Tottenham Toil Again in Throwback Meeting with Last Season's Title Foe Leicester
WHITE HART LANE, London — The big disappointment of Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City's Premier League title duel in 2015-16 was they did not meet at more drama-conducive times.
The 1-1 draw at the King Power Stadium in August set the tone in respect of establishing a parity and some of the key players—the goals were scored by eventual player of the year winners Riyad Mahrez and Dele Alli. Leicester's 1-0 win at White Hart Lane in January was certainly significant, serving as a reminder they were on the right path, as referenced by goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel at the time:
A springtime shootout to settle things, though—perhaps taking the place of the eventually pivotal fixture between Tottenham and the deposed titleholders Chelsea—could have really been something. Heck, even a clash in the midst of the hectic Christmastime schedule might have given the race the memorable, defining contest needed to establish a classic rivalry (the snowy, Boxing Day match between the two was wasted in 2014-15 really).
After the latest 1-1 draw between the two on Saturday—Ahmed Musa cancelling out Vincent Janssen's earlier penalty, his first league goal—you suspect that overarching contest may prove a standalone one. Tottenham and Leicester as a budding, consequential rivalry appears to have already had its heyday.
This is not to write either off completely.
Tottenham have certainly shown their title credentials this season. As champions, Leicester have earned the right to be in the discussion until it is mathematically impossible.
But with the likes of Arsenal and Liverpool looking so strong, just being contenders may have to suffice for these two. Being the pace-setters or lead players again is looking like a long shot.
And Leicester, despite being 11 points off the top of the league, are fine with that.
Their fans are rightly revelling in reminding everyone they face—and probably themselves in pinch-me moments—they are the champions of England. Those who travelled down to north London unsurprisingly took considerable delight in reliving Spurs' losing out, taunting them with references of that night at Stamford Bridge and their 55-year-and-counting wait for a third top-flight title.
Nothing but the most disastrous of seasons will detract from the Foxes' ongoing joy at their monumental achievement.
So long as they get close to where they want to be—not to mention enjoying their Champions League experience so far—they should be competitive enough they do not feel too bad if they do not repeat as champions. Such was the unexpected nature of their achievement, it feels worth a handful of championships won by more prestigious clubs.
Manager Claudio Ranieri summed it up as well as anyone could in his post-match press conference.
"No, no, no—we don't have pressure," the cheerful Italian said. "Why? We won something unbelievable! We don't have a pressure. The pressure is on the other teams. They must win the title we won!"
Tottenham are not as desperate as some rivals. Unlike the heavy-spending Manchester United or an Arsenal outfit looking to get back to previous heights achieved under boss Arsene Wenger, there is not the same expectation of success.
Still, that half-century wait and the closeness to ending it last year has created its own kind of burden. Their fans may not be demanding a league crown, but that does not mean they and the players and coaches do not want it badly.
Heading into the game, Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino was keen to stress that, save for having specific strategic demands, Leicester's visit was "a different game, another season and everything is different." Thoughts of revenge for last season would have no impact on their performance.
"The players are not thinking 'it's Leicester, the champions' because we fought for the title," he told his club's official website. "If we want to achieve big things, then playing Leicester is the same as playing West Bromwich Albion and Bournemouth, and we must try to win."
For Ranieri, there was no big takeaway from his side's defeat of their hosts in January, either.
"There is no secret to beating Spurs, only hard work during season," he said, per Leicester's website. "Be solid and play together—that's our secret."
The champions played like that on Saturday. They did not win, but there was a clear cohesiveness that brought to mind last term's unity. Ranieri was certainly encouraged by what he saw as "the old spirit" re-emerging.
It was harder to get a handle on the Tottenham performance and mindset.
The team is still unbeaten in the Premier League and doing most things adequately.
Musa's goal showed they are still prone to the kind of sucker punch Leicester twice caught them with last season—Mahrez scoring straight after Alli in that first meeting and Robert Huth netting the winner from a corner largely against the run of play five months later.
Here Jamie Vardy took on a wayward Victor Wanyama header, charged into the right-hand side of the penalty box and crossed. Musa got the jump on Kyle Walker as the unaware right-back tried to divert the centre away from danger.
Leicester's attack was otherwise largely dealt with, however. Between them, centre-backs Eric Dier and Jan Vertonghen found ways to to clear their lines or make timely interventions, while full-backs Danny Rose and Walker were typically combative.
It was the first goal Spurs have conceded from open play in the Premier League this season. With just five conceded in all, they still have the top-flight's stingiest defence. But for Wanyama's misfortune, they could have secured another clean sheet here.
Spurs' biggest issue in establishing a convincing title challenge is they are struggling creatively.
Frustrations in the first half with some of Leicester's more underhanded attempts to stop Spurs—and referee Robert Madley's inconsistent management of challenges deemed punishable from both sides—particularly wound up the home fans and players. During that period, this match was threatening to turn into a bad-tempered scrap worthy of a rivalry, betraying lingering feelings of Lilywhite dislike for the champions dating back to last season.
Spurs looked to have come out with the upper hand when Janssen won and converted the penalty resulting from Robert Huth's grabbing of him—Ranieri mocked the Dutchman for going down, but his defender deserved more criticism for the moronic attempt to gain advantage. But then Musa scored after the interval, and they were back in familiar patterns.
This was a better attacking display than seen at Bournemouth the previous week.
Alli and Vertonghen unluckily hit the crossbar either side of half-time. Leading the line, Janssen grew into the game, engaging the Foxes defence in a way that still beggars belief Pochettino did not start him against an inferior Cherries rearguard. A fine turn and shot midway through the second half almost handed him his second goal, while he fired just over with Spurs' best free-kick of the afternoon.
Heung-Min Son tried to provide some penetration exploiting gaps between defenders. Mousa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Wanyama all had decent efforts blocked or deflected.
In the game's last action, Rose worked an angle in the box but could only fire into side-netting as he tried to get his shot off.
One of these goes in, and it all could have been different. The defining images of this game, though, will be of Spurs toiling to create more of note.
After their league meeting in January, Vertonghen expressed frustration at Leicester's simplistic style, per the Guardian's David Hytner. Yet there still feels more to the Foxes' straightforward but effective game than the see-what-sticks approach of Spurs.
Trusting in the likes of Alli and Eriksen has its merits. The former is a pleasing live-wire performer, and on his day, the latter is one of the best playmakers in England. Plenty of opponents have comfortably been defeated via their efforts.
But beyond some switching of their positions (here those two and Son were all rotated at various points), there sometimes appears to be little planning or appreciation of what is needed against different teams. They are sent out there and asked to perform actions via inspiration and a general adherence to a pressing game that will not always be effective.
Pochettino got bolshie when asked what was his thinking behind leaving it late to make any changes against Leicester.
"We considered not to change the team because we were playing well," he said upon deciding to explain. "But I think that sometimes you don't need to change if you are happy with the performance of the team."
What he and his coaching staff may have been seeing is unclear, as it had been apparent for some time that Tottenham were having difficulty. Ranieri had made his three substitutions—Marc Albrighton, Jeff Schlupp and Leonardo Ulloa coming on within 10 minutes of each other—and Leicester were looking the more dangerous for a spell.
Georges-Kevin Nkoudou was belatedly introduced in the 83rd minute and made a notable difference.
The winger immediately opened the game up out left and provided a more advanced width (as opposed to Rose coming from deep). One run from inside his own half won a corner, while his crosses, including one for the aforementioned late Rose chance, forced Leicester into uncomfortable places.
Harry Winks joined the fray four minutes later, and his inclination to at least look forward rather than sideways helped too. An attempted ball over the top for Son did not come off, but the home fans applauded for its positivity.
Pochettino's overall assessment was at least more perceptive of where his side had come up short.
The need for greater killer instinct was again brought up, and he sensibly is not banking on centre-forward Harry Kane's hopefully imminent return on rectifying everything—those suggesting he would have been an automatic improvement on the still-adjusting Janssen should remember Kane did not score in either of the league games with Leicester last season.
"Not only do we need our strikers [but also] our second line to score more and to be more aggressive in the last third," Pochettino said, referring to the attacking midfield. "And maybe we lack a bit of aggression in the last few games in our second-line players too."
However they get there, Tottenham need to find it soon.
Big games against Arsenal, West Ham United and Chelsea await in November. After dropping points since their impressive victory over Manchester City on Oct. 2, more missed opportunities could contribute to their next meeting with Leicester City in April being relegated to insignificance, a side-story at most in the Premier League title race.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
.jpg?w=480 "NFL Combine Football")
.jpg?w=600 "Full Eagles-Cowboys Trade 🤝")
.jpg?w=600 "Brady Reacts to Mendoza Pick")
