History repeating as Tottenham win from behind, again, after largely failing to convince, again
We suggested this morning that Spurs found themselves rather in need of a statement performance to reassure everyone that Angeball remains the future and wasn’t just some weird thing where the hopes and joys of Autumn and repeated use of the word ‘mate’ caused everyone to lose their minds.
It wasn’t to suggest that everything was now f***ed, but just that, well, it no longer seemed quite as convincing as it did back in early November when all things seemed possible.
After a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace we’re… well, we’re absolutely none the wiser. Because we have yet again learned absolutely nothing that we didn’t already know about what has become one of the Premier League’s most curious teams.
Defeat at home to Wolves a fortnight ago had been coming for quite some time after a series of wins at White Hart Lane 2.0 that had all followed a vaguely similar blueprint. Unconvincing first-half displays, a great many unimaginative and easily repelled attacks, lots of possession and sterile domination, sloppy and unnecessary concessions and then eventually a win, very often from behind, that flattered Spurs to one degree or another.
Now let’s have a quick look at today’s game, shall we? Right. It had literally all of that. Again. They’ve ended up on the right side of things – again – and at some point maybe we do have to just accept that as they do so far, far, far more often than not at home – six wins in seven here now – maybe they do know what they’re doing.
But it really doesn’t look like it. This first half, against an impressively organised and impeccably drilled Palace side who appear to be responding instantly to Oliver Glasner’s methods, wasn’t quite as bad as recent efforts against both Brentford and Brighton. But nor did it represent significant improvement.
Tottenham had almost all of the ball but did vanishingly little with it. Only once did they unlock Palace, only for Timo Werner to be denied by Sam Johnstone.
Werner did quite importantly open his Spurs account later and will continue to divide opinion, but we maintain he has improved Spurs’ attacking options and has something to offer. But he’s not ever likely to be a man you trust implicitly in a one-on-one situation.
As is his wont, he did everything else brilliantly from the timing of his run to the first touch upon collecting Son Heung-min’s pass, but delayed his finish and made the keeper’s job easier than it should have been.
Few clubs have been more spoiled in recent years than Spurs when it comes to one-on-one finishers thanks to the efforts of Harry Kane and Son himself, but it really was striking here the difference between that pair and a player just a level or two below their standard. Neither Kane nor Son would have been guaranteed to score, of course, but you can be certain neither would have taken quite so long about it all and neither would have made Johnstone’s job so relatively straightforward.
That really was it for the first half from a clear chance perspective. Palace will always possess latent threat on the break in games like this while Eberechi Eze is on the pitch, and Spurs are forever vulnerable with all four defenders often to be found contributing to the latest wave of ultimately non-threatening attacks.
It was looking slightly better in the opening exchanges of the second half, with some pretty clear half-time instructions to actually try and engineer and then also accept opportunities to shoot ringing in collective ears. There was more dynamism about the attacking play, and Son hit the post.
Obviously, Palace then scored with one of their rare counter-attacks. Rodrigo Bentancur, still searching for his very best form on his latest return from injury, was clumsy and careless in giving away a free-kick for bundling over Eze, who was canny and precise with a free-kick that caught out Guglielmo Vicario.
Spurs, though, responded. As they generally do. Brennan Johnson still has some Spurs fans to win over and there do remain doubts about his end product, but he also possesses some enticing raw materials. Spurs certainly carried more obvious menace after his introduction and Dejan Kulusevski’s retreat into midfield.
There was an element of needs must about it all, but it was also far more like it. A few weeks ago, Spurs beat Brentford 3-2 in what will still inevitably go down as Maupay’s Match thanks to a devastating 10-minute second-half spell where everything suddenly clicked and we got a tantalising glimpse of just how destructive this team can still be.
Those 10 minutes came rather later and more desperately here, but the result was much the same. The thrilling head-spinning wave upon wave of attack where a goal appears likely at any moment was again in stark contrast to much of what happened before, and serves as a reminder of just what a puzzle this Spurs team still is.
Even in defeat against Wolves last time out, there was a similar spell early in the second half; Wolves just managed to only concede once instead of thrice during it.
The mercurial Johnson making a decisive difference is becoming a recurring theme too, and perhaps goes some way to explaining why it doesn’t happen all come together quite as often or for quite as long as Ange Postecoglou would like.
It wouldn’t be entirely fair to say Spurs got away with it here in the same way they did against Brighton and Brentford or even Bournemouth at the end of last year. They were demonstrably second best for long spells of those games in a way that simply wasn’t the case today. Had Palace emerged with all three points, it would have been more in smash-and-grab territory even if the manner of that smashing and grabbing – let Spurs commit men forward and play as much as they want in front of your defence, then try and hit them on the break – is an obvious and clearly fairly sensible and workable one.
But nor was it really any kind of defining answer to the criticisms that have bubbled up in recent weeks. There was an awful lot of huffing and puffing before the incisive quality was found. But it was found. And it’s been a long time since Spurs were getting results like this while still obviously being some way short of their ceiling.
They now sit second behind only Liverpool for points won from losing positions having overturned such a deficit for the third time in their last four home games and also extended their record-challenging streak of Premier League games with at least one goal scored.
They are clearly doing something – if not yet quite everything – right.