Assessment of Tottenham Players Performances Against Crystal Palace

Tottenham were looking for a positive start to the new season at Crystal Palace and while the home side proved difficult opponents, Spurs deservedly took the three points. Roberto Soldado marked his Premier League debut by scoring the second half penalty and all four debutants put in impressive displays.

Man of the Match performance from Paulinho. [@edgey642]The Tottenham team were a much changed side from the one which finished last season at home to Sunderland. Only five of the team which started that game remained – Hugo Lloris, Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson, Jan Vertonghen and Aaron Lennon. Having introduced so many new players and with them having had limited time together the performance was much better than might have been expected against a side who worked tirelessly throughout the 90 minutes. AVB was satisfied with the performance and pleased with the win.

Player Performance

Hugo Lloris had a relatively quiet afternoon until the final ten minutes when he was suddenly required to make a number of saves to deny Palace and ensure Tottenham took the three points. Prior to that he was mainly responsible for clearing up behind the defence which he did with great speed and confidence coming out to the edge of the area to gather the ball and also beyond to kick clear. He was brave when going down to collect the ball at the feet of Palace players and did well late on when Kevin Phillips got behind the defence but Lloris managed to dispossess him. In the final ten minutes he blocked a shot after being troubled at a corner and then made two crucial saves in quick succession with a minute of normal time to play. Lloris will be pleased to have kept a clean sheet, something Spurs didn’t achieve too often last season.

Kyle Walker was constantly bombing forward on the right and did some good work but on occasions gave the ball away with a careless pass or poor cross. Normally he links well with Lennon but surprisingly for two players who have played together so often, in the first half they were getting in each others way and passes went astray between them. On one occasion as Lennon cut in towards goal, Walker was inside him taking the space the winger was wanting to make use of. The two worked better in the second half and Walker played a lovely pass to release Roberto Soldado into the Palace area but when he played the ball across to Sigurdsson, he put the chance wide. Defensively Walker worked hard and used his pace to good effect to cover back.

Danny Rose had a sound game – he worked hard in defence and put in a good early tackle. He linked well with Nacer Chadli going forward putting in a number of telling runs and crosses. He used his pace to recover and clear when Palace broke following a corner in the second half and he was the only Spurs player back. His lack of height is a difficulty for him as Palace targeted him at the back of the defence with deep crosses from the right. Younes Kaboul was introduced for the final minutes to allow Vertonghen to move across and provide additional height as Palace tried for a late equaliser.

The link up between full backs and wide players was an important part of the Spurs play as these stats show.

Younes Kaboul (sub) played the final ten minutes bringing height and strength to the defence. It’s good to see him back in the team after missing all of last season, bar the opening match. With a build up in his fitness, he will be challenging for a regular starting place bringing competition across the back four as he can cover both centrally and at right back.

Michael Dawson was the leader, the organiser and encourager in defence. He played with his usual commitment and played some lovely crossfield passes out to the left wing towards Rose and Chadli but also over hit some. He played a few misplaced passes but the quality of the opposition allowed him to get away with it. A wholehearted performance from Dawson .

Jan Vertonghen had recovered from the injury sustained in Hong Kong and was able to play the full match. He put in a steady, controlled performance and was always comfortable on the ball. He linked up with the midfield when playing the ball out of defence and stood up well to the aerial challenges by Palace. He moved over to left back for the final minutes when Kaboul replaced Rose for Palace’s final assault.

Paulinho was very effective in midfield alongside Mousa Dembele. They linked well and controlled the central area of the pitch. He received the Man of the Match award from Sky and was very impressive. Covered a lot of ground and passing was very accurate as were all the midfielders.

Mousa Dembele worked hard and pushed forward at every opportunity. He had a great shot just over early on as Spurs looked to take advantage of their supremacy. His passing accuracy was very impressive in the 56 minutes he played. His substitution allowed Etienne Capoue to make his debut.

Etienne Capoue (sub) made an impressive debut. He was very strong in the tackle, quick to the ball, accurate in his passing and very powerful when going forward. A very good all-round display which augurs well for the coming months.

Aaron Lennon didn’t get as many opportunities on the ball as normal as Spurs played very narrowly, especially in the first half. As stated earlier he didn’t work as well with Walker as they usually do but it was more effective after the interval when he produced the cross which led to the penalty. Worked hard and was best when out wide.

Nacer Chadli started quietly but like Lennon was playing in-field in the first half but after half-time looked more comfortable wide on the left and much more threatening when able to run into space with the ball. He linked up with Rose and his second half performance was encouraging. He enjoyed the experience and noticed the difference from playing in Holland.

"I really enjoyed it. It was a nice game with plenty of chances. It’s most important to get three points. It is different to Holland but I like the way we play. We play quickly and that’s how we create chances."

Gylfi Sigurdsson showed energy in a central midfield role and displayed good control and movement. He had a first half shot saved and put a good chance wide when set up by Soldado in the second half. He put in a lot of work from midfield, making runs forward to support Soldado.

Roberto Soldado was constantly presenting himself to receive the ball. He was lively and worked hard covering back into midfield to link play and also deeper to defend when required. His movement away from his marker was good – getting in front of the defender at set-pieces but couldn’t get the shot on target. He took the penalty confidently and every goal will build his confidence and composure. As Andre Villas-Boas remarked after the game,

"Roberto Soldado’s a real out & out striker. He’ll get fitter and sharper and will be even better."

Jermain Defoe (sub) replaced Soldado for the final 8 minutes and had a chance to secure victory with the second goal but having picked up the loose ball he scuffed his shot past the post from the edge of the area.

All of the players put in a solid performance for the first match of the season. Some have only returned from injury while the new signings have had little time with the team to develop any understanding but that will come in the weeks ahead but for the minute Spurs have 3 points and they’re on their way. Next up is a long trip to Georgia on Tuesday for Thursday’s Europa League match against Dinamo Tbilisi. It will be interesting to see which players make that trip.