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Spurs maintained the momentum from a busy and productive week to defeat Burnley thanks to a stunning goal by Erik Lamela. In an uneven performance we had enough class at key moments to take the three points, driven on by the game’s outstanding player, Christen Eriksen. More salient in the long-term, there were positive signs that the recent team development continues too.

Spurs began slowly. Indeed they struggled at times to lift the tempo, a consequence of three games in six days. Plenty of time for a pre-Christmas chinwag as the game lacked spark. The Bloke Behind Me dozed off, the pompom on his blue Spurs santa hat dangling over his nose. There was little danger of anything happening on the pitch to rouse him.

Burnley’s neat passing game with two up front was easy on the eye and to their credit they constantly sought to get the ball forward. They paid Bentaleb the ultimate compliment by deputing a midfielder, ex-Spur Marney I think, to push up and mark him. This limited our ability to pass from deep and curtailed Nab’s influence. However, Eriksen more than compensated, revelling in the space thus created in our opponents’ half. He was high class throughout. There’s a different air about him now, bright-eyed and busy where just a few weeks ago he was directionless and absent for extended periods.

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In Wednesday’s report I speculated that Pochettino was using that match to try out a few different options. One was Eriksen back in the middle again and it worked yesterday. The Dane spoke after the Swansea win about his increased fitness levels and judging by yesterday he’s a 90 minute man now.

Lamela had his best game since the QPR match. He stayed wide when we had the ball and we switched the play from left to right with an ease that’s seldom been seen this season, so when he set off he had that extra space to work up a head of steam. He varied things, going outside and in. Once he tiptoed to the byline and produced a perfect cross which three of our players contrived to miss from a couple of yards out.

His performance was crowned by a stunning goal, his first for the club. Coming in off his right foot, he scooted across the defence and curled a luxurious left-footer into the far corner. I involuntarily shouted ‘Come on!’ as it left his foot, urging the ball on while it was in mid-air like a golfer shouting at the ball he’s struck from the tee. It sounded just as ridiculous but I was right in line and knew it was in. It’s the kind of supporter stupidity that goes with a fabulous goal.

This proved to be the winner. Earlier, Kane had lifted us out of our stupor with an alert and audacious moment of inspiration. He took a free kick quickly. Eriksen, offside, stayed motionless allowing Chadli to run on to it. Before Burnley had come to their senses, Chadli went to the byline and chipped in a perfect cross for Kane to head home decisively from inside the six yard box.

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This is typical Kane. Quick thinking plus the basics. Kane isn’t fast but that first yard’s in the head. How true – he goes straight to where he needs to be, running 35 yards to start and finish a move. The header was straightforward, getting to that point wasn’t. He’s developing his game all the time. When the ball is played up to him, back to goal, now he often traps it by pushing it sideways or diagonally towards the opposition goal, rather than just doing the safe thing and playing it backwards. This gives him the chance to get on the front foot and take the ball forwards. In the second half, he dropped deeper to pick the ball up in this manner then release Chadli who put the ball in the net but was offside. The body of a 21 year old with the brain of a 35 year old Sheringham.

Burnley hit back with a magnificent strike of their own, a top-corner curler from Barnes, after Lamela had twice given the ball away. After Kane’s goal it set us back on our heels until Lamela lifted the spirits. Second half, Mason’s absence, injured in the act of shooting, deprived us of much-needed energy. He had been everywhere, first to loose balls. Now Burnley did too much for our liking, looking to exploit Fazio’s lack of pace by twice slipping the ball inside him. However, he and Lloris got their angles right, pushing attackers wide so Hugo was able to block anything on target.

This week Vertonghen was praising his partnership with Fazio. Pochettino gave Kaboul a chance, now rightly it’s the turn of these two and there’s nothing like playing together to build a partnership. They both did well, Vertonghen in particular quick in the tackle. Burnley failed to get behind them so they dealt competently with anything in front of them. Fazio on the turn, so to speak, is a different story. He’s fine once he gets to wherever he’s supposed to be, the trouble is in the getting there.

Spurs flagged for a time then rallied and we should have scored again on the break, with Eriksen prominent. Lloris saved a late free-kick from sub Wallace and that was that.

Wallace was another in this week’s series of Slightly Misshapen Footballers. Physicality is so important now, most players are fine, identikit specimens this days. Wingers are no longer slight and nippy – Spurs played two six-footers. Subs Wallace for Burnley and Armstrong for Newcastle on Wednesday are stout, short men with torso and heads out of proportion with their legs. More power to them, say I, it’s refreshing to see something out of the ordinary.

Our midfield had a balanced look. Lamela and Chadli stayed wide for the most part in the early phases of attacks, both making good decisions as to when to stay wide and when to come in that won the match for us. The inverted winger thing doesn’t mean that they are compelled to come inside every time. Sound decision-making is more important. Mason and Bentaleb are solid behind them.

Also, we managed to get support to Kane up front without wasting a precious midfielder on just playing off him. Kane is clever enough to know when to drop deeper and when to press up, while Eriksen is now able and willing to get up and back.

Kudos to the visiting fans who all wore Christmas hats and celebrated a day out by singing long and loud in the second half. Hope they had a safe journey home.

A final sour note that hopefully won’t spoil an enjoyable day. We meet Burnley in the Cup of course, a match scheduled inconceivably for a Monday night. So much for the magic of the Cup. The Trust asked for an explanation. At first they were fobbed off by both the club and the FA. Pressing again, contradictory accounts emerged, the FA saying the clubs wanted it, Spurs that it was the FA taking police advice into account. Someone’s lying: as ever it’s the supporters who suffer.

So is everything well if we win? It’s a question that applies to Spurs away these days, not just yesterday’s 2-1 victory at Swansea. I’m enjoying the win today, lifted my mood, as did Villa and Hull. Always a three-point spring in my step. But a glance at the table this morning and my first instinct was to look down not up, even if we are a mere two points below a European place with a home League Cup QF the day after tomorrow.

“Win ugly”? No doubt that parts of all three games have been positively grotesque. “Part of our development.”? We’ve seldom taken any lessons into the next home games, Everton being the exception.

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Swansea manager Monk reached for the time-honoured boxing analogy to describe politely his assessment of the match: “If it had been a boxing match, it would have been stopped.” Doubtless he used more colourful language in the dressing room as his side failed to capitalise on their dominance during the majority of this game. Probably not a good time to note his flawed analogy: to score points in boxing you have to land a punch. Swansea’s real problem was the number of missed chances with shots fizzing past the woodwork rather than keeping Lloris busy.

Our man Poch meanwhile predictably took some positives away, feeling that he’s beginning to get his methods across to the players. There’s some welcome truth in that but judging by our inconsistency, it’s taking longer than he or the supporters hoped. My only wish is that we go for something more upbeat than the ‘let’s wait for the opposition to miss’ defensive tactic that featured prominently yesterday.

Spurs began and ended the game on a positive note, controlling possession and taking the play to the opposition in keeping with Pochettino’s admirably attacking team selection. From kick-off we determined to get hold of the ball and made reasonable use of it too, patiently waiting to something to open up rather than wasting effort. Mason and Bentaleb were eager midfielder, pressing enthusiastically and keeping the tempo high. Kane worked hard to cover and get up and sometimes beyond Soldado, vital if this formation is going to produce goals. Davies and the restored Walker offered width. An early goal boosted the confidence. Kane’s leap and thumping header wasn’t surprising, the decent corner that provided the cross astounded however. Our set pieces have been horrid lately.

Fast forward to the final 10 or 15 minutes for the other spell of Spurs superiority. Kane was tireless, up front on his own now. Dembele had long since replaced the forlorn, ineffectual Soldado and playing in the advanced role I’ve long advocated held up the ball and allowed us not only to regroup at the back but also to get Eriksen on the ball. Peripheral for the first half, he increasingly became an influence on the game. Get him involved and invariably he will produce a few glimpses of class. These precious moments can win matches and yesterday, proved decisive.

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Late on Swansea dealt with a move down our left but our pressing in their half regained possession. Davies is able to make quick, clear-headed decisions on the ball and his firm, clean pass found Eriksen who scored low and right-footed from the edge of the area. Those moments of class tell in the end. Our two periods of superiority showed also that we are better coming forward with the ball than we are without it. Because in between our defending was stupefyingly awful.

Once Swansea applied some pressure, that early composure melted as fast as a baked Alaska taken out of the fridge on the Great British Bake-Off. Time and again Swansea got through or round us. Left unprotected, the back four were unable to deal with Bony, the Swans’ lone striker, who outwitted them with the cunning plan of not standing next to any of them. Drifting between centrehalf and full-back, he was a constant threat. Never did a midfielder drop back to fill those gaps or pick up runners and it was left to Davies to make a goal-saving tackle as Bony cocked the trigger to shoot.

Bony equalised – far too easy for Swansea to get the ball to him from our left. The second half and I was waiting for the inevitable goal, waiting…I’ve seen towerblocks more mobile than Fazio. He’s fine once he gets there, if ‘there’ is the ball or marking a man, it’s just the bits in between that confuse him. Waiting…Shelvey on and pinging the ball all over the place, a late block by Vertonghen…and then waited no more. Swansea ran out of steam and Spurs suddenly remembered that the Welshmen were not so hot at the back themselves.

Soldado was in a sorry state, little impact. Lamela worked hard to little purpose. No coincidence that Swansea played a winger down our right to exploit his frequent absences and poor decision-taking off the ball. Conceding needless fouls again and he is going to hurt someone badly unless he learns to keep his feet down.

On the plus side, Kane was inexhaustibly excellent throughout. Davies continues to show why we paid the money, highly promising. I like his confidence and lack of indecision.

“Walker gives the ball away with his first touch.” So said the commentator, ahh Kyle it’s like you’ve never been away. Avoidable early booking, under needless pressure, scuffling with a pacy winger, not picking up in the box, by the end he’s still running up and down that touchline, said winger under control, coming into the game when the final whistle goes even though he could not possibly have been anywhere near fully fit. Good to have you back.

Walker and Davies could be key in the weeks and months to come. They offer the attacking width from deep that Pochettino craves. But it will take time to fit all the pieces together. More inconsistency to come. Strong performances please against Burnley and Leicester, cut out the errors and get Eriksen in the game is the way to go before United and Chelsea come to darken our New Year.

Three-quarters of the way through Spurs’ undistinguished draw with Palace, the mood on the Shelf turned ugly. Having handed back the initiative to our visitors, Tottenham were dealing with a fusillade of attacks, badly. I can’t recall exactly which one provoked the outburst – one of many saves by Lloris, not the shot that hit the post and bar before rebounding out, probably yet another shot just over that should have been on target. Spontaneously hundreds rose as one in uncomprehending fury – how could we fall apart so easily?

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Poch stifles a yawn

The Shelf loyalists are dedicated, committed Spurs supporters – if you drew a circle with a radius of ten seats around my spot, we’re the newcomers and we’ve been there for nearly ten years now. These people are it for the long haul. Never mind the bogus drowning-out of boos or social media whingeing, this is real anger and frustration from supporters who care. How could we make it so easy?

I’m sure it was repeated elsewhere in the ground – the players left the pitch to a chorus of boos. It’s not so much the result, certainly not inflated expectations. In fact, we were lucky to come away with a point. After all, these fans have seen enough disappointment and missed opportunities over the years. It’s that once again, we made few chances, failed to play together as a team and above all have apparently learned nothing since the start of the season. All the progress made in the Everton match long forgotten.

The crowd also called long and loud for Aaron Lennon, who was keeping his new haircut immaculate on the bench. Party this was affection for a player who has recently reminded us that he still has a role to play at Spurs. Mainly though it was tactics. As the game went on, Spurs has become bogged down in a central midfield morass. I suspect that beneath the turf at White Hart Lane there is some mysterious force-field generator impossible to resist that sucks our men into the middle, where if they don’t run into a defender they will surely bump into each other. Flicky this, clever touch there, may beat one or two but eventually Palace swallowed up each and every attack without being seriously stretched.

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A rare shot

Against Everton, we shone with a right-footed player wide right. Yesterday, the inverted wingers achieved nothing. Azza is no world-beater but at the very least would have given us some width. One substitution put Chadli on the left where in Davies we have a good attacking full-back, Dier on the right not so much. Still no width therefore. Lennon came on finally with less than 10 minutes to go and did not have a run at his full-back. And they say the fans don’t understand the game like professionals. When this happens, frankly we don’t understand it at all.

The signs were ominous from the start as Fazio and Vertonghen occupied the first ten minutes by passing to each other. The whistle should have been our alarm call. Instead we reached over and hit the snooze button. The 3 o’clock start, unheard of these days,was confusing – what time train do I have to get? – but you would expect the players to be ready. Less high-tempo, more sleep-walking.

Credit at this point to Palace. With two forwards wide they forced us into the middle and were quick and dangerous on the break. More than capable of dealing with us, Warnock is a manager whose admirers say he has no tactical nouse. I’ll leave you to ponder the implications.

We did little constructive to find a way through and nothing to get going early on although we did buck up after the break, bearing in mind that yesterday everything was relative, and took the game to our opponents without ever looking especially dangerous.

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At least the kids enjoyed it. And Chirpy.

Palace meanwhile always posed a threat on the break but missed several chances. They also came up against our only class player, Hugo Lloris, on impeccable form. As if trying to make up for his errors against Chelsea, he kept Palace at bay with a series of outstanding saves to add to flypaper handling.

Despite it all, we did make some chances. Three good ones fell to Soldado, none were on target. The worst was in the second half, slicing wide after he was bang on to score from a sly little through ball into his stride. Eriksen made a couple of openings, the best coming early when Spurs finally woke up a bit. He cheekily nutmegged the defender on the byline and shot when three white shirts awaited the pull-back.

As I say, Spurs were better (not good but better) after the break then after Palace realised they could contain us, we nearly succumbed to ten minutes of sustained attack to which we had no answer and the midfield were all over the place. The afternoon was summed up by a vignette in front of the Park Lane when Eriksen did well to prevent a corner, short pass to Dier who then passed it into touch – for a corner.

Some promising signs from Fazio and Davies, both of whom had their best games for the club. Fazio was especially strong in the box and at the near post, moving with confidence to the ball to deal with danger. Davies deserves an extended run. I like his appetite for the ball, berating team-mates for not passing to him and hitting early balls with confidence when he moves forward. One such cross after a fine ball from Lamela gave Soldado an opportunity.

Sadly the phrase ‘fine ball from Lamela’ applied only to that moment. When he’s tackled, as he so often is, he always looks surprised. What’s Spanish for ‘how did that happen?’ Soldado will know… Lamela should have got used to the PL by now. Twice yesterday he burst clear with the ball, looked up only to be tackled from behind. That’s the PL and he’s got to learn.

Otherwise, Kane and Mason were industrious but quiet. Bentaleb at least tried to move the ball forward late on when playing the deepest of the midfield. He attempted to get something moving even if he wasn’t always successful.  The sage fellow supporter to my right pointed out his fair impression of the Parker pirouette, twirling in midfield without getting anywhere. A fair point, and like Parker he depends on having someone to pass to. Our collective failure meant so often he was disappointed, as were we in the stands. Progress, such as it was, stalled, or perhaps a figment of the imagination.

 

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