Spurs Weekly

The Premiership is finally upon us and Spurs fans had to wait until Monday to see their team play Leicester City. The new boys who surprised us all to win the League in 2016. Only remnants of their league winning squad were still there but a one Jamie Vardy stuck out. Rumoured to be now too slow and old for the Premiership , there was still a little hint of concern when I saw his name on the team sheet. He's stll a fighter and a killer. Give him a chance and he rarely misses.

The Spurs team was announced. But a year on from Ange Postecoglou's reign and the team pretty much picks itself bar the number 6 position or whether he selects Kulusevski over Johnson. This may not be the case against Everton. With Bissouma suspended for hippycrackgate , it was either Bentancur or the new signing Archie Gray who got the nod but it was always going to be the Uruguayan that would get the nod. I was surprised that Kulusevski did not get in before Johnson as he had a good preseason but I think Ange's long term plan is to have Kulusevski either in the Centre as a number 10 or sold. The back line was the same as always if there is no fitness issues. Dragusan will be waiting in the wings but it will not be long before he gets his chance with all the Europa League fixtures and cup fixtures on the horizon. With Solanke up top I was pretty confident that Spurs would be too much for Leicester but that is the problem with Spurs supporters. It is the hope that kills you.

I watch the match in the pub with my father and my cousin who are all Spurs. A Leeds United fan sat in beside us to declare he was up for Spurs as Leeds and Leicester do not get on which I did not really know about. The initial 30 minutes were all Tottenham with 5 corners and 4 shots on target. We were all over Leicester and playing some great stuff. Solanke looked lively and it would not be long before we would get one in. The break finally arrived in the 29th minute with a strike from Pedro Porro to give Spurs the well deserved lead. Spurs kept going and the feeling was that we should have bagged another 2 or 3 before half time. Things were going well. Leicester would have to come out of their box now that we were ahead which would open the game up rather than a sea of blue behind the ball. We were coasting. The fans were singing Ange's chant and all was rosey in the garden.
At half time we discussed that 1 - nil was a dangerous lead for Spurs as we saw what happened last season against Wolves, West Ham and Everton. All over them and they get a lucky goal. Leicester came back at half time and the crowd started getting behind them. Really getting behind them. A few good passes and chances came their way and slowly the momentum started to change. Spurs who were in control the whole game started leaving Leicester take the initiative. The Spurs players heads started to drop. Vardy got in behind Romero and Vardy did what Vardy does, This guy ain't going nowhere. Goal to Leicester. It was a massive kick in the teeth for Spurs who had 70% possession the entire game. Our wingers were disappointing. Brennan Johnson looked like a guy who did not know what to do with a football. Son's touch and crosses were terrible. Maddison went into himself after having a great first half. Sarr was all over the pitch but his passes left him down. But there was still 30 minutes to go. Bentancur went up for a header and got knocked out which broke up the second half. Ange decided to make his changes. I was glad to see it as the players on the pitch who needed to come off were hooked. Bentancur obviously had to come off with his head injury. Archie Gray replaced him. Sarr made way for wonderkid Bergvall. Brennan Johnson was hooked for Timo Werner. Kulusevski came on for Maddison. Porro got injured so Dyed Spence came on for him and the final substitute was Sonny coming off for Richarlison. Spurs began taking control again but the time just ran out. The game ended 1 -1 and Spurs Twitter just erupted in negative posts.

When you look at it objectively Tottenham were all over Leicester and it was not a total disaster. The Invincible's drew 11 games. Spurs drew against Brentford 2-2 in their 1st game last season and then went on a run. Now this year we face tougher opponents early on. Newcastle , United and Arsenal to name a few so it will be tougher but I am still confident.Carragher said after the game he felt that it looked like Spurs still thought it was a pre season game. I tend to agree with him on this. I like Carragher. He makes some good points I think. After the game Ange said we should be burying those chances and we are leaving with a draw as a result. I suspect we have a couple more signings to bring in before the deadline day. The question is whether to bring in a number 6 or not before the deadline. The chat coming out of the camp is that Bergvall and Gray look so good that they may not need to sign one. Both players looked very good when they came on yesterday especially Bergvall who was demanding the ball all over the pitch. At one point he gave the ball away and our keeper Vicario gave him a piece of his mind.

Spurs are at home to Everton next week who lost against Brighton 3 - nil in Gameweek 1 so they are struggling. Spurs need a win here to get their season up and running before they face into the tough games. Ange has a few decisions to make for this Saturday so I will be really interested to see what he does. Wilson Odobert will have his work permit by Saturday so it will be interesting to see if he replaces anyone this weekend. Solanke looked sharp but he just needs a goal to get him firing. It did not help that our wingers were so toothless against Leicester so changes could be made here. But as of ever it is never a dull moment at Tottenham.

On a positive note the clearout has been immense at Totteham Johan Lange has been busy getting players out the door this summer to clear the wage bill.

So you can see quite the movement of players.Now Scarlett, Donnelly and Veliz are ones for the future. Hojbjerg got a loan move to Marseille but he ain't coming back. More for accounting purposes here as he has a year left on his contract. But this is the first year in a long time that we have had a clear out like this.
We expect to sell Reguilon and Los Celso as well which will make room to bring in a couple of more signings I expect. Rumours we are going in for Vanderson and Gomez who plays for Wolves but you never know in transfers.

Things are looking up for Spurs in every aspect now and we have spent heavy under Ange so now we just need it to start clicking on the pitch. If it does not I can see Ange looking to the younger players in which he can mould into what he wants. Sonny , Maddison and Johnson left him down in the second half yesterday. These players needs to start playing or I can see them being out of the team. It is time to be ruthless now even with Sonny whose goals and assists have masked his poor performances over the last two years. Son is 31 now and people think his best days are gone. They may be right so it might be time now that he is droppable. Maddison is the same. As someone put it to me. If Maddison was not so inconsistent he would be a Real Madrid player. Which is a good point. But there needs to be consequences now. We now have the squad strength to drop these players so there will have to be a ruthless streak when it comes to poor performances. The Everton line up will tell alot this Saturday