Pass & Move – He’s One of Our Own!
When a team starts as well as City did, you look at what they’re doing and you wonder: how can they possibly be stopped? They always are, though. One way or another. Sometimes the fixtures get tougher, sometimes they get too congested. Sometimes form slips and others it’s some tactical weakness exposed. But probably more than ever it’s injuries that halt the raging beast.
Having had that perfect record busted in unlucky circumstances, getting done in by a Paul Pogba pass of universal quality and then finding themselves trapped within the West Ham Away Form machine, it felt more like an unavoidable stumble than a worrying trip. Nobody wins ‘em all, sometimes the luck doesn’t go your way. But City had actually played bloody well in both of those games and they then went and blasted Sunderland 4-1 in the League Cup.
So there was optimism in most ranks that City could do for Tottenham too. Spurs have looked a bit disjointed this season, struggling to close out the games they’ve led in and generally struggling to get those leads in the first place. That’s what happens when you rely on one player for most of your goals (Harry Kane’s 31 goals last season were more than a third of their total in all comps and only he, Chadli and Eriksen made it past 3 league goals).
But one look at the team that City put out here and there were inklings that an upset could be on the cards. Nothing too alarming, though it’s gotta be encouraging for Kane and co. to see a City team without the likes of David Silva, Vincent Kompany and Joe Hart. That meant for some big reshuffles with Martin Demichelis, Willy Caballero and Fernando all getting first league starts of the season. Yaya Toure played as the central attacking midfielder. A lot of changes there.
Even on the bench it was a bit chaotic. Vincent Kompany falling ill during warm ups and replaced by George Evans on the bench so late that Evans was still in the changing rooms getting kitted up as the teams kicked off.
As for Spurs, they lined up about as expected. The quartet of Walker/Alderweireld/Vertongen/Davies has pretty much emerged as their top strength defence, while Eric Dier and Dele Alli got the run in midfield, two young English players of plenty promise. Christian Eriksen was fit enough to start alongside Son Heung-Min for the first time, with Eric Lamela joining them and Harry Kane in front, as per fan requirements.
Spurs probably had the narrow best of early exchanges, though Lamela kept getting in the way. His was a complicated game, he won the Man of the Match in many publications, but especially in the first half the enterprise was greater than the payoff. He was offside from a Kane through ball and wasted another by not volleying first time and having to settle for a corner as defenders enclosed him. You can draw a comparison with Raheem Sterling at the other end, not the best in the final third himself, Bubba missing Kolarov on an overlapping run and instead punting the ball out for a goal kick. It was a very open game, though. Good footy.
Sergio Aguero was the first to test a keeper, asking Lloris to dive swiftly low to tip away his shot. Challenge accepted on Hugo’s part.
Whether by City pressure or their own faults, Spurs just didn’t have the same fluency of attack. Clumsy touches and passes slightly over or under hit made for a few missed opportunities and a lot of lost possession. Which in turn made for such a fast game. But, yeah, City were a notch or two higher on the class-o-meter. Spurs may have had more sustained spells on attack but City always looked the more capable of scoring and that tolled midway through the first half.
A misplayed pass from Walker to Eriksen across the City box was picked off by Yaya Toure and carried about 50 metres on the break before he fed in Kevin De Bruyne for a slick finish. 1-0, Spurs made to pay for not being more clinical themselves as City showed what they were capable of with the slightest window of opportunity.
There were hints of offside, maybe, but best not to dwell on that idea given what was to come.
Within another two minutes, Sterling drew a top save out of Lloris, though a better first touch and it could’ve been worth more than a corner kick.
Tottenham’s supposed problems this season really only come down to one thing: They aren’t scoring. They did enough in games against Leicester and Stoke to win but they didn’t kill the games like they could have and ended up conceding late equalisers. Six points from those and this game would have been a top of the table battle. They’ve actually only lost once in the League, 1-0 to an unconvincing Manchester United team on opening day.
Lots of that comes from the expectations on Harry Hotspur’s back. They haven’t had the same issues in defence as in the past couple seasons (shout out to Toby Alderweireld), although that midfield has taken some settling and that hasn’t helped the attack. Plus when you look at how Kane and Eriksen at times seem to have this telepathic sense of each other’s movement, it’s probably not a coincidence that the Danish midfielder has missed a big chunk of this so-called goal drought. Not saying it wasn't a drought, just saying that these things get magnified at the start of seasons, Wayne Rooney’ll tell ya that himself. And counting minutes from the end of last season is basically cheating. Still, Kane needs help. 5 goals in 6 PL games isn’t good enough from Spurs.
The thing is, Kane hasn’t played badly during this stretch. He’s looked frustrated, as is natural for a young player who hasn’t gone through a dry spell like this before. It’s hard to know that things will come better by themselves if you Trust the Process, as any good manager will say. Kane’s linked up well all the same. He’s gotten involved and it’s just a little bit of hesitation in front of goal that’s held him back. Often when scoring goals becomes a problem, the inclination is to score the best possible goal to break it when in reality any old goal will do.
Kane took a pop from distance that went wide. Soon after he won a corner with a clever stab at a ball under his foot. He did well to get the power that he did on it too, even the shot wasn’t enough to beat Caballero. Again, it came after Lamela got himself in a great position with a sublime turn and spoiled it, this time by taking too long to get the shot off.
With City’s fresh CB pairing, there were a couple situations of miscommunication. Son is a player who loves to charge forward and that almost sets them up with two strikers – fast becoming a rarity in the Premier League, sadly. Having a backup keeper didn’t help either. It’s not that they looked vulnerable like Chelsea have done, more like they didn’t inspire the same sense of assuredness. It was Kompany and Mangala that were so good at the start of the season. Pablo Zabaleta hasn’t played a second yet. City should have been camped out in the other half anyway trying to find that jugular vein for crushing only they looked to shrink within themselves after scoring. Spurs weren’t exactly busting the door down but they were at least prodding away with enthusiasm.
Right at the end of the half, though, the Tottenham nudging finally sent City over the cliff, not that there weren’t a mess of errors in the build-up. First of all from the linesman, letting Kyle Walker play on when he was a full metre offside from Kane’s through ball. This is as obvious as they get.
Son was then denied from six yards by Caballero getting low and closing him down, the ball falling for De Bruyne whose pass traveled beyond Fernandinho. Whether that’s De Bruyne’s fault for overplaying out of the back, Fernandinho’s fault for being lazy, or both, Dinho definitely didn’t attack the loose ball like he should have and Eric Dier was able to smack it first time. Ripping along the carpet, it swerved out into the post and back into the comfort of the net. Caballero didn’t react at all. It was slack, no doubt. Gotta say it was a great hit from Dier though.
And so half time arrived with City seemingly having gone through the motions and then getting stung late, giving Spurs a huge lift, one that carried into the second half as they survived a couple of Aguero feints and Toure tests to take a momentous lead.
What you up to, Willy?
Suddenly Tottenham were playing with a rare confidence. City were on the back foot. The crowd was as loud as they’d been all day and the belief was starting to emerge that perhaps they could take this one. It was there to win. Things got worse for City when Yaya Toure was forced off with injury, replaced by Jesus Navas with De Bruyne moving centrally.
If anything, that only made them worse. Yaya didn’t have the best of games playing further forward. He set up the goal but that was from a run that started on the edge of his own penalty area. Those kinds of deep runs from the base of midfield are what he’s best at, leaving markers behind before unleashing a sharp pass or a brutalising shot. The Fernands behind him lacked the same punch and it kind of isolated their front four from the back seven. Still, Yaya brings a threat wherever he is and for the first half an hour it was quite impressive from City. Were a lesser man than Hugo Lloris wearing the gloves then they may not have had the troubles they did.
The choruses of “He’s one of our own…” had rung out intermittently all day but they reached a deafening volume around an hour in. Finally, that relieving moment. Christian Eriksen curled a near-perfect free kick away, but this is football not 'almost', and it pinged back off the corner of the goal-frame. The ball fell to Harry Hotspur, who did just enough with what was probably a tougher chance than it looked. The keeper was out of the play, the goal wide open from the edge of the area. Yet the ball was rising off the bounce right before him and he very nearly made the mistake of over-hitting it when all it needed was a guiding parry. Very nearly but not quite, the ball settling in the opposite top corner from where it came from. Kane was marginally offside, but the linesman might have reacted more kindly had a single City player other than Sagna moved in reaction to the first shot.
By now it was amazing how the game had swung, City playing in neutral as Spurs only got better and better the more ball they got. Plus it needs to be said that they were defending extremely well. Sterling was the only player getting the room to do much up top and he’s the one you’d most settle for, his finishing isn’t his best attribute. It was up to MCFC to up the tempo and haul their way back into proceedings and they never did.
Spurs were good enough to be able to play the ball out of the back with smart turns and inside balls. Son especially did more than his share of tracking back, though he did cost them a goal when he tapped in a shot from an offside position that might have been going in anyway. This time the flag did go up.
At the other end it was mostly Jesus Navas doing anything. De Bruyne tried to pull strings but he was helpless without Aguero finding any space. Which he couldn’t, not in the second half. He couldn’t even get the ball without three players immediately in his face. Absolutely mobbed. He couldn't turn on it and he couldn’t lay it off with one of those three usually Alli or Dier closing him in from midfield. On came Nasri for Fernandinho. Lloris made a nice save off a whipped Navas effort.
Erik Lamela is an interesting fella. Often talked about as if he’s on the brink of flop status, he can do the most incredibly skilful things. If he doesn’t succeed in England, it won’t be a matter of talent but a matter of fitting in. He plays to the beat of a different drum. Often he gets the ball and looks only to feed Kane, other times he absolutely skins a defender. He’s not a ruthless player and that showed a few times as he declined clear looks to shoot to try beat another defender. But geez the lad can play. His goal with 10 to play summed it all up.
It started with Lamela about 30 yards offside, not bothering to track back after some slick footwork and gotten Chadli in space, only for a mixup with Davies to lose the ball. City attacked down Lamela’s side and Alderweireld stepped up to win it back, feeding N’Jie (On for Son) who made a gorgeous turn to get in behind on the right wing. Lamela’s still offside at this point, he settles in by a defender as he sees what’s happening. Then a perfect ball is nearly wasted because Lamela only wants it on his left, eventually turning 360 degrees to get a shot off, which he does sweetly. Demichelis loses his footing, Caballero comes out and doesn’t close him down right. An easy finish made hard made easy once more. Lamela will frustrate and he’ll inspire. That was his ball to set up the second goal from the wide free kick. Plus he does do his bit getting back. He’s more physical than he appears, much more physical than when he first arrived.
Exciting to see a bit of Patrick Roberts for City, though withdrawing Aguero with 5 mins to play was a clear waving of the white flag. Roberts is a wonderkid, signed from Fulham (in part to help their homegrown players quota), with some serious skill with the ball at his feet. Tottenham threw on a youngster of their own in Tom Carroll. Not much else happened. Four minutes of injury time came and went with a shrill whistle and a thundering roar. Spurs were magnificent in the second half, earning full reward for a positive attitude against a team that never matched the standards they teased early when they needed to. They let this game slip away and were duly reprimanded. Two hours later they’d ceded first place to their Red rivals.
It’s worth mentioning after a game in which City were never able to rouse the energy to match their enthusiastic (but less talented) opponents, that 10 of the City 11 started that League Cup game midweek. Only Kane, Eriksen and Dier started Spurs’ loss to Arsenal. City played on the Tuesday, Spurs on the Wednesday, but either way it was a short turn-around for the weekend. One that City should be more used to making with their Champions League commitments, yet you have to wonder after this. That immaculate start to the season has been shattered in the space of a couple weeks. Folks, we have a title race on our hands.
Man of the Match: The sentimental options are Harry Kane and Erik Lamela, but to be honest there were better players. Toby Alderweireld was flawless. Vertongen was very good too, as was Dier. But the man of the match goes to Hugo Lloris. He kept the game tight when City first pressed and there would have been no dramatic comeback without him. Even at the end he stayed zoned in. His 7 saves included some belters and he looked even better compared to his counterpart, who could probably be blamed for at least 3 of Spurs’ 4 goals. Absolute class.
The Good
Manchester United – Top of the table for the first time since David Moyes’ first game. That’s over 700 days below the summit. Things still haven’t clicked for the Red Devils and their first halves are still better fast forwarded through. But the rest of the chips have fallen their way with Chelsea’s struggles and City’s sudden stumble. Next week they play Arsenal…
Dan Sturridge (Liverpool) – There really is no accounting for that pure striker’s instinct. Look at the impact Anthony Martial’s had (he didn’t score against Sunderland but it was arguably his best game yet). Sturridge probably wouldn’t even be playing if things weren’t so dire but even at about 80% he’s just got that special touch. Two goals against Villa, without him they might’ve lost and that could well have been curtains for Rodgers. So, so good.
Alexis Sanchez (Arsenal) – But nobody had the week that Alexis Sanchez had. A hat-trick at Leicester well and truly announced that he’s back at his best. It took a while, coming back tired and a bit injured from the Copa America, and it’s not like he wasn’t playing well in the meantime, but Sanchez probably needed a game like this to get the blood boiling. With Ozil looking decent around him and Olly Giroud and Theo Walcott both continuing to score goals despite the critics, Arsenal would be in a great position if they hadn’t just got skinned by Chelsea. At least someone finally took advantage of that leaky Leicester defence.
The Bad
Sloppy Chelsea – Aren’t we past this by now? Apparently not, with Chelsea still unable to clear their lines like they used to. They had troubles against the physical Mitrovic and as such seemed too timid to attack the ball. Look at how they let Perez take the ball down and slam it in for the first goal. Just standing around and watching. You know Jose Mourinho’s never won at St James Park in the league?
Callum Wilson’s Injury – Argh, this is awful. Wilson needed an oxygen mask as they stretchered him off the park against Stoke with what is surely a serious knee injury. The absolute last thing Bournemouth needed, losing their top scorer and star player so soon. Eddie Howe called it a “huge blow”. He’s not wrong.
The Ugly
The Campaign - “I was never worried about the players. They have been absolutely brilliant this group here and they have worked very, very hard. I am pretty confident that there is a group of people that don’t want me to be here as manager. In all competitions this season we have lost less games than Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal. The hysteria around ourselves is interesting to note. Myself and the players stay very calm and work very hard, and they got their rewards.”
So says Brendan Rodgers. Apparently he’s hinting at people from outside the club, and the conspiracy theorists suggest perhaps it's directed at a few former players turned pundits and their wagging tongues. Jamie Carragher, Graeme Souness, Jamie Redknapp… maybe even Stevie G (God forbid!). Whoever it is, he reckons there’s a campaign going on to get him out of there, watch this space.
Breaking the Droughts – As mentioned before, when scoring goals becomes a mental issues, the tendency is to try a little too hard. Looking to break the drought with the best possible strike rather than the simple, instinctive finishes that players in peak form feed on. Both Rooney and Kane scored their first goals of the season and neither was all that pretty, not that they should care. Kane almost missed an open goal trying to do more than he needed, while Roonis… not even sure he realised he’d scored until his teammates started celebrating. Two unattractive goals. That’s all they needed.