ball, which was about what we expected. He had a number of chances — both headed and not — and was getting into fantastic positions to receive the ball and shoot. While those chances weren’t converted and were often straight at the keeper, you can clearly see the broad strokes of how Postecoglou wants him to be utilized. Frustrating that he didn’t get on the scoresheet with the chances he had, but the good news is that he had a number of good chances. It’s been a while since we’ve had a striker this good in the air. That bodes well.
Spurs’ defense was good… until it wasn’t
Tottenham’s first choice defense of Pedro Porro, Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Destiny Udogie mostly coped well with Leicester’s counterattacking play, but the goal conceded was awful — Romero leaving Vardy wide open at the back post was unfathomable — and the aftermath seemed to throw them for a loop. Spurs’ defense is designed to allow big chances, and have the pace to neutralize them. But falling apart on one of those forward runs is always a possibility and Spurs gave up quite a few big ones, especially in the second period. In fact, it didn’t look much like Spurs’ transition defense had improved at all since last year — the same built-in frailties, the same silly mistakes that lead to big chances. Frustrating.
Brennan Johnson was frustrating as hell
Brennan Johnson is the definition of a streaky player — he’ll put in a couple moments of magic or an excellent pinpoint cross, and then disappear for large stretches, or just jog up and down the pitch instead of taking players on, or do something idiotic that makes you tear your hair out. In this one he had what might have been the defensive play of the match and one good volley that was begging to be tapped in (but wasn’t), but very little otherwise. He has displayed flashes of the talent we expected of him in that position, but he NEEDS to show more, especially in matches like this one.
Is Son cooked? Too soon to say.
Son’s one of Tottenham’s all-time best players, but all preseason I’ve worried about him, because his touch and shot have seemed to be a step or two slow. He showed that again today — too often it seemed as though Sonny either took an extra touch, or a heavy one, or opted to make a high-risk pass instead of taking a shot. He really didn’t offer much from the left flank which left the offense to basically be run by James Maddison. Is it too soon to be worried about him? Maybe. I hope so.
Spurs need another source of creativity besides James Maddison
I’m not the only one who was worried about James Maddison after preseason, because he definitely looked off the boil all summer. But in this one against his old club, he basically ran the show in a match where neither Johnson nor Son looked especially great from the flanks. It’s notable that Leicester’s goal and Tottenham’s period of largesse came after he tired and then came off. His replacement, Dejan Kulusevski, started bright but then disappeared and Spurs had little to offer going forward after that point. Tottenham need to get more from its creative players not named James Maddison or it could be a very long season.
Ange’s match management was questionable
Far be it from me to criticize a manager who’s been in football as long as Ange Postecoglou… but I’m going to do it anyway because he had some baffling decisions. Once again he seemed to leave his substitutions too late and in a reactionary way, and while I credit him for the quadruple sub and the 4-1-4-1 shape change late, that change could’ve happened five minutes earlier and have arguably been more effective. I also can’t understand leaving a clearly injured Pedro Porro on the pitch as long as he did. Weird stuff, but maybe that’s just Ange?
Bentancur’s injury puts even more pressure on Bissouma
Rodrigo Bentancur had a couple of shots saved and overall had a decent (if not exceptional) match in place of the suspended Yves Bissouma. His injury was from a head-to-head collision on a corner kick and looked nasty in real time. I don’t know how long he’ll be out, but I’d be surprised if he’s back for Crystal Palace on Saturday, which means Yves Bissouma needs to be fantastic, and stay healthy or Spurs are in a heap of trouble. If rumors connecting Spurs to another central midfielder are true, that might help alleviate things, but that midfielder might not be a six, which… hrm.
The kids are (mostly) all right
I don’t think Postecoglou expected to use Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray as much as he needed to in this match, but the suspension to Yves Bissouma and injury to Rodrigo Bentancur kind of forced his hand. Bergvall looked saucy and confident, and rarely failed to show for the ball, but had that one major defensive mistake that got him screamed at by Guglielmo Vicario, and he looked a little sloppy at times. Gray looked extremely one-footed (he is) and a little out of his depth. I don’t want to criticize them too harshly — both are teenagers playing in their first Premier League match and Spurs perked up via Bergvall’s play as soon as he came on. These early minutes could pay big dividends down the road.
Don’t panic!
Clutch those towels close, hoopy froods, because it’s way too soon to draw any sort of conclusions from this one. It’s the first match. Spurs are still working things out and have a couple of puzzle pieces that are still in the box. The transfer window also isn’t closed so this Spurs team isn’t a finished picture. Was this a frustrating draw? Yeah. Did Spurs’ issues feel familiar? Yup. Should they do better with the chances they create? You bet. Have they blown the season already? Absolutely not, don’t be silly.
