Tottenham Hotspur Beat Everton with Help from Rejuvenated Fringe Players

WHITE HART LANE, England — There are several ways to motivate a football team and the players within it. During their 2-1 win over Everton on Sunday, Tottenham Hotspur almost certainly benefited from an improved White Hart Lane atmosphere—the crowd got behind them even after they went a goal down and remained vocal throughout.

"[I was] very pleased with the team, with our players, and want to say thank you to our supporters," head coach Mauricio Pochettino said during his post-match press conference. "Today wasn't easy, because in the beginning, we conceded a goal and after, we turned the result around in the first half. I think it was important our supporters helped the team."

Another method of motivation is the knowledge that good performances will be rewarded. After coming off the bench to help Tottenham beat Hull City in their previous Premier League game, that was certainly the case for Vlad Chiriches and Aaron Lennon.

The two had also played well in Thursday's Europa League win over Partizan Belgrade. By placing them in the starting lineup for Everton's visit, Pochettino was not dropping anyone who absolutely had to be playing (though arguments could be made for the likes of Nacer Chadli, Eric Dier and Erik Lamela).

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Chiriches' impressive 45 minutes at right-back against Hull earned him the unfamiliar spot again, as Federico Fazio and Jan Vertonghen were kept together at centre-back (completing the back four was Ben Davies, who made his second league start of the season at left-back). Lennon played on the right of what was essentially a midfield four, asked to provide a little more width with the centrally-inclined Christian Eriksen coming in from the left.

The Romania international's first contribution was a 25-yard-pass to Roberto Soldado that was telegraphed and unsurprisingly intercepted. However, within five minutes, the first of several combinations with Lennon down the right helped the new full-back settle into his duty of bringing the ball out of defence (though on the 19th minute, he did get away with a dangerous back-pass to Hugo Lloris).

Lennon has been plying his trade on that right wing for a long time and knew when to cut inside and allow Chiriches space to attack. When the Romanian got forward, he sent in a few teasing crosses towards Harry Kane and Soldado that were not far off the mark. The knowledge of that option allowed Lennon to operate a little further inside, linking up well with the aforementioned front two and his fellow midfielders.

The 27-year-old Lennon was situated there just prior to half-time when Soldado mistakenly passed forward having assumed the winger had continued his forward run. Inadvertently, the miscommunication left Lennon in a good spot to take on the ball when the hard-working Kane won back possession. Lennon sped forward and played in Soldado to his right, and the striker put Spurs 2-1 up. (Christian Eriksen had equalised on 21 minutes.)

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The work of Chiriches and Lennon that perhaps most typified Tottenham’s strong collective effort in the impressive victory was from a defensive perspective.

There were, of course, moments when Everton would get the better of Spurs down their right side. In the first 20 minutes, Everton left-back Leighton Baines turned the right-back inside and out, though he was ultimately denied the room to cross. Chiriches was also the player judged to have fouled Kevin Mirallas in the lead-up to the Belgian's opener, though he went down far too easily under minimal contact.

Mostly, though, Chiriches and Lennon controlled their flank. Between them, they gradually sussed out Mirallas' tricks and also did well tracking Baines' trademark runs (with notable assist work from Ryan Mason shuttling across to help the effort).

One such moment shortly before Spurs went in front saw Mirallas chop down Lennon after he had been dispossessed by the diminutive winger, a sign of the growing Everton frustration at their lack of success. The feeling seemed to permeate throughout the Toffees as the home side grew in confidence.

Both were substituted in the second half—Lennon for tactical reasons, Chiriches for a fatigue-caused back issue, as confirmed by Pochettino post-match—but each put in a good shift and repaid their manager's trust Brad Friedel even got out of his seat to join the Spurs coaching staff as they congratulated Lennon on his good work.

The feeling around the performance was altogether brighter than has experienced at White Hart Lane for sometime, as the Tottenham & Wood Green Journal's Ben Pearce also noted.

This season, Pochettino has veered between persevering too long with things not working and changing things up too dramatically. The decision to stick largely with the winning formula from Hull was the right call, as was his foresight in the one notable alteration he did make.

Whatever the reason for Benjamin Stambouli—Thursday's match-winner—not playing, bringing Nabil Bentaleb back into the fold proved a smart move.

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Like Chiriches and Lennon, the 20-year-old Bentaleb had not played much of late (through injury, not because he was out of favour). Alongside Mason, his fellow Spurs academy man, Bentaleb's youthful energy and intelligence shaped the direction of his team's play to both nullify the Toffees and put them on the back foot.

His best moment came in the space of 60 seconds, 10 minutes into the second half. First, he superbly spread the ball out to Davies, whose cross teed up a Soldado header which went just wide. As Everton came out straight after, Bentaleb was then on hand to make an interception that led to Kane spearheading another attack.

There were other equally impressive performances from some of Tottenham's players who haven't seen much game action this season. Soldado scored, Davies was solid and Federico Fazio put in his most imposing (read: best) display of the season in central defence (something of a consensus, as noted below).

In his programme notes reflecting on Tottenham's past week, Pochettino presciently summed up the importance of having a relatively deep squad to call on.

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I was pleased with the contributions of many of the players, some who have taken their recent opportunities after not previously having much time on the pitch. Several players who have not had so much playing time all played a part in the victory over Hull City last week, they helped us win three points at the KC Stadium, they put the team first and carried this attitude and form into the Partizan game. It demonstrates the fact that we need all the players.

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With a trip to Premier League leaders Chelsea on Wednesday, Chiriches, Lennon and others have a big chance to show why they should be more than just fringe players.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.