Many experts and pundits were forecasting that this new football season could provide another team, apart from Liverpool, to challenge for the Premiership crown. That team was Tottenham Hotspur. The truth of the matter, however, is that Spurs are destined yet again to be no-hopers.
Although the North Londoners have yet to lose a game, their first two results have flattered them. The 3-1 win over Aston Villa was fortuitous.
The newly-promoted side went ahead through John McGinn in the ninth minute. Sure, Spurs were without key players Dele Ali, Son Heung-min and one of their new signings, namely Giovani Lo Celso. Even so, it took them 64 minutes to respond. It coincided with Eriksen coming off the bench.
Eriksen’s appearance signalled a change in Spurs’ play. His influence saw Tottenham score three times in the last 17 minutes. Of course, with his future still in the balance until the European transfer window closes, they may well have to do without the Dane going forward. The final 3-1 score-line did not reflect how poorly Spurs were over the ninety minutes.
Tottenham’s next game was away to Manchester City, and Spurs’ fans were expecting a humdinger of a game. Unfortunately, the only humdinger was how well City played and how big the class gap looked between the two clubs. As Nigel Winterburn said in a recent interview, City are far above any other club in the Premier League when they are on the ball.
In last weekend’s game, the Citizens pounded the Lilywhites from start until finish. They had 30 efforts on goal and Tottenham only managed a meagre three. The only thing Spurs can take from that is that their conversion rate was much higher.
VAR played a significant role again – particularly in this game. Right at the death knell, City scored through Gabriel Jesus in injury time. For a moment, it looked as if they had got the result they deserved. There were no complaints from anyone of the pitch, but VAR then came into play to deny the Citizens a well-deserved win.
When the footage was replayed, it showed that during the build-up, the ball had just brushed the arm of Aymeric Laporte. The handball rule has only just been changed so that any handball in the play leading to a goal, whether the handball is intentional or not, means the following goal should be disallowed.
The referee had little choice but to rule the goal out. However, anyone who has seen the incident would agree the goal ought to have been allowed to stand. As it was, Spurs were once again on the end of a fortunate decision against Manchester City, thanks to VAR.
The fact that City totally outplayed Tottenham for 90% of the game speaks volumes – not only for City’s class but for Spurs lack of substance. Yes, they had the spirit to come back twice from behind, but they had no answer to the Sky Blues’ dominance.
When all is said and done, though, the Citizens only have themselves to blame. With 30 attempts on goal, they should have scored more.
For Tottenham Hotspur all that is left to be said is that on this performance, and that during the game against Aston Villa, they are well off the pace.
It looks very much as though they will remain no-hopers for any sort of silverware again this season. That will surely see the demise of Pochettino which in turn will also mean the end of the run of Spurs finishing in the top four of the Premier League.