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.

Dele ran nearly 11km today, other than Skipp nobody else ran over 9.71. The guy was a pressing machine today, unreal.

— The Extra Inch (@TheExtraInch) August 15, 2021

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.

Under-23s have been *supremely* watchable tonight. Alfie Devine relentless with driving runs forward and creative passes. Lovely stuff.

— The Extra Inch (@TheExtraInch) August 16, 2021

https://t.co/2SI2BNo2JW

— The Extra Inch (@TheExtraInch) August 16, 2021

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

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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!

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.

Charlie Kane currently sat on his office motorbike shouting 'who's the man? I'm the man!' pic.twitter.com/ne88YBSme1

— The Extra Inch (@TheExtraInch) August 2, 2021

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.

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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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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!

It’s the day of our first pre-season match! Our first glimpse at Are [sic] Boys since Ryan Mason’s Vibes XI twatted Leicester 4-2.

We face Leyton Orient for the JE3 Trophy, in honour of Justin Edinburgh. Justin, our former left-back who then went on to be manager of Orient, died of cardiac arrest aged just 49. You can support the Justin Edinburgh 3 Foundation here.

My initial hope was to watch today’s game and to try to catch a few potential blueprints for the style that Nuno Espírito Santo will introduce this season. However, at his press conference he was keen to separate the fitness work that is currently ongoing, from the tactical work which will follow.

We have to be really careful and how we want to play. Now we have to prepare the players in terms of fitness, in terms of mentality, the focus so then we’ll put our ideas together.

Now it’s about preparing themselves to be able to do whatever comes in situations, to become faster, to become stronger, competitive and intense in every action. Then will come the moment that to deliver our idea, how we’re going to play, the lines of the ball, how we’re going to defend, but we have to be organised and that’s the main point.

These two weeks has been a focus on fitness and we work fitness inside of the game, without separating, so if we want to prepare fitness we have to be intense in our training sessions, inside of the game, but like I said, the players have been great. Fantastic.

‘Every word Nuno Espirito Santo said on Harry Kane, transfers, how Tottenham will play and more‘, 16 July 2021

It has been really interesting to watch the pre-season training clips released so far, which are quite markedly different from what I’ve seen at Spurs in the recent past. There is a real focus on drills in which the players are grappling with one another in some way before doing something with the ball. Or, in the most recent clip, tethered to some sort of resistance machine to ensure that they are working harder to achieve the task set out for them.

Some of the ITK suggests that NES found our players too easy to knock off the ball. Even disregarding that — because, let’s face it, it could be complete nonsense — it does seem clear that the coaching team are focussing on adding a base layer of core strength to the players. Nuno’s own words — ‘to become faster, … stronger, competitive and intense’ — imply that perhaps he saw a weakness there. We know from previous reporting that the squad was not in peak condition last season and so this seems like a sensible place to start.

So I am not expecting to see too much in terms of key tactical approaches today, but we might get an idea of intended team shape, and we might see some young players in action, as so many of the first teamers are still away. Nile John seems pretty prominent in the training videos so far — it’d be great to see him play a part in the middle of midfield. And TJ Eyoma, who did so well at Lincoln City last season, has a chance to show how far he has grown as a player on his gap yah.

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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!