Praise for Tottenham Hotspur’s manager, Nuno Espírito Santo, is worthwhile for his determined approach to the team’s playing style. They are even to the extent of sidelining some players.
However, there are also some negative aspects to counter, and not just the Spurs’ three consecutive losses.
During each of these confident decisions, Espírito Santo displayed a degree of naivety. A cost was evident in the 2-1 loss against Aston Villa on Sunday and earlier against Chelsea and Wolves before the international break.
Indeed, fans want to witness this brand of football, and the club is striving to build the right culture. Yet, if Spurs persist in this direction when facing Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium next week, concerns are raised.
Currently, it feels like they might lose the game but still feel good about it, but this sentiment won’t persist indefinitely.
Is it time for adaptation for Espírito Santo?Tottenham vs Aston Villa (1-2)
If he had his best team available, I would encourage Espírito Santo to promote a more collaborative approach against City, the way he might prefer.
Looking back, I favour Tottenham’s full-backs, Cristian Romero and Matt Doherty. They seamlessly blend, and then you have James Madison creating overloads everywhere.
As we observed when he stayed unbeaten in his first 10 matches of the season, playing against him is a challenging task.
However, currently, that’s not the case.
We know what City teams can do and if Ben Davies and Emerson Royal form the central. A defensive pairing against Erling Haaland once again could be a problem for me.
So, does Espírito Santo persist with the high line he’s been employing despite the challenges posed by Haaland’s pace and Jeremy Dokku’s deliveries? It doesn’t seem like a great idea.
They’ll have to adapt because, based on what I’ve seen in Spurs’ recent matches, if they don’t, they might face a big defeat from City.
In the Tottenham vs Aston Villa game, The Spurs need to score two runs for a win.
There is much to work on with Spurs at this time, and it certainly is alright.
On Sunday, they still managed to pull off a positive display, one that I consider a commendable performance, which is undoubtedly an improvement from a B team.
This is about more than just me paying attention to the players who faced Villa. If Romero and Van de Beek were available, we wouldn’t be playing with two centre-backs, and usually in midfield. We have Pierre-Emile Hjbjerg, Oliver Skipp, and Dele Alli; all three were also missed.
I know Richardson has been performing poorly, but with him being out and even dismissing Minar Solomon, there are few alternatives left. They are limited even to their bare bones.
The fact is, Positoglu has still found a rhythm with his team. They had enough opportunities to beat a team that is their direct rival for a place in the Champions League, which is a significant plus.
It’s awe-inspiring that the Spurs are still creating chances without Madison. They are out until the new year, but they are not ruling him out for good.
Despite their early chances, they could have been ahead 2-0 against Chelsea in the first 20 minutes, and the same could be said for Wolves and Villa.
2023–24 Prem Standings
| TEAM | GP | W | D | L | GD | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 13 | 9 | 3 | 1 | +17 | 30 |
| Manchester City | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | +20 | 29 |
| Liverpool | 13 | 8 | 4 | 1 | +17 | 28 |
| Aston Villa | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | +13 | 28 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | +8 | 26 |
| Manchester United | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 |
| Newcastle United | 13 | 7 | 2 | 4 | +17 | 23 |
| Brighton & Hove Albion | 13 | 6 | 4 | 3 | +5 | 22 |
| West Ham United | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 20 |
| Chelsea | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | +2 | 16 |
| Brentford | 13 | 4 | 4 | 5 | +1 | 16 |
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | -4 | 15 |
| Crystal Palace | 13 | 4 | 3 | 6 | -5 | 15 |
| Nottingham Forest | 13 | 3 | 4 | 6 | -5 | 13 |
| Fulham | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -10 | 12 |
| AFC Bournemouth | 13 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -14 | 12 |
| Luton Town | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | -11 | 9 |
| Sheffield United | 13 | 1 | 2 | 10 | -23 | 5 |
| Everton | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | -6 | 4 |
| Burnley | 13 | 1 | 1 | 11 | -22 | 4 |
But given their style of play and shortage of defenders, you can be confident that errors will come back to haunt them.
Spurs will only win a game 1-0 with Romero and Van de Beek, and you can almost always count on them to lose if they fail to score a second goal.
He doesn’t need to be because he’s taken the time to create something that speaks to all of his fans.
They’ve become much less predictable, so no one is watching them and thinking, “This is Spurs,” and I have faith in their ability to fit their players into the top four.
I certainly think they will stay above Villa, about whom I didn’t know much until Sunday—they were so impressive against the Spurs, playing only on the line.
