Tottenham began life after Harry Kane with an entertaining draw at Brentford that showed what to expect under new manager Ange Postecoglou. Here are five things we learned:
ANGE-BALL IS ENTERTAINING – AND FANS LOVE IT
Spurs fans already love the entertaining and attacking football that Ange Postecoglou has brought back to the team, something that had been sorely lacking under the past three managers, Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte. Tottenham play on the front foot, playing aggressive pressing and passing football, and are not afraid to take chances. They had 69 per cent possession and 19 shots on goal, a reverse of the sort of the stats Conte served up. Fans loved it and were singing the Aussie’s name long before half-time.
RICHARLISON IS NO KANE REPLACEMENT
Embed from Getty ImagesSpurs lost one of the best strikers in the business when Harry Kane moved to Bayern Munich on the eve of the season, and it is already clear that Richarlison cannot fill his goalscoring boots. Kane averaged over 20 goals a season and accounted for almost a third of Tottenham’s league goals during his career there, and Richarlison’s best output is 13 goals in a season at Everton. The Brazilian never stopped running and pressing against Brentford in the way Postecoglou demands, but he is not as clinical as Kane. Postecoglou said, though: “I thought he worked hard today, but we didn’t use him enough. He had a couple of half-chances but I thought we could have created more for him.”
BIG SEASON AHEAD FOR BISSOUMA
Embed from Getty ImagesYves Bissouma was signed from Brighton last summer with a deserved reputation as a dynamic box-to-box midfielder, capable of breaking up attacks and driving forward forcefully. He only showed that form in flashes during a disappointing injury-hit first season at Spurs, but he has already demonstrated that he is back to his best and can be a cornerstone of Postecoglou’s plans. At Brentford, he continually broke up the home side’s counter-attacks, showed great control in tight areas and went past opponents easily as he led breakaways. Certainly one to watch this season.
D-DAY FOR DIER LOOMS
Embed from Getty ImagesEric Dier had been mooted as a possible captain to replace Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane, but was overlooked completely for the matchday squad and his future at Tottenham looks bleak. Not only was new centre-back Micky Van de Ven impressive on his debut, following the Dutch defender’s £42m move from Wolfsburg, but Davinson Sanchez performed better than expected when he had to replace concussion victim Cristian Romero early on. Dier apparently unfollowed Tottenham’s official social media accounts on the eve of the season and it could be he leaves before the end of this transfer window.
BRENTFORD ARE FINE WITHOUT IVAN TONEY
Embed from Getty ImagesThomas Frank was expected to sign a centre-forward to replace Ivan Toney, who is suspended until January because of gambling offences, but the Brentford boss is insistent he can cope just fine without the man who hit 20 Premier League goals last season. His starting strikers against Spurs, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa both scored and Kevin Schade looked a handful when he went on later. More importantly Mbeumo showed he can step up to the spot when it comes to penalties, which were a speciality of Toney’s.
