Tottenham’s 111-day wait for a Premier League goal will continue for at least another week after their Saturday evening efforts against Everton proved sufficient only for a goalless draw. Here are our winners and losers from the encounter.
The three winners instrumental to Tottenham’s clean sheet:
Micky van De Ven takes over the Tottenham captain’s mantle
Despite a rocky start against Brentford and Newcastle, Micky van de Ven’s recent performances have been nothing but elite. After taking over the captaincy from Cristian Romero, van de Ven had to be a commanding and reassuring presence in the backline, something he was able to deliver on against Everton.
With his centre-back partner Jan Paul van Hecke positioned more aggressively, higher up the pitch, van de Ven was left as Spurs’ defensive cover meant to snuff out direct balls played in behind Spurs. De Zerbi was so confident in van de Ven’s covering ability, he had the team consistently leave van de Ven in a 1v1 against Thierno Barry – a duel that the Dutchman won time and time again.
Van de Ven’s presence in the box made sure that Everton found little joy in set pieces and in turnovers, which was crucial in preventing the Toffees from converting their 1.1 xG into a goal.
Jan Paul van Hecke was Spurs’ creative spark
As possibly Tottenham’s man of the match, the upside which Jan Paul van Hecke offers when Spurs are in control of possession was obvious for all to see. The right centre-back completed the most passes out of any Spurs player (106), but even more crucially, van Hecke was also Tottenham’s most creative player on the day.
Completing 22 line-breaking passes and 25 passes into the final third would be a feat worthy of the most technical and creative of midfielders. Van Hecke was crucial for Tottenham’s ball progression, having to compensate for the lack of creativity in Tottenham’s pivot of Sandro Tonali and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Having an incredibly skilled technician centre-back in his backline is the one part of De Zerbi’s tactical plan that seems to be working as intended, and Jan Paul van Hecke’s passing currently makes him indispensable.
The renaissance of Rodrigo Bentancur at Tottenham
As things stand, Rodrigo Bentancur has been Tottenham’s best player this season, perfectly suited for the role Roberto De Zerbi has been deploying him in.
When Spurs were in possession against Everton, especially higher up the pitch, it was Rodrigo Bentancur’s role to screen the defence, intercept loose passes and apply pressure in the event of a turnover. Although Spurs’ possession efforts are yet to be rewarded with an actual goal, Bentancur has been crucial in facilitating Spurs’ ability to actually maintain and recycle possession while making sure that opposition counterattacks are snuffed out before they even have a chance to materialise.
He’s far from the creative, small-space pivot player Spurs currently need in midfield and have in Mateus Fernandes, but if he ends up being paired with Fernandes, there is a genuine argument Bentancur on current form should be starting ahead of Sandro Tonali in the midfield pivot.
Now, what about the three losers from Tottenham 0-0 Everton, including the frontline and a £100 million signing who hasn’t yet found his feet…
Sandro Tonali struggles to fit in at Tottenham
Defending Sandro Tonali’s exorbitant £100 million price tag was always going to be an impossible task. But now, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to justify his involvement in the team…
One of the incontestable fundamentals of Roberto De Zerbi’s football is his commitment to playing out via central spaces to access space in behind the opposition block. But receiving a ball under intense pressure from opposition markers and in very little space while also still being expected to play a progressive pass to one of your teammates is a footballing skillset that is incredibly difficult to come by and one that Sandro Tonali simply doesn’t possess.
While obvious against Everton, Tonali struggled with receiving the ball on the turn since the beginning of the season, which hampers Spurs’ ball progression massively. Against Everton, Tonali frequently found himself receiving a pass in space and with the option to turn and pass forward. But his inability to execute that action instead resulted in dangerous opportunities wasted with a pass sideways or back to the centre-back.
This consistently slowed down Spurs’ rapidly improving first phase of buildup and seriously neutered the chances that Tottenham could create from vertical play. Even when the ball would eventually make its way to the penalty box, it would do so with a lack of directness and pace, giving Everton the time to settle into a defensive shape.
Which makes it all the more puzzling that despite Spurs having that skillset in Mateus Fernandes, Roberto De Zerbi consistently decides to deploy Sandro Tonali in the deeper pivot role while keeping the Portuguese as the most advanced playmaker, a role he’s also not suited to.
With Bentancur in some of the best form of his life, it’s difficult to make an argument that he shouldn’t be starting over Sandro Tonali in a pivot role, which makes the prospect of dropping Spurs’ all-time most expensive signing to the bench an uncomfortable proposition.
Omar Marmoush lacked the quality Tottenham needed
Marmoush arrived this summer as one of the two Tottenham premiere attacking signings, tasked with revamping a desperately struggling Spurs attack last season. And although his first appearance against Newcastle showed signs of promise, Marmoush also struggled to make a genuine impact in the two games that followed.
This time deployed on the left wing as a mobile inside forward, similarly to Solanke, the Egyptian failed to produce any notable chances, only generating 0.05 expected goal threat and registering 29 touches in 77 minutes.
Of course, Spurs’ attacking unit doesn’t exist in a void, and their inefficiencies in front of goal are also a partial consequence of their issues in buildup, particularly in midfield. Nonetheless, Spurs simply need more quality from their forward players if they are to get out of their difficult spell.
Dominic Solanke was a non-presence
Dominic Solanke can be excused for a lot in his performance against Everton yesterday. The forward is still to return to full fitness and match sharpness after suffering a small setback in the beginning of the season.
But even then, Solanke’s non-presence during the game remains difficult to accept. The forward’s play as a striker generated 0.01 expected goal threat (xG +xA) for the team.
Spurs were crying out for a box presence able to get on the end of chances, something that Solanke wasn’t able to provide. Even the upside Solanke is meant to provide, his ability to combine with his teammates and get out of pressure, was a non-factor as the striker managed to touch the ball only a total of 18 times in 63 minutes. As Tottenham’s only natural centre-forward, Solanke will have to find some form and deliver the kind of performances his team needs if Spurs are to do anything productive this season.