After Wednesday’s disappointment, Spurs came roaring back to beat Manchester City. It was a performance to quicken the pulse and gladden the heart, scoring three in a thrilling second half where we took the game to City and they had no answer.

All the better because it was unexpected, partly in the sense that City were top of the table and have a good record against us, partly because after half an hour or so they looked so smooth and effective on the ball. De Bruyne at 50 mill plus looked like the bargain of the season. He put City one up, running onto Toure’s perfectly weighted pass and hitting it early past Lloris, who until then had been the last line of defence on several occasions.

Old failings though – it came from a misplaced pass by Walker, across their box and deep in their half. The old adage always was about not giving the ball away in dangerous areas – these days every area is dangerous, it seems. We’d been stuttery in front of their goal too, hanging on and not pulling the trigger.

But times, they are a’changing. Slowly but surely Pochettino is equipping the team to deliver his vision of high tempo, pressing football that moves the ball forward quickly when we get possession. After a slow start to the season and hampered by injuries, Spurs have gradually cranked it up, notch by notch. Palace was a step forward, this firm confirmation that progress is real not temporary.

Pre-season I said Pochettino’s role in shaping the team and getting them to be more than the sum of their parts was the key to success or failure. On Saturday some fine individual performances were eclipsed by the coherence and integration showed by the team as a whole. Every man worked their little over-priced socks off. They knew what they were supposed to be doing, where they should be and when.

Whatever numbers you use to describe a system, its success or failure rests on the ability of players to know where they should be in relation to their team-mates and the ball. This of course changes second by second. I remember reading in the Glory Game, Hunter Davies’ book about the 70s Spurs side, that players like Chivers and Peters would leave the pitch at the end of the game with a splitting headache, caused by the strain of concentration. YAgainst City, even those in the bottom stream for tactics and positioning like Walker and Lamela earned A* grades.

After 30 minutes and at half time – there are witnesses – I was downbeat but whispered that of all the top teams, City’s defence is the most vulnerable. Sure enough, we caught our breath and pushed on. City folded. Kane missed a good chance, when he could have passed, then Walker’s cross was saved by the sprawling keeper but cleared only to Dier whose arrow-straight shot flew 25 yards at a constant height of 1cm above the turf and into the bottom right-hand corner.

Second half and we carried on where we left off. Alli and Dier took over the midfield, a remarkable effort from 2 young men aged 19 and 21. It proves the effect of talent and application. Dier is a remarkable figure. I thought at best he was a stop-gap DM. Now he’s superboy. The intensity in his game is almost terrifying, the sheer force of will swept City’s expensive stars away.

The second half was dreamy, unadulterated pleasure. We roared as Alderweireld headed in a free-kick from close range. No City players between him and the goal. We swooned as Kane steered in the rebound from Eriksen’s free-kick that hit the post. We shared his joy, breaking his league duck, but if there was relief too he showed none of that. Steely gimlet eyes the sign of complete self-confidence.

Then we swooned as Lamela, put clear by Njie, tiptoed round a defender and  keeper before nonchalantly rolling into an empty net. Tip of the hat to Njie, who harried and chased up front after coming on as sub and both won the ball and delivered a great pass to set up this fourth goal. It was the moment he seemed to realise the physicality of this league and play his part rather than sit back. If so, he’s a quick learner.

Replays showed that a myopic linesman scored an assist with goals one and three but we were due a decision going our way/we earned it/these things even out at the end of the season/who gives a flying one – perm one or more from these. Nothing could temper the enthusiasm.

The highest praise is reserved for our defence. The other theme of the season so far is that our defence, reinforced over the summer and protected by Dier and his plus one, is vital to any improvement we make. If we’re not scoring as many, not a problem yesterday of course, then we damn sure better not give so many away.

The stats tell one story – fewest goals conceded in the PL thus far. The real story emerged in the way we handled Ageuro yesterday. Over the past few seasons we’ve not been able to get near him in the box. Yesterday he got nowhere. Late on, He advanced towards Vertonghen. Jan did not plant his feet in concrete, a problem of his in one on one situations. Rather, he stayed upright and shepherded his opponent on to his oppo Alderweireld who completed the tackle and the danger passed. Two centerbacks working together – at last – and credit to Pochettino, a defender himself of course, for getting them to gel so quickly. Vertonghen’s two jaded seasons a distant memory now. Good partnerships all over the pitch – the centrebacks, Alli and Dier or Mason and Dier, Kane and Son, as well as team cohesion.

Behind him, Lloris was my man of the match. Rock solid throughout, he saved the hard ones and cling onto the straight ones like a boa constrictor round his prey.

You could see why Davies gets the nod – strong in defence, close to his back four.Finally a special word of praise for Erik Lamela. Early September and his heart wasn’t in it. Boy it showed. Now, he’s decided he has a future here and is coming to terms with the hard work the PL demands. By all accounts Pochettino insisted he stay when the Berahino transfer fell through. Perhaps this was the vote of confidence he needed. Get goalside more often when you get back, Erik, but a real contribution to the team on Saturday.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last piece about the team selection for the Arsenal game. Sorry, very busy with deadlines in the real world so for once not able to respond individually. I strongly felt supporters had been let down because this above all else is a game for the fans, one to win. It’s probably the most discussed article I have ever written, in the comments’ section and on social media.

I don’t feel any differently about it now. Big games against arch rivals are the matches we all remember and that’s why we go to football. The four best games at WHL in recent years, ones where the stands shook like the old days and the soul was uplifted – Arsenal and Chelsea last season, Arsenal under AVB, won 2-1, and Arsenal in the League Cup semi-final, 5-1, we played a strong team, they opted for a couple of reserves, we took them apart. One for the fans.

Many (not on here) linked the piece to their own distrust of Pochettino. Not my view – regular readers will know I broadly support what he’s doing, feel Levy has not supported him properly and he deserves my patience.

Saturday’s win was down to team spirit, talent and superb fitness, all of which have nothing to do with Wednesday night. It seems to be part of the folklore of modern football that you can’t win two matches in the same week with the same team. If that’s the case, then I’m glad I’m old-fashioned.

The derby is the fan’s game. One we look forward to the most, want to win the most, feel the most. Passion lifts the team, players and supporters together. Win and you float home, sail through life for the next few days, weeks maybe. Bragging rights are a misnomer. Win and you don’t need to brag, because inside you know who’s best.

Winning isn’t everything. Giving everything is what we want, expect. Defeat hurts. Too many defeats leave scars that take a long time to heal. But not giving everything is a shame and a sin. Unforgivable.

The derby is our game. Play your best team. Do it for us. Except Spurs didn’t. And that shows what they think about us. Nothing.

The wishes and feelings of Spurs fans meant nothing when Pochettino selected his team for last night’s North London Derby. We carry the scars, the burden sometimes, because that’s how it feels when we keep getting beaten. But we are loyal, we get behind the team, we glory in the wins because when they come, as in the last home derby, they taste nectar sweet.

So you play your best team. I don’t care what Wenger does. Play your best team because it’s the Arsenal. I don’t care for the League Cup, it’s an afterthought, English football’s petrol-station flowers when the game is too busy and doesn’t care enough. But play your best team because it’s the Arsenal. The physical demands on modern footballers mean rotation is essential. Rotate another day, because tonight it’s the Arsenal. Play your best team and you beat the Arsenal.

Pochettino, the club, @SpursOfficial, they all praise the fans, they’re great, fabulous support. Blah blah blah. This team selection shows the contempt with which Spurs fans are treated. Demonstrated what they really think about us. Not the players themselves, all of whom worked hard and tried their best last night, although not all of them were especially good. I think we have a group of pretty genuine footballers who give of their best. To play a weakened team felt like a kick in the teeth.

Pochettino or any manager for that matter, doesn’t have to go home on the train with them, doesn’t work with them, doesn’t go to the pub with them. Reserve teams, League Cup, demands of a long hard season, don’t count for diddly. Stick, bucketloads. Spurs don’t care.

Rotate in a home EL tie versus a side from Azerbaijan. Rotate in the next away EL tie. Not when you play the Arsenal. Don’t change the entire back five and replace it with players who have never played together before. We don’t have the depth or experience in the squad to play anything much less than our best defence, certainly the spine, starting with the magnificent, inspirational Hugo Lloris. Vorm is a decent back-up. Lloris is a leader.

Long-term planning. Make sure we have that breadth and depth because it is a long season but in the window Levy badly let us down. So Dier at 21 and after 7 matches in an unfamiliar position, becomes indispensable. He’s been mighty in the role but we need to know there’s an alternative.

Dier was one of four good centrebacks available at the start of the season. Now he’s needed elsewhere so that leaves us with three and Fazio. He’s got something, hasn’t he, must have, career in Spain, captained Seville to an EL triumph. He’s not shown it here, but leaving that aside, he’s only at Spurs for the money. His move to West Brom fell through over terms so they say, i.e. we pay more than they do. I don’t blame him, Spurs gave him the contract, but he was hardly ready for the derby. He knows he’s past his sell-by date, festering at the back of the ‘goods reduced’ section with the other rotten vegetables. Wrong to play him.

I said all this before Fazio took the field. Fazio did what Fazio does – ok one-to-one in the box, an interpretation of the foulplay law that belongs in 1982, passing with apparent care and consideration straight ot the opposition, time and again. Before he wafted a leg at a cross and deflected it to Flamini who confounded all expectations to volley home the winner.

Before then, Spurs had lifted their game in the second half following a mediocre first period when we conceded after Oxlade Chamberlain was given far too much time to shoot, Vorm could only parry straight to Flamini again. Eriksen and Carroll got us moving again and Chadli finally surfaced although Townsend sunk without trace. Chadli’s cross was deflected in and in an open game (see, they weren’t much cop either), the win was there for the taking. Kane’s thrilling overhead volley was cleared off the line. Then the subs came on but we got bogged down in the middle with no width.

The League Cup is a miserable competition. Like the group stages of the EL it sucks the fun from the game. It’s always an hypocritical slog – it’s a cup, we’re up for it, pay the cash, Sky TV yeah! Yet no one wants it or looks forward to it until you get to the semi-finals. This is what we do in modern football, have competitions nobody gets enthused by, that get in the way, that detract from the heritage of the League and FA Cup, competitions generations of fans made famous and precious. But it’s League Cup football on Sky baby!

One theory last night was that Poch was acting on instructions – success in europe means more and is more lucrative. However, he’s consistent in letting us down. Any cup will do – Leicester in the FA Cup, Fiorentina in the EL last year, now this.

He understands what the derby means for supporters. Fact is, he and the rest of them just don’t care. What hurts most is that this is what they really think of us all the time.

If Spurs are to achieve anything this season, and after yesterday’s win against Palace the prospects look brighter, it will largely be down to improvements in defence. The spotlight always shines on the gloryboys up front but last season’s comedy capers at the back can’t be repeated this time round. We can’t or won’t buy a striker but we have invested in defenders. 2-1 was odds on for last season, this term it’s 1-0 to the Tottenham.

Fast forward to 75 minutes. Spurs are one up, deservedly so on the balance of a game that improved as the minutes passed, but Palace are set up to counter attack. They’ve hit the post once, now they push up in search of the equalizer.

When the going gets tough, Eric Dier gets going. He and Jan Vertonghen in particular played their best football when they were tired and under pressure. Davies was strong on the ground and in the air. Excellent and frankly pleasantly unusual as in the past we have so often collapsed as soon as we get ahead. Dier, 21 years old and in an unfamiliar position, played like an old hand.

Last year I castigated Vertonghen for being the old hand who refused to take responsibility. When we scored four against Leicester then imploded, he was shrugging and moaning when he should have taken charge. Yesterday he flew around the box, anticipating and clearing. Alli cleared, Jan waved his encouragement. He’s found something to play for.

Son’s fine goal rightly garnered the headlines but I discovered the best moment of the match on the way home. Thanks to the wonders of modern science and my Times goal app, we watched the highlights while waiting on the southbound Victoria line platform at Seven Sisters. That cross shot that we on the Shelf all thought hit the post, Hugo really had saved it. The Park Lane sang his name so we thought he did but I couldn’t believe how good that save was, low to his right, a well-struck bouncing ball. He was impeccable yesterday, on and off his line.

Spurs began well enough. Plenty of circulation in midfield, always best when we move the ball with a good tempo and for the most part we succeeded. Kane headed over from a corner, 12 yards out and unmarked, but it was hard to pierce the Palace defence. They don’t press high, preferring to drop back and swarm around the edge of their box. This worked. Our attacks ground to a halt in a fug of indecision, Chadli having 17 touches when two might do, Son always a danger but apparently paranoid about using his left foot, so turning into trouble too often. Many players play off the main striker because it’s a soft option but it’s his perfect position and Pochettino used him well, allowing him freedom to come off the wing or start centrally. Either way, Palace could not pick him up and he linked well with his team-mates.

We missed the width from Walker and Davies who stayed at home to counter the attacking threat from Bolassie and Zaha. I can barely recall Davies crossing the halfway line. Last season Pardew’s Newcastle had the better of MP. Yesterday Pochettino’s tactics were spot on. It gave the front four a platform and also enabled Dele Alli, nominally a DM alongside Dier, freedom to get forward. Vertonghen brought back memories of two season ago by filling the spaces as Palace funnelled back. Also his substitutions had real impact. Eriksen kept busy and took the game to our opponents as Chadli was flagging. Unusual that Chadli should get the hook, and quite right too.

Early days but to me Alli is the best prospect we’ve had at the club since Bale. He has two hallmarks of a great midfielder, a natural effortless poise on the ball, head up and aware, and the ability to inject drive and forward movement whenever he gets on the ball. As with Bale, a love affair starts to blossom….

Deadline-day rumours suggested Lamela was on his way to Inter, only for Pochettino to block the move at the last second when it became clear Berahino was staying at West Brom. Judging by his last few efforts, his mind was already in Italy. Yesterday he showed commendable discipline and focus, working hard and never hiding. Much of what he attempted didn’t come off, and while I’m pleased to see him tracking back, his defensive positioning is naive.

After yet another run floundered on the rocks of the hard-tackling Palace defence, he beat the ground with his fist in frustration, whether this was at the toughness of the tackling or his own inability to find a way through I’m not sure but decision-taking is the root of the problem. The great goalscorers rely on icy instinct when they approach the box. The mind of, say, a Greaves or a Sheringham, is empty of conscious thought at that crucial moment, instinct takes over. Lamela’s mind is full of fireworks and whizz-bangs, a psychedelic cacophony of colour and images, sending him all over the place. In the end it’s all too much and he doesn’t know what to do.

But often enough he was around to make a difference and making a difference is his biggest problem. Finding himself as centre defensive midfield on the edge of our box, he hurled everything into a block, fell over, got up again and still had the ball. Head up now, the ball to Eriksen, just on as sub, was swift and accurate. Eriksen found Son and in full stride he shot through the keeper’s legs to score the winner. Two passes took the ball 60 yards in a fraction of the time it takes to read this. Like all good pass and move, it was simple and electric.

Good position, he used his left foot, in it goes. The Korean commentators on the gantry behind us gabbled in joy as they punched the air. Playing to the crowd like pantomime dames, they just happened to have a Korean flag handy. Bit like 5Live’s curmudgeonly Alan Green whipping out the cross of St George whenever Rooney scores. Judging by the number of Koreans in the stands, Stubhub are going to be sold out for the rest of the season.

Pochettino, suited and booted because his mum was over, sat down once we had scored. Most managers would have been up and shouting themselves hoarse. I guess it’s the Argentinian way but hasn’t he seen our defence. This time he was right to be calm. We held out with a few scares, a fine win and unbeaten since the opening day.

Through Levy’s incompetence we don’t have either an extra striker or midfield experience. What this game confirmed is that we have ambition and determination in spades. Spurs have relied on young players coming to north London and bettering themselves. Son has enthusiastically embraced the opportunity, we know what Kane et al can do, maybe Lamela is finally getting the message too.

And we’re off! Spurs’ first win of the season, the transfer window mercifully closed for a few precious, peaceful months, so let’s get on with it.

This invitation I have for a forthcoming event, ‘7 for 7.30’, what does that mean? Do I get there at 7 or 7.30? if it’s going to start at 7.30, because I cannot magically beam myself from the tube station to my seat in one millisecond I will get there early, in all probability between 7 and, oh let’s say for argument’s sake, 7.29. But the seeds of doubt have been sown. Does it really begin at 7pm, will the real business take place over a glass of warm white wine in the foyer?. So that means I should be there at 6.45 to hit the ground running at 7, right?

Wrong. It’s a social work event and they never start on time. Someone will wander up to the top table at 7.40, when I have been in my seat for 10 minutes because that’s when it starts, and announce they don’t want to interrupt the buzz and flow in the room, and that’s what’s important on evenings like this. No it isn’t – what’s important is what the speaker has got to tell me.

The Premier League is like that these days, except of course by now I’ve shelled out over £100 for the privilege of being kept waiting while clubs and players sort themselves out. Contrary to popular opinion, social workers can (and have) organised a p**s up in a brewery whereas Daniel Levy can’t organise a Tottenham transfer window.

More about that later. For the moment, 3 points from the Sunderland game and a fabulous goal, the memory of which will linger long after this uninspired performance has faded from our consciousness. You can keep your 30 yard thunderbolts, nothing like a bit of pass and move for me. Mason, who has impressed me this season, began it in centre field. Too often Spurs’ movement and passing had been good yesterday only to run out of steam when we reached the penalty area. A nothing ball from Walker, hold on to it as the clock was running down. On top now, Spurs had escaped from a first half that ended goalless despite Defoe giving the back four the right run-around and might settle for an away point.

Mason however, was intent only on driving forward. To Lamela and back, still forward. To Kane, Lamela again, now Mason is in the box and on the end of a perfect ball, chipped over the keeper and in. No pass over 10 yards, pass and move, Mason involved three times, runs 45 yards to apply the finishing touch.

Plenty of effort and movement from Spurs, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Class however was in short supply. Dele Alli provided the only other instance, a little shimmy wide left and the defenders were gone. To the byline but no one was on hand to touch in his graceful cross as it slid across the 6 yard box.

Otherwise, for much of the game we looked like a side getting to know each other, which because of the window is what we are. The 4-2-3-1 is familiar but in Alderweireld we have a new centre half and going forward Son and Alli, welcome though they are, are new to this. Hence lots of movement off the ball when we had possession but it quickly became disjointed and the moves broke down without creating shots on target.

Both these attackers will learn. Son had some freedom to work around and off Kane – with Chadli given a similar brief from the left, it’s likely this is where Pochettino plans to generate some goals. Son provided the third memorable moment, managing to pass a corner straight into touch on the same side of the field.

Alli gives attacks that little bit of impetus whenever he gets onto the ball. I like players like that very much and I will get to like him a lot over the next couple of years. Highly promising.

All was not well at the back. Sunderland hit us hard and effectively on the counter with all members of the back four finding themselves stranded at one point or another. If Vertonghen is going to come to get the ball, he either needs to be coached out of what I suspect is his footballing instinct or someone needs to be ready to cover for him. In the second half he held off a Sunderland break then timed his edge of the box tackle perfectly.

In fairness, Defoe was crafty, playing off the shoulder and darting onto well-placed through-balls. It’s hard for a defender to have eyes in the back of his head. Clean through, he hit the far post when he should have scored. Lloris left a fraction more space than usual at his near post as he advanced. He knows JD and suspected he was likely to put that ball across not inside him. Shrewd, leaving a more difficult angle.

Spurs had the better of the second half. Sunderland’s attack was blunted because we cut the supply at source by keeping possession better and dominating the midfield. Defoe made the runs, now there were no passes reaching him. Kane missed a good chance, Dier headed over, Son dithered, Chadli dithered then dithered then dithered again.

My wife’s grandson popped in as Mason scored. I rewound to show him the goal, OK four or five times, then I joked about how a minute behind live now, we were bound to have let Sunderland back into it. How funny am I. The Black Cats wanged the ball against the bar but we got away with it, and three points.

Mason was carried off after the keeper clattered him in the act of scoring. Let’s hope he recovers, his workrate and insistence on getting the ball forward (vital to Pochettino’s approach) has marked him out as our best player so far this season.

Another young man with a mature, impressive attitude was voted man of the match on Sky. Eric Dier made several timely interceptions and penalty-box tackles. What we lose in passing and creative ability in possession we gain in terms of defensive stability, plus he allows Mason to get forward. On balance, a good thing, especially as Bentaleb has begun poorly and we didn’t sign anyone in that position.

One more observation – this season we have had no problem in getting players both forward and back as needed. I’ve criticised Spurs teams for this basic fault over the past seasons. Not a problem at the moment. On several occasions our waste of good opportunities was all the more galling because the final ball did not reach willing players in the box. At that other end, the incident I described above where Verts made his tackle, it was a quick break yet by the time the ball reached the danger area we had four men back.

The window, ah yes. I was busy on deadline day, BBC Sport asked for a 100 words at the beginning of the day and straight after the window closed. I left the article, best to let supporter anger subside, cool heads.

Here’s my summing up for BBC Sport. In the morning:

“Starting the season with only one striker, Harry Kane, is unfathomable or bang stupid. Either way, it’s left fans frustrated and angry. Son’s arrival injects pace and goals into an attack that badly needs both.

Deadwood from successive failed transfer windows has been shipped out. That leaves Adebayor and, sadly, Lennon to go. Milan is wooing Lamela, unable or unwilling to play to the pace in the Premier League, while the lumbering Fazio is an anachronism in Pochettino’s high-tempo, pressing style.

The summer arrivals of Alderweireld, Wimmer and Trippier brought overdue reinforcements to a beleaguered defence. Another striker will be handy but an experienced defensive midfielder to protect the back four and hold the team together is essential.”

And an hour after it closed:

“Spurs’ failure to sign another striker or an experienced midfielder signals a deplorable lack of ambition that could stifle the development of a young squad full of potential and leaves us vulnerable to competitors. The right men in these two positions could make a significant difference but chairman Daniel Levy, the so-called shrewd negotiator, catastrophically misjudged a market flush with TV cash. Teams no longer have to cave in because they just don’t need the money.  Another window, yet another missed opportunity.

Today’s desperate Berahino or bust shambles obscures concerns that Spurs’ overhaul of scouting and recruitment failed to find alternatives. The club site’s pathetic attempt to solve the problem by reclassifying Heung-Min Son as a striker did not play well with frustrated and furious fans.  Now let’s get behind the team. COYS.”

Two weeks and three points later, I don’t feel much different. I search for patterns and a plan, often in vain, What are Spurs, Levy, Redknapp, AVB, MP, what are we trying to do? This is my biggest problem with our actions during this window. This isn’t about the cash or so-called financial prudence: Levy failed under his own terms.

Not only do I think we need a striker, it’s clear Pochettino thinks so too, despite his bland PR assurances that everything is fine. Why else would Levy have made a sustained effort to sign Berahino? Leaving aside whether or not this young man is good enough for us and/or value for money, the manager wants and needs a striker and in the Supporters’ Trust joint meeting with the Board, Levy assured us that he was going to back the manager.

He has a funny way of showing it. A feature of this window is that clubs have been better able to resist big bids for their players. Everton were able to turn down £40m for Stones, Saints sent us packing when we asked about Wanyama. This is because clubs are flush with TV money. It’s a shame and a sin therefore that Levy, the so-called fly sly negotiator failed to move with the times. His tactics in the boardroom were as outmoded as 5-3-2 is on the pitch.

It’s embarrassing but I’m not really worried about that. I care about the team and we are poorly equipped for a long and intensely competitive season. I get the purchase of Son for his flexibility and goals but designating him as a striker on the official site when (allegedly) he was previously a midfielder and (definitely) the club have registered him with UEFA in the EL as a midfielder is just insulting to fans.

This is failure under Levy’s own terms. Buying a striker and a deep-lying midfielder is not only essential, it’s an investment for the future. Supply and demand – the demand for a striker and midfielder at Spurs is high, the supply of said players willing to come to a team that does not pay the highest wages is low. Pay the market price. if it keeps us in the top six, it is worth it. I’m not talking about the top four, way out of our league. Teams who finished below us last time around are getting organised. Drop out of the top six and Europe, it’s tough to get back, certainly without more investment than the cost of two players. Good players will be tempted to leave and we have a new ground to pay for.

To me this is why this season is a big one for Spurs. Get it wrong and we fall back burdened by the expense of a new ground. Levy has approached it on the cheap. I like our current squad, like their attitude, want to see the young men prosper. I fear that Levy’s rank mismanagement of the transfer window will make their task extremely hard. It’s avoidable, unfair and wrong.