Sat 04 September 2021, 10:30
Tottenham HotspurNo Premier League matches this weekend, so instead of our regular Ben & Rob's preview, here is Ben & Rob talk Spurs... where Ben Haines, presenter of N17 Live and Rob Daly, our Club commentator, talk all things Spurs - the season so far, new signings and a random Spurs question!
Season so far...
Rob: “From Nuno’s point of view it couldn’t have gone much better. The team has settled pretty quickly, he’s had a lot of the group to work with in pre-season and you can see that many of the players have been together in training for some weeks now, and we’ll eventually see the Euro and Copa players integrated into the starting XI. Three clean sheets - you can’t argue with that. Sonny looking razor sharp again and some of the Academy lads like Japhet Tanganga and Oliver Skipp impressing a lot, and an opening weekend win over the champions was one of the best days at the new stadium that I can remember. So, pretty good so far.”
Ben: “Essentially, in terms of results, flawless. In terms of the defence, flawless. You couldn’t ask for anything more from Nuno. We’ve been really mature in the way we’ve managed games, taking a ‘horses for courses’ approach for every game, and got it right each time. I absolutely love the fact that Nuno has said we’re nowhere near where he wants us to be, and I think, to some extent, we can definitely be more creative, we can have a bit more verve in the attacking third but, having said that, I’ve loved the determination we’ve had in games, the way we created chances on the counter against City, how we got through the game at Wolves and defended so well, and the last 10 minutes of the game against Watford, when we knew what we had to do and managed the game out. Top of the table - you can’t ask for more than that at this stage!”
Who has caught your eye?
Ben: “Davinson Sanchez and Eric Dier deserve so much praise. I think they’re playing a little higher and that defensive line is helping them massively and being given the freedom to play and ping passes, that’s been lovely to watch. Japhet Tanganga has been incredible. I love Japhet, he’s been wonderful to watch, the City game was particularly good. Everyone struggles against Adama Traore of Wolves, but I thought he did really well in that game, and against Watford as well. Oliver Skipp has been fantastic. Sonny, you can’t look past the fact that he’s scored two winners for us already, and Dele, the work rate that man puts in is just insane.”
Rob: “It’s very pleasing to see Eric Dier nominated for the Premier League’s EA SPORTS Player of the Month. I also think Japhet could have been amongst the nominees given his performances, particularly against City. It’s hard to ignore a defence that has kept three clean sheets out of three. I just think the way Dele is playing, and his role in the team is so interesting, Nuno has spoken about his ability to get up and down the pitch, and his defensive work has been outstanding. I think once the team gets more comfortable with Nuno’s patterns of play, and everyone is up to full match sharpness, Harry Kane has a couple of starts under his belt, then I think we’ll see Dele become more of an attacking threat as well. It was such an intelligent run in the area to win the penalty at Wolves. The evolution of Dele has been one of the most interesting aspects of the opening weeks of the season."
The new lads
Rob: “I’ll certainly try to take a look at Metz in Ligue 1 this season, as Pape Matar Sarr looks an exciting player who Fabio Paratici is clearly pleased to have signed. We’ve seen Pierluigi Gollini get minutes already, and looking forward to seeing Emerson Royal, who is an attack-minded right-back. Bryan Gil impressed against Pacos de Ferreira, but I think the most relevant signing here is Cristian Romero. It will be tough for Nuno to move Eric Dier or Davinson Sanchez out of the 11, but I believe Romero was signed with the mindset of being in the Premier League starting XI, so we’ll see how Nuno juggles that. Romero, with that range of passing, reading of the game, coolness in possession, timing of his tackles and leadership, he’ll be the one I’ll be keeping an eye out for.”
Ben: “I think Cristian Romero is going to be brilliant for us. Bryan Gil has definitely got shades of Luka Modric about him, Pier Gollini as back-up to Hugo Lloris is a fantastic signing.”
Random Q - fave Spurs goal
Ben: “Danny Rose’s volley against Arsenal (April, 2010), phenomenal. I loved Gareth Bale’s volley against Stoke away (August, 2010), Harry Kane’s goal at Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League (R16, second leg, March, 2019), the net rattle when we were under the cosh, and that sealed the game, 4-0 on aggregate. I feel I’m missing some worldies here... I had an old VHS called Tottenham Hotspur Golden Goals and I watched it so many times as a kid that it went a bit grainy! The goals I watched over and over were Ricky Villa in the FA Cup Final replay against Manchester City in 1981, Glenn Hoddle against Oxford (April, 1987), when he sits the goalkeeper down, absolutely unbelievable, and, of course, Gazza’s free-kick in the 1991 FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal. There are a million to choose from!”
Rob: “From my time commentating for Spurs... and I know his goal against Burnley won the Puskas Award, but I actually prefer Heung-Min Son's solo goal in the 3-1 win against Chelsea at Wembley (November, 2018). I know it wasn’t as difficult as the Burnley goal, but I just loved that goal. He breezed past Jorginho and David Luiz as if they weren’t there. Before commentating, I love the goal Gareth Bale scored in the last minute against West Ham in 2013, the 3-2 win, when he picked the ball up centrally, nothing on, 2-2, shifted the ball out of his feet and pinged it top corner.”
