Tottenham Hotspur Need to Build on Positive North London Derby Display
Tottenham Hotspur's players, staff and supporters will be feeling a lot better than they did a week ago.
Last weekend's 1-0 defeat to West Bromwich Albion was the nadir of Tottenham's season so far—probably their worst performance. Encouragingly for head coach Mauricio Pochettino, his side have reacted in the positive manner he will have hoped for.
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Wednesday's Capital One Cup win over Nottingham Forest was followed up with a 1-1 draw against Arsenal in the first north London derby of the season.
The initiative against the Gunners had been ceded by the closing stages of the match. Spurs' aggression either side of the interval had given way to a damage-limitation exercise, particularly after Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's equaliser.
Perhaps a tad more adventurousness after Nacer Chadli's opener would have paid dividends. Ultimately, though, holding their own with Arsenal was a performance they can look to build on after their inconsistent start to 2014-15.
As Pochettino said above, Spurs were ready for the occasion and the challenge posed by Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger's side have not lost a Premier League match at home in 2014. They recently fought out a thrilling 2-2 draw with Manchester City, and they were unlucky not to beat the champions.
The challenge for Pochettino now is to try and get a similar performance from his players without the motivation of a rivalry game. With home matches against Besiktas and Southampton coming up, Spurs have two good opportunities straight away.
Sporadic though it was, some of Spurs' attacking work was arguably the best the team has produced since the 4-0 win over Queens Park Rangers in August.
Chadli's goal was the best example. Christian Eriksen dispossessed Mathieu Flamini, Erik Lamela then took the ball and laid it on perfectly for the Belgian to finish past Wojciech Szczesny.
The greater space granted by an Arsenal side whose focus was not on stopping Spurs playing undoubtedly helped.
Even so, the Spurs attack were more eager than they had been in recent games. It showed in some quick, incisive breaks forward, which deserved a little better than the finishes applied to them by Chadli and Emmanuel Adebayor (though the latter was a little unfortunate in the way the ball dropped for him on his best chance).
A difference-maker here was Ryan Mason, who was making his Premier League debut. As he had done after coming on against Nottingham Forest in the Capital One Cup, he provided a welcome impetus that had previously been lacking in the team. As Bleacher Report's Sam Rooke put it on Saturday evening: "Spurs have been crying out for a player to knit together defence and attack."
A ready passing option and willing to contribute defensively, Mason looked a player keen to make his mark.
"I've always been confident in my ability," he told Sky Sports after the Forest win. "I've had to wait a lot longer than other players, but I can't moan. I came on tonight, and I thought I made a difference."
Pochettino rewarded that contribution by giving him his biggest opportunity yet. The motivation from the Spurs academy product to continue to prove himself should not be discounted by the Argentine.
Against Partizan Belgrade, West Brom and for an hour versus Forest, Spurs were lacking players who looked like they were really up for those respective challenges. Mason might just be someone who can provide the heart the team needs more of—that aforementioned impetus.
Spurs showing the focus they did for most of Saturday's game is something they need to try and sustain too.
The goal they conceded was a tad disappointing in this regard. Lamela mishit his clearance, and in the resulting attempt to get it away, Santi Cazorla was left unmarked on the edge of the box. His ball in caught Spurs out, with Danny Rose inadvertently leaving goalscorer Oxlade-Chamberlain free when he dropped back to defend the goal line.
While Arsenal caused the visitors problems at other times too, it was par for the course playing at the Emirates Stadium. For the most part, Spurs closed down well, showed bite in the tackle and did enough to keep the opposition attack out.
This might have been down to the return of Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Naughton to the starting line-up. The former more sensible than Vlad Chiriches, the latter a little more canny than the younger Eric Dier is at right-back.
Hugo Lloris was typically strong, but Younes Kaboul also put in a captain's performance, heading clear everything he could. Left-back Rose and defensive midfielder Etienne Capoue also worked hard.
Whatever the reasons for Spurs' better focus, those charged with keeping the ball out of their goal must strive to maintain and exceed this standard moving forward. Pochettino is likely to change things up for the Europa League, but keeping with the same back four for Southampton would undoubtedly help the cause.
Pochettino's previous club, Southampton, continued their strong start under Ronald Koeman with a 2-1 win over QPR. Saints sit second in the Premier League, while Spurs' Thursday opponents Besiktas top the Turkish Super Lig.
They will be tough games, not at all walkovers after the difficulty of the north London derby (indeed, Besiktas gave Arsenal a tough time of things in the Champions League qualifier). However, Tottenham have enough to win them, but they must show they want to and build on the positives showed this weekend.
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