Tottenham and Everton Share Point in One-all Draw

Tottenham begins their season opener with a draw against Everton.

Traveling to Goodison Park for Tottenham’s first game of the 2016-17 Premier League season was going to be a difficult fixture, especially against Ronald Koeman.

Mauricio Pochettino’s record against the Dutch manager (two wins, one draw and one loss) easily suggests that Koeman’s teams have always been a tough match-up for Spurs and today was no different.

For an entire first half, Tottenham struggled to get anything going.

Conceding a goal on a direct free kick by Ross Barkley in just five minutes was startling to see as the game had barely gotten underway.

Both teams were still getting a feel for each other, though the Toffees did start off strongly since they were the home team.

Tottenham’s captain, Hugo Lloris, who is always dependable in any situation during open play or set pieces, reacted late to Barkley’s free kick because the French ‘keeper simply thought an Everton player or Tottenham’s wall would get a touch on the ball.

Because no one did, a shot that should have been easily saved would become an easy goal instead. Trailing 1-0 early in a match is never good, but there was plenty of time to respond.

Eventually, Spurs got a goal but leading up to the equalizer was tough to watch.

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Michel Vorm of Tottenham Hotspur replaces Hugo Lloris of Tottenham Hotspur during the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on August 13, 2016 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Chris Brunskill/Getty Images) /

When the first half had ended there were a couple of key things that had happened.

Besides conceding an early goal to Everton, Hugo Lloris was forced off because of an apparent hamstring injury with Michel Vorm replacing him.

The full details are not yet known (at the time of this writing), but a possible assumption is that the 29-year-old got hurt while clearing the ball away.

Initially, it looked like Lloris suffered an injury after colliding with the goal post while trying to defend Ross Barkley’s free kick, but that wasn’t the case.

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With Tottenham’s captain no longer on the pitch and Vorm having to finish the game in his place, it would be up to Spurs’ top players to get the job done.

Unfortunately, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli, two of Mauricio Pochettino’s creative playmakers from last season were ineffective against a solid defense.

Harry Kane, through no fault of his own as he barely had any service, also couldn’t help Spurs get back into this game.

Therefore the hero of the match would be Érik Lamela who has managed to carry his pre-season form with him to begin the new campaign.

After some good build-up play (which were few and far between throughout this match, prior to Tottenham getting the equalizer) Kyle Walker would send in a well placed cross that Lamela would head home perfectly.

One major reason why Pochettino’s offense started to come alive was because of Vincent Janssen who would make his Premier League debut at the expense of Eric Dier being subbed off.

It appears that having two strikers on the pitch at the same time in a 4-4-2 formation (if Pochettino did change tactics upon the Dutchman’s entrance) meant that Harry Kane who is usually isolated up top had some help, which caused Everton’s defense to respond accordingly.

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Although a draw means that Tottenham got a single point to begin the new league year, they didn’t have a good first half to begin with so the result isn’t that bad.

A win would have been much preferred especially since Everton’s fitness became an issue almost immediately after Spurs pulled level when Janssen was on the pitch and the momentum clearly on Tottenham’s side.

Looking ahead to Spurs’ next match (home versus Crystal Palace), Mauricio Pochettino should consider giving Vincent Janssen the start alongside Kane after nearly 30 minutes of good football.

Not only would this continue Spurs’ momentum from the second half against Everton, but it will also stop teams from forming a defensive wall in the final third which is still a major weakness for Tottenham.