Hmm

I don’t really know what to think about Spurs’ start to the season. So I’ll tell you what I feel.

My enthusiasm from just a month ago has been sucked out of me by a series of performances which have left me wanting a lot more. I feel like I’ve got all excited for a weekend away in an Airbnb somewhere; I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks after these crappy last eighteen months or so but, on arrival, I’ve found that there’s not even a double bed, it’s just two singles pushed together. And there’s a dodgy looking stain on the carpet and a pubic hair in the shower. I’ll be typically English and tell the owner that everything was just fine even though I’m secretly seething and I feel like my precious holiday time that I’ve waited all this time for has been wasted.

When I wrote in Nuno Holy Spirit about how passive Wolves had become in Nuno’s last season, it was meant to be a warning rather than a prediction. We’re so tired, as fans, of our players waiting for the opposition to do something – particularly when, during our best period in recent history, we went out with the intention of not even giving them a second to think about what it was they might do.

Look, there is definitely some logic in being difficult to beat early in the season. Particularly when a new coach is establishing his tactical style and has absentees for a whole variety of reasons. And he’s achieved three wins out of four playing this way, so it can’t be all bad. But then I look over at Bruno Lage at Wolves, or even Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace, and I see the transformational effect they’ve both had already, totally changing their teams’ styles for the better, and doing so this early and with more complex, detailed tactics (and, frankly, worse players). That is not to say that those two coaches will continue having success throughout the season, but I think it gives us a bit of a benchmark in terms of what tactical progress we might expect by this point.

I think the reality might be that this is Nunoball and maybe we sometimes see a bit of what we saw in the second leg against Paços de Ferreira — a game in which we had complete control so could have some fun — but also we maybe see quite a bit of what we saw against Wolves and Watford and maybe even Crystal Palace. Games where we’re caught between jostling for control and allowing the opposition control but only in the areas we’ll let them have it in.

Personally I think our squad can achieve so much more. I look at what Graham Potter is achieving at Brighton with substantially inferior players and I dream on what he could get us playing like.

But I need to stop myself as longing for Potter or Lage or whoever is just going to make the next however-many-months drag. Instead, I need to see if Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso being back might break the Nunoball mould a bit and deliver something more exciting. So, for now, I’ll try to convince myself to ignore the fact that against Rennes he brought on Pierre-Emile Højbjerg when Steven Bergwijn went off, or — worse — Emerson Royal when Lucas Moura went off.

In theory, the difficult to beat style is the correct one to use against Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea, so maybe this weekend will be a reminder of the upside of this. Or maybe we’ll concede early and then he’ll have to try something else and we’ll get an idea of what that is (yeah, not optimistic about that).

Either way, the reality is that being a nice bloke is not going to wash with our home crowd for long if the football doesn’t get a bit more front-foot. The pandemic did He Who Must Not Be Named a big favour, and it looks like NES won’t get that same breathing space. Whilst you’re winning you can just about get away with pubic-hair-in-the-shower football, but the second the winning stops, the pressure grows, and we’ll all be a little less English about not complaining.

Come on, Nuno, give us something to cling onto. And if you’e not going to do that, at least give us more Tanguy.


I am the host of The Extra Inch; a Spurs podcast that delves into the analytical side of Tottenham games. Check us out! If you already follow the podcast, consider becoming an xSub for additional content, including videos, and loads more podcasts.

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Harry Kane… I Can’t Even

Minutes after I’d decided not to write about the tedious Harry Kane situation in last night’s post, The Telegraph posted an article which is the closest thing I’ve seen to client journalism since the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg passed on Dominic Cummings messaging verbatim. I am absolutely staggered that Jason Burt would do this, he’s always been someone that I’ve respected and who has been pretty good on Spurs.

The Kanes have essentially, through The Telegraph, The Daily Mail and The Sun — i.e. the baddies — submitted a press release. It reads something like this: wahhh wahhh wahhh I want my own way and I’m not getting it wahhh wahhh wahhh. Cry more, Harry. Pathetic.

When you’re up against Daniel Levy and you are seen as the villain, you know something has gone wrong. Levy was public enemy number one for Spurs fans at the back end of the season and throughout much of the summer and there were even some continuing protests against him and ENIC outside the stadium on Sunday. This should have been an open goal for Kane PR-wise. The sort of tap-in he’d have sworn his daughter’s life on. Kane could have left on his terms, with his head held high and our fans largely understanding and even supporting his decision, his legacy in tact. But the Kanes have truly blown this in every conceivable way.

The latest grumbles don’t even stack up. He claims that at the end of the 2019/20 season, Levy told him that they’d go “all out” in pursuit of a trophy and Champions League qualification (hindsight lol) and, if we did not achieve that, he would be allowed to leave. But Levy’s not an idiot; on no planet would he allow Kane to leave for significantly under his market value.

It goes on, ‘It is why Kane also then felt empowered to conduct a Sky Sports interview with former England coach Gary Neville’. These are weasel words. This is gaslighting us, as fans — we have every right to feel upset about the interview because it was not a matter of empowerment, it was a matter of his greasing of the wheels. And, if we are to believe the rest of his side of the story, giving this interview before the season had even ended in order to try to ready the path for his move was not even necessary due to his ‘gentleman’s agreement’.

Then we move on to his late return. Kane ‘feels’ he’d been given an extra week away. The Sun’s version of the story (don’t worry, I used a proxy to read it) offers more detail. Of course, once again, it’s not Kane’s fault.

‘Kane believes he had permission from Levy to take an extra week’s holiday after spending time in the Bahamas and Florida. But it is claimed that two days into his stay, Kane was told new boss Nuno Espirito Santo wanted him back for pre-season training.’

‘CITY BREAK Harry Kane expects breakthrough in Man City transfer move before the weekend as Tottenham now resigned to losing striker’, The Sun, I’m not linking to it

Does he ‘feel’ he had permission, does he ‘believe’ he had permission, or did he ACTUALLY HAVE PERMISSION? Nuno Espirito Santo is hardly going to renege on an agreement Kane had made with Levy before he even arrived at the club, is he? This seems like a pretty clearcut issue — you either have a WhatsApp or an email telling you when to be back or you don’t. If you have it, if it is as straightforward as he makes it out to be, the story would have been shut down minutes after it was run with a firm statement (‘I’m here because I have permission from the club to be here’.) — not by an opaque Instagram statement days after it broke when the tabloid press had already got to work.

It is just so disappointing that this is playing out in public in this way, all orchestrated by Kane. The Neville interview, the article in The Sun by a gossip reporter who knows the Kanes, the Instagram statement and now this. Everything Kane is doing now is an attempt to force Spurs to lower their asking price; he’s out there wrecking his reputation to save the richest club on the planet a few quid at the expense of our club. By creating toxicity to the point where the club just wants rid of him, he thinks he can force Levy’s hand. We — the fans, his fans — are being punished when, ultimately, there is only one party in this deal who can decide if the transfer happens: when City make a fair offer, the deal gets done.


I am the host of The Extra Inch; a Spurs podcast that delves into the analytical side of Tottenham games. Check us out! If you already follow the podcast, consider becoming an xSub for additional content, including videos, and extra podcasts.

I recently added a Donate button to this site. It’s on the ‘About‘ page. I explain why on there. Cheers!

Straight Back In

You’ll know that I… was not fond of last season. I was glad when it ended and then I was hopeful about a quick manager search but it didn’t happen and it felt like we were flip-flopping our way through a list of inconsistent targets. But, despite initially being pretty underwhelmed, I have felt pretty good about Nuno Espírito Santo ever since his first interview, and I have also been pretty happy with Fabio Paratici’s work to date (caveat that that may change over the next two weeks if we’re still lumbered with deadwood!). But I didn’t expect to be emotionally all in again so soon.

Honestly, it was like my candle had gone out and rather than striking a match to light it, Nuno’s Spurs grabbed a lighter and a deodorant can. Whoosh!

The last minute of the match had a real sense of early Mauricio Pochettino Spurs about it. It was imperfect, i.e. we tried to keep the ball in the corner and failed to do so, but the players fully committed to seeing the match out. What that looked like was a dead-on-his-feet Dele tracking back and attempting a desperate lunge to foul a breaking player, Davinson Sánchez making a huge tackle and then the aforementioned Dele collapsing from the weight of his insane 10.97km covered.

Throughout the 90 minutes there was an impressive game plan in place that seemed to utilise each players’ talents to their maximum. I am happy to be proven wrong on Dele, who I couldn’t really see as a central midfielder in a three, particularly as the last time he played that role was when his form started to take a dip. I’ve long wanted to see him used further forward again, like he was in his first couple of seasons. But Nuno’s post-match comments – “Dele is a runner. He has this ability to go box to box and as a team we should take advantage of it.” – were absolutely underlined by the performance he put in. He’s always been a genuinely elite presser but this was next level, particularly considering it was the first game of the season when fitness levels are notoriously not at their peak.

We played a narrow front three that was focussed on stopping City finding the feet of their midfielders through the middle, instead channeling them to the wings where our full-backs were alert and tenacious. Both had excellent games, but especially Japhet Tanganga, who rightly took home the Man of the Match award for his remarkable individual performance, in which he stopped Raheem Sterling and Jack Grealish making progress down his side of the pitch.

The benefit of the narrow attacking three was that when we did pounce on a loose ball and were able to find one of them, they had their partners in crime to play off. Typically one ran away from the ball to drag defenders away and that was true of Son Heung-min’s goal, where Steven Bergwijn casually dragged three players out of the way to create a space for Son to step into. In the final match of pre-season against Arsenal, Son had a couple of chances to cut in onto his left foot and chose not to, instead switch back out onto his right, shooting across goal. He is so good at cutting in and curling the ball into the far post, from either side, and he should always look to do that where he can.

The icing on the cake was the crowd — incredible. ‘Are you watching, Harry Kane?’ was perfection, and it certainly sounded from the tele like this was the best atmosphere at the new stadium to date. Really, properly electric.

The incredible start for the first team was neatly backed up by an excellent performance by the Under-23s against Chelsea on Monday night. It finished 2-2, but Spurs were utterly dominant, and Chelsea’s goals came from a penalty and their forward pouncing on a loose back pass, whilst we kept their goalkeeper busy all night and missed a penalty at the end. A number of players really shone — there wasn’t a poor performer — but Harvey White, Alfie Devine, Dilan Markanday and Jneil Bennett stood out for me. Just a great watch.

And I mentioned transfers at the start of this post. I’ve been pretty impressed with the transfer business so far — happy with the ins, happy with the outs — but I would be disappointed to end the window with Serge Aurier and Moussa Sissoko still on the books. It’s pretty clear that neither is in Nuno’s plans and so taking a price and getting rid seems the best option for all parties, else we end up risking the Danny Rose situation all over again, with players that can command fairly significant fees running down their contracts. I would put Harry Winks in a similar category, though I’m happier with him being in the squad (partly because he’s younger and so will hold value) and, of course, we still have the perennial task of doing something with Cameron Carter-Vickers.

There’s another bit of business to do too but it’s had more than enough attention by now and the last thing I need to do is waste any more time on a, frankly, highly tedious situation.

Honestly, it feels soooo good to be back in the game. I’ve been chugging Spurs content throughout pre-season and I’ve got a week off work this week so that’s gone up a level. I’d listened to all of my favourite Spurs podcasts by midday today! More! Give me more! Thursday can’t come soon enough.

COYS.

Some other bits I’ve written recently:

A bit on Dennis Cirkin for Sunderland Fanzine ‘A Love Supreme’: https://www.a-love-supreme.com/single-post/dennis-cirkin-a-view-from-tottenham

A season preview for BT Sport: https://www.bt.com/sport/football/premier-league/tottenham-2021-22-season-preview

Exclusive Interview with Degefors’ Sporting Director on Alfie Whiteman: https://www.patreon.com/posts/exclusive-with-54960969


I am the host of The Extra Inch; a Spurs podcast that delves into the analytical side of Tottenham games. Check us out! If you already follow the podcast, consider becoming an xSub for additional content, including videos, and extra podcasts.

I recently added a Donate button to this site. It’s on the ‘About‘ page. I explain why on there. Cheers!

Some Pre-Season Thoughts

There’s a bit to talk about!

Everyone’s had their say on the Harry Kane situation, but just to add mine to the mix: it’s so disappointing. Obviously I understand the predicament he’s in. Obviously. He’s the best player in a team which was good but has got worse. But he signed the contract! And he did that for enormous personal gain. This stance is so utterly disrespectful to his teammates, to his brand new manager (poor Nuno!) and to us, as fans. The interview with Gary Neville took the shine off Kane for me and this latest episode has meant that he’s plummeted in my estimation. As Nathan put it on The Extra Inch: “Kane is doing himself so much harm for fuck all in return, so it’s not only shit, it’s also stupid.” Until City actually offer what he’s worth he’s going nowhere and so this could ultimately end up leading to the most embarrassing, uncomfortable climbdown since Wayne Rooney had to do something similar. If they ultimately pay up then *shrug*, he goes with disdain. It needn’t have been like this.

I’ve seen a lot of negative reaction to our pre-season match against Chelsea, but I thought the performance against a strong team was reasonably encouraging. To put it in context, I’m fully expecting Chelsea to challenge for the title, whereas I have us pinned for 4th with Kane and 5th/6th without him. We started on the front foot and, with ten minutes gone, I was encouraged. Chelsea then took control and had a strong 30-35 minutes where they dominated the ball and we couldn’t get a foothold or hold the ball in their half (Lucas Moura is particularly infuriating in those circumstances). For me, Dele was the only bright spot in the first half — he was playing some nice, creative passes and his pass selection felt very Nuno’d. By that I mean that I’d rarely seen him play so many switches and it was interesting to see him playing this role. Personally, I don’t think Dele is at his best as an 8 in a 4-3-3 but he’s done a more than adequate job in pre-season and, without Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, he is essentially the only genuinely creative midfielder we have.

Anyway, the balance of the game changed in the second half, and we were good! Harry Winks had the strongest half of football he’s had in a fair old while, moving the ball quickly and efficiently. We created some nice attacks and should have had a penalty but it ended up 2-2 against, as I say, a genuinely strong team. We’ve got a lot of first teamers to come back in and signings to be made and so this was just fine.

Jubril Okedina signed for Cambridge permanently today; check out the replies to this — really feel good stuff. I’m a bit surprised if I’m honest. He made a leap last year and I thought we’d try to get him a loan at a higher level and go from there. From a career point of view, though, this is a brilliant move for him and I am pleased for him that he has a home and can focus on developing there. I hope we got a sell-on percentage installed in the deal and I hope he goes from strength to strength.

It looks like Dennis Cirkin is on his way out too. I really rated Cirkin. It’s not exactly been a year of progression for him and, in some ways, I think he might have been a victim of his own success. Had he not been spotted and ‘fast tracked’ by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, perhaps he’d have had a year out on loan and we’d have seen some progression. As it is, I’m not sure he’s kicked on has hoped, albeit with some personal tragedy having made the last year a truly difficult one for him. All that said, he is a really talented boy and he’s definitely one who could rise to the top in time, so I hope we’ve covered ourselves with clauses all over the shop. I hope he smashes it at Sunderland.


I am the host of The Extra Inch; a Spurs podcast that delves into the analytical side of Tottenham games. Check us out! If you already follow the podcast, consider becoming an xSub for additional content, including videos, and extra podcasts.

I recently added a Donate button to this site. It’s on the ‘About‘ page. I explain why on there. Cheers!

The First Days of Nuno

It would be completely reasonable to think that the idea that that the Spurs training ground is suddenly a happy camp again is projection on my part. I feel happier about Spurs, so I assume that the whole place feels happier. But I do have a bit of intel on this and, yeah, it’s happier. The mood has been transformed, I’m told.

From the fans’ perspective, we’ve had three enjoyable pre-season matches (one draw, two convincing wins) with some well-coached attacks and some of the club’s most promising youngsters involved. We’ve also had our beloved Son Heung-min sign a lengthy new contract and subsequently give one of the most wholesome and delightful interviews seen on Spurs’ social channels. Things feel good!

The transfer business has kicked into gear in the past week, with Pierluigi Gollini and Bryan Gil coming in and Toby Alderweireld and Erik Lamela leaving. Negotiations for Cristian Romero continue, Takehiro Tomiyasu seems to be the passing of a medical away from signing, whilst several players have reportedly been told to find new clubs. We’ll know a lot more about the shape of the squad by this time next week but my view is that things are moving in the right direction.

We’re also starting to understand the shape of the tactics a lot better by now, despite Nuno Espírito Santo’s claims that pre-season friendlies would be a fitness exercise. So what can we see so far?

Well, this is frequently our attacking shape – a line (ish) of four or five (in this case five) players spread roughly evenly across the pitch in advanced areas, able to move towards the ball to receive (as Dele is doing here, receiving on the half-turn), or run in behind, as Steven Bergwijn is beginning to do on the near-side and Nile John is doing on the far-side.

Spurs’ attacking shape vs MK Dons

And this is interesting. Here we see our narrow 4-3-3 defensive shape. Nile John is contesting for the ball. He is successful in doing so; note Sergio Reguilón’s position as the far-side full-back. Firstly, he is on the outside of his man — he is close enough to cover round if needs be, but this is a position that allows him to burst forward if we are successful in winning possession.

Spurs’ defensive shape vs MK Dons

And, yeah, that’s what happens – John successfully wins the ball and offloads it to Oliver Skipp. I jokingly called Skipp ‘The Scan Man’ in one of the videos I recorded on him with Nathan because he’s always scanning; that, is he’s constantly turning his head and checking his position in relation to those around him. Once you notice it you can’t stop noticing it. Here, Skipp scans, receives and scans, and switches the ball across to the opposite side of the pitch with his second touch.

Notice the ground Reguilón has gobbled up in three seconds. Winning the ball in midfield seems to be a trigger for the full-backs to quickly join the attacks and create overloads. There’s another example of this in the Leyton Orient match when Winks wins possession and Maksim Paskotši gets on his bike – but he’s a little slower off the mark than Reguilón, perhaps because Paskotši is primarily a centre-back by trade. Reguilón overlaps Bergwijn and is played in beyond the defence; he should score, but his shot is that of a man who is playing his first match of pre-season.

Spurs in transition vs MK Dons

Our first two goals came from through-balls finding Son making well-timed runs beyond the defence. This has been a feature of pre-season so far too — Dane Scarlett’s goal vs Leyton Orient, Son’s goal vs Colchester (he makes a great run from in to out for our third too), and the two here — lots of runs, lots of players looking for early passes. Lucas Moura has been notably exceptional at getting his head up and picking out a runner.

The next two matches will be much sterner tests, obviously, and they might also be the first run-outs for a few players. I think it’s important to bear that very much in mind and not jump to too many conclusions off the back of them. Hopefully we’ll see similar patterns and cohesiveness in attack.


I am the host of The Extra Inch; a Spurs podcast that delves into the analytical side of Tottenham games. Check us out! If you already follow the podcast, consider becoming an xSub for additional content, including videos, and extra podcasts.

I recently added a Donate button to this site. It’s on the ‘About‘ page. I explain why on there. Cheers!