Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 3-1 victory over Ludogorets

Tottenham Hotspur managed to put the Antwerp defeat in their rear-view mirror tonight as they comfortably dispatched Ludogorets 3-1 in Bulgaria.

Let’s take a look at five things we learned:

Jose was not messing about – 

Mourinho was certainly not messing about against the Bulgarian side this evening, putting out a very strong starting XI. It appeared that the Spurs head coach was not going to make the same mistake as he did last week by fielding a weakened side. Hopefully, the fringe players can step up now.

Dele Alli dropped –

Not only did Dele Alli not make the starting XI tonight, but he also failed to come off the bench, despite the fact that Mourinho had five subs to use. Vinicius, Lo Celso, and Bergwijn, who were all also hooked at half-time last week, featured in some respect tonight, making Dele the only one to be dropped altogether.

Hojbjerg is irreplaceable – 

With each passing game, it becomes clear that Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is irreplaceable in the current Spurs side. They have no like-for-like option and the Dane runs the show whenever he plays, whether it’s off the bench or from the start. A class act.

Toby and Eric –

Jose Mourinho seems to have settled on his first-choice centre-back pairing for the time being, at least until Tanganga returns and Joe Rodon settles in. Dier and Alderweireld have featured together in the majority of games over the past month, while Davinson Sanchez has dropped down to the bench.

Bale growth – 

Gareth Bale seems to be growing into the game more and more each week. He still looks far from the finished article, but we are at least seeing progress with the amount his body allows him to put into each match. Let’s just hope that the ceiling remains high.

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