Alli strike sinks Barnsley

Let me start off by saying this should/could of been an easy game for the lads. But again, sloppy passes and bad decision making in the final third made for nervous viewing at Wembley.

Llorente & Foyth were handed their first ever starts for Tottenham among a stronger team then was expected for such an early round of the league cup. Vorm started between the sticks, Foyth accompanying Vertonghen in the middle, with Walker-Peters and Trippier either side. Dembele started alongside Harry Winks who had returned from injury behind Son, Alli, Sissoko and Llorente. And as the team was shown on the screen at Wembley stadium, I anticipated a few goals to be scored.

What followed was a wasteful and sloppy performance, drawing comparisons to the Swansea game, which I’d rather forget. A lot of attacking play but the ever-present creative spark and attacking prowess of the Tottenham from last season was not to be seen.

The only chances of note in the first half for Spurs were from both the Debutants as Foyth headed whiskers wide of the post from a corner, and Llorente headed over unmarked from 6 yards out.

As the second half began, Tottenham almost found themselves behind but Michel Vorm managed to stop Ike Ugbo’s shot from close range and got down quick to his left to deny him.

From there the game was all Spurs, Son and Sissoko looked lively and had success running at the Barnsley defence but the final ball was not there.

The breakthrough finally/thankfully came in the 65^th minute when Trippier beat the Barnsley defender on the right hand side with a neat little header, and pulling it back to Alli to slot home from close range.

A huge positive was yet again another excellent performance from a debutant as Juan Foyth was voted as the Man of the match.

Also, a special mention to Tashan Oakley-Boothe who made his first team debut, albeit for 3 minutes. He has continually impressed in the youth sides for a while now and will one to watch out for in the coming years.

Negatives aside Tottenham are through and a win, no matter how unconvincing, will hopefully boost confidence a bit before we travel away to West Ham on Saturday.

What are your thoughts on the performance? Have your say below