Out of the Darkness – New Trend Developing for Tottenham
By Aaron Coe
A month ago Tottenham were blowing a three-goal lead to West Ham a negative trend was developing with Spurs, now 3 games later it is the opposite.
Tottenham Hotspur faced some early adversity following the most recent international break and suddenly seem a stronger team for it. Tottenham have now won three straight games in the league and are unbeaten in four total road games. While the wins have not been as dynamic as those early in the season, Tottenham have been leaving it late and learning to win.
Tottenham Figuring it Out
A month ago, HotspurHQ was lamenting the disturbing trend that seemed to be developing as Spurs had dropped points from a winning position for the second time in the still young season. The clinical success offensively for most of the start of the season had papered over some defensive lapses, but suddenly even a three-goal lead was not safe. Just as some familiar questions about the mentality of the team began to emerge Tottenham seems to be finding a new way.
While running away with games is what we love to see, to be a champion the odds are you must find ways to win when maybe you would not. With the three wins over the last month Tottenham seems to be figuring that out. With wins at Burnley, versus Brighton, and at West Brom, games Spurs do not always win, this current iteration of Tottenham Hotspur may be made of something different.
Spurs Beat Burnley
Last season Spurs stomped Burnley at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium scoring early and often in a 5-0 December win. However, less than three months later in early March, Spurs could only manage a draw away. Harry Kane’s 2017 hattrick was the last time Spurs won at Burnley, having lost in 2018.
However, this season, Tottenham neither ran away with the game nor dropped points. Instead of giving up a late goal or failing to score one, Harry Kane connected with Heung-Min Son and the South Korean headed Spurs to a victory. The goal was later at 76 minutes and then the team held on from there. We are not saying we would have lost this previously, but this was the first time in three seasons Spurs took full points at Turf Moor.
Tottenham Top Brighton
Beating Brighton at home is a bit different than beating Burnley or West Brom on the road as Brighton is a game Tottenham are supposed to win. Since the Seagulls returned to the First Division for the first time since 1984 and entered the Premier League in 2017-18 Tottenham have never lost at home to Brighton.
Spurs had only dropped points twice in 7 total matches prior to this season, a 1-1 draw in 2017-18 and a 0-3 loss last season when Hugo Lloris broke his arm on an early goal and accident. However, in a league as competitive as the Premier League things tend to regress to the mean and dropping points at home could be easy.
This is particularly true given Tottenham had not won yet on the season at home and for the third straight match had been pegged back from a winning position. After giving up the lead in the second half, instead of shriveling under the pressure of the need to win and overcome what was starting to look like a bad trend, Tottenham scored a goal less than 20 minutes later with less than 20 minutes to go. Again, Spurs were able to hang on and secure the win and three big points.
Surviving the Hawthorns
Combine a big road win midweek in Europa League where Harry Kane scored his 200th goal for the club, and a trip to The Hawthorns where Tottenham had not won in more than five years and you have a game with all the context for dropping points. For much of an hour it looked like that might happen to Tottenham as Spurs struggled to really get on top of the game.
However, as Jose Mourinho started making changes, the flow the game changed with it and the number of opportunities grew. Eventually, the onslaught paid off and who else, but Harry Kane scored the winner just two minutes before full time at 88 minutes. Spurs again saw out the match from there taking all three points for the first time at West Brom since January 2015.
New Type of Confidence
Now Tottenham go back into an international break, hopefully brimming with confidence, although a quite different confidence than they had following the 1-6 thrashing of 10-man Manchester United. Now, Spurs leave with a confidence defined more by a resolve than flash, as Tottenham are learning to win, even when maybe everything is set up for them to not.