He’s Tottenham, You Know

It surely is no coincidence that the two sides featured all week in the latest Premier League soap opera scored a combined 11 goals this weekend. More than a little to prove, I would think.

This evening’s story is simple: Marco Silva decided to go toe-to-toe with us in an open game, and with sugar plums dancing in 22 players’ heads, there would be no defending. Spurs got fortunate early twice—the first a debatable foul call against Calvert-Lewin on a reeling Davinson Sanchez, and the second Jordan Pickford’s bizarre walkabout. But we could have scored a couple times before that, Son was clinical in his finish to the open net, and then the floodgates opened.

Son, Kane, Dele and Eriksen were all brilliant—with Son’s pass to Kane, Sissoko’s pass to Son that led to Dele’s goal, and Trippier’s free kick off the post deserving special commendation. But let me talk about Harry Winks. He is growing into his role by leaps and bounds, getting more assured with every game and all that prevents him from becoming a top-level midfielder are his decisions and actions in the final third. When they come, as I’m sure they will, we will have another diamond in the rough outfield players—added to a growing list.

Nice to see Sanchez back though our back four has had better evenings. Gylfi had far too much space and Hugo somewhat misjudged the shot on the second goal. But that’s quibbling. The larger truth is that we stand just two points behind the behemoth that is City—now at the fringe of a title race—alive in four separate competitions, playing our best football in typical Poch fashion as the weather gets colder. Anything seems possible with a performance like today—we will lose Son for a few weeks in late January and early February, though those fixtures until the Chelsea two-leg cub tie are not the toughest.

The Poch rumours will keep swirling. So what? Win… and then win some more. That will take care of the rest. We are clearly head and shoulders better than our two London rivals—at present our form is superior to City and given all the European and other distractions, can Liverpool maintain their current forever. Those two play each other early in the New Year—that may be the day we learn that we are either in or out of a title challenge.