Tottenham need changing?
Do Spurs really need to change after such an impressive start?
Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 win over Everton on the 15th of October officially meant that the club had recorded its best start to a season in the Premier League era after registering 23 points in ten games. Furthermore, the win against Frank Lampard’s men was enough to leave Spurs just four points off league leaders Arsenal and in third position overall in the table. Again, these stats are relevant as of the middle of October but, in short, the wider point is that it has been a mightily impressive start to the 2022/2023 campaign for Antonio Conte’s side.
An indefensible article?
This is why The Athletic’s piece the day after the win against the Toffees made for curios reading as scribe Micheal Cox insisted in his title that “Antonio Conte’s Tottenham must be less predictable to unlock stubborn defences”.
It was an extraordinary line to lead with given that less than 24 hours previously, Spurs had broken down an Everton defence that is seventh in the table for conceding the fewest goals in the league. In fact, it’s hard to think of a centre-back pairing that would provide more of a challenge to strikers owing to their outright resistance that is coupled with a mixture of the old-school dark arts than Conor Coady and James Tarkowski. Put another way, teams have to earn every goal against the no-nonsense Everton duo who are famed for a throwback style of defending that is fueled by an ‘over my dead body’ approach.’
However, this still didn’t stop Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from diligently finding a way to put the ball in the back of the net en route to a win that, as mentioned, set a new record in the club’s history.
Yes, Spurs were able to break down even the most stubborn of Premier League defences which is why it’s strange to immediately imply that manager Conte and his men have to do a lot better when finding a way to score against miserly backlines. This peculiar piece, perhaps unsurprisingly, saw Cox come under fire in the comments section with fans drawing a direct link to the journalist’s affiliation with Arsenal and his scathing article about the lack of creativity in this Spurs lineup. Of course, it’s worth quickly saying that writers are fallible and just because something is in print does not mean that it is unquestionably true. But, the truth is that this is a narrative that does get bandied about every so often with Cox, not the only one to suggest that Spurs are short of ideas in the final third. So, is there even the slightest bit of truth to this?
If it’s not broken…
As things stand, the answer is that it’s an unjustifiable argument to put forward when you consider that after ten games, only Arsenal and Manchester City have scored more goals than Spurs have in the league. Indeed, Spurs’ current haul of 22 means that they are averaging over two goals a game which would if carried on, comfortably ensure that they finish in the top four. Now, in an effort to cover all bases here and look at the facts without bias, it would be remiss not to mention Richarlison’s injury that he suffered against Everton and what that could mean for Spurs’ goal-scoring threat in the near future.
Can Spurs carry on scoring without Richarlison?
After all, the striker did leave the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on crutches following the win over Everton and admitted that his participation at the Visa World Cup could be in doubt. Naturally, you can understand why the 25-year-old was clearly emotional whilst he confirmed his injury to reporters given that as of the 17th of October, the latest World Cup odds price his nation Brazil as the outright favourites at 9/2 to go all the way in the Middle East. Regrettably for the Brazilian, it now looks as if he may not be on the plane to Qatar which also means that he will miss a host of games for Spurs before the league is paused in November. So, could this development make Spurs less creative? Admittedly, the forward has hit the ground running since he signed from Everton and has racked up three assists and two goals for Spurs in just 13 matches.
With these eye-catching numbers in mind, it’s reasonable to think that Spurs will miss the talented Brazilian over his upcoming absence but as for losing their cutting edge going forward, that remains to be seen.
Essentially, the truth is that there should be no calls for Spurs to change what they’re doing as their current approach is helping the club set new records, and more importantly, has Conte’s men within touching distance of the summit of the Premier League.
All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.
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