It was a game that Tottenham were strong favourites going into after beating Brighton on two previous occasions. Brighton having beaten Arsenal last week has a 6 weeks to forget after a disastrous run of form but the Arsenal game revived them and they were gunning for Spurs from the off.
Spurs looked to be tired after their week off for some reason. The team had two days off after the Villa game last weekend. Some of you golf viewers may have seen Harry popping up in Augusta on the Sunday and was even interviewed as part of the coverage. Dele Ali also had a birthday party in which Gollini, Dier, Sonny and Sessegnon had attended. Training resumed on Tuesday and some of the fans did point out that these little trips away and parties were not the best way to prepare for a weekend fixture but in my opinion they are not machines first of all. Plus there was plenty of days between last weekend and this weekend to get over any potential hangover. Another minor blip this week was that Conte contracted Covid after the Villa game so he could not take the training sessions last week. Now that the excuses are out of the way, Brighton actually did a job on us. Our wing backs were pinned back so Spurs had to go direct through the middle and this was bread and butter to the two big Centre Halves for Brighton that just batted these out of the ball park. At times Hojbjerg was waving his hands looking for players to move into a position but the movement was limited. As I said before if Harry has a bad day, so do the rest of the attack. Sonny and Kuluveski had poor games and Bentancur looked leggy which was a surprise. I was full sure a draw was on the cards and we might nip one. Conte threw on Winks, Bergwijn and Moura. Moura wasn't great. Somebody said on the Last Word On Spurs podcast recently that Moura plays for himself. He might pass 3 players and then mess up the final pass to a teammate. I have never heard of a truer word said. Moura was the epiphany of his years at Spurs. He is an exciting player but the end results ain't there. Bergwijn was a bit more of a threat snatching at a good chance late on but he doesn't get enough time to influence the game. I hear Den Haag has him on the list for United in the summer. We might have a gem of a player here, there are glimpses of brilliances. He just isn't getting a game. So we were so busy trying to get a winner that we forgot to defend and Brighton ended up scoring. It is one thing to draw but another thing to not lose.
Every Cloud ......
Now the Spurs game was on at 12.30 on Saturday so Arsenal were to play later in the day. They were playing Southampton. It was either gonna be 1-0 to Southampton or 9 - 0 to Arsenal. Luckily Southampton actually beat them and this means Spurs remain in 4th place and in the Champions league spots.
The only downside of the weekend was that Man United beat Norwich to move 3 points behind us. Now I am not worried about Man United because I do not think that their team is a functional unit and they will drop points on the run in so it is up to Spurs really. Brentford next and Christian Eriksen coming up against us. I have a weird feeling already about this game just like I did against Brighton. We have to get 3 points here as Liverpool and Arsenal are still to come. We may as well write off Liverpool away. But it is time now to stand up and be counted.
I never thought I would say this but Spurs missed Matt Doherty badly at the week and he has turned himself around under Conte. We have to rely on Emerson Royal. He is still very young but I do not think he can play football which is a worry. I can see him getting the door in the summer and a massive clearout. Winks, Sanchez, Bergwijn, Gollini, Los Celso, Ndombele, Rodon, White, Tananga, Royal and Reguilon will be all out the door I reckon and maybe even Moura.
I cannot wait to see what happens in the summer. Paradici who has just been cleared of any charges with the Italian football case that was going on in the background has deals done behind the scenes so it will not be lastminute.com in this transfer window. If it is then Conte will walk so we need to do the business early.
So the next game is Brentford away.