Star Goes Down Twice and Other Observations from Spurs Win

Tottenham Hotspur beat archrival Arsenal on Sunday to every Spurs fans delight, here are a few moments we saw at HotspurHQ you may have missed.

A lot happens in the 90 minutes of a football match. Sometimes the action is so fast or so innocuous that we miss things. To leave no stone unturned from a wonderful win over a bitter rival, HotspurHQ identified five things that stood out to us that you may have missed.

Højbjerg Goes Down, Gets Up, Goes Down Again

Only about 30 minutes into the match Pierre Højbjerg took a shot from an Arsenal player and went down I the attacking half. He problem was Martin Atkinson did not see anything, so the whistle never blew, and play continued. Højbjerg stayed on the ground momentarily then got up and sprinted back defensively.

Less than 1 minute after being on the ground in the attacking third here was Højbjerg again back on defense in his own penalty box. After some solid one-on-one defense from Moussa Sissoko the ball made it back to Højbjerg who booted it high and out of play. Immediately following the ball crossing over the touchline Højbjerg went down again to get treatment.

Ultimately, it seemed like Højbjerg was more upset that he had to come off after the doctors came on to treat him, but the Dane was soon allowed back on and things could go back to normal. However, the fact that Højbjerg jumped up, finished the play, and then went back down tells us a lot about who Højbjerg is as a person and player.

Who is on Free Kicks?

Tottenham Hotspur have been looking for someone to take free kicks all season long. Erik Lamela had some success early in the season in European qualifying. However, it has been mostly Gareth Bale in Europe and Harry Kane in the Premier League. While both are capable of something incredible, neither have really challenged a keeper this season.

With only Kane of the two on the pitch Sunday afternoon, it would have not been surprising to see the Tottenham talisman step up behind the ball to take a crack. However, it was Eric Dier who lined up and smacked a decent effort that was just a bit over the bar. While no more successful than anyone else this season, it was good to see it move around and not just automatically be Kane.

José During the First Goal

One of the great things about television and the internet is the ability to watch almost anything going on during a football match. One of the things that stood out to us at HotspurHQ was at 14 minutes as Tottenham were countering for goal number 1.

While it was obvious because you could hear Hugo Lloris call for players to push out defensively all afternoon and, on this play, how Mourinho did so was more subtle throughout the match.  More subtle, expect for on that first break. As Harry Kane gained possession and played Son in down the left flank Mourinho came running from his season up toward the touchline, waving his arm in a circular motion like a third back coach imploring his team to move up the pitch.

Bergwijn is Learning from Harry Kane

We were very complimentary of the hold-up play from Heung-Min Son over the last few matches, particularly midweek when Harry Kane was out in Europe. However, the Tottenham attack is based on the idea that any of the three forward can receive the ball at their feet and play hold-up football.

Bergwijn is generally a player that gets the ball and then attacks or has the ball played ahead of him in space to run onto. However, to keep getting time in the Tottenham rotation, players must be multidimensional and Bergwijn is working on that.

Right about 40 minutes after Sergio Reguilón did well to clear a decent cross from Aubameyang and before Giovani Lo Celso received his yellow card, there was a little move by Spurs that Steven Bergwijn helped to orchestrate. Essentially, Bergwijn checked back to get the ball near midfield sort of in the left side channel.

It was once he received that ball that I saw something new from Steven that was very reminiscent of Harry Kane. Bergwijn held the ball and then instead of attacking or playing it backwards, he turned and pinged a diagonal out to the far-right wing. Maybe even more interesting was that it was Pierre Højbjerg up on the wing receiving the ball, but we digress.

Seeing Bergwijn provide the hold-up play and switch possession like that was a great sign that shows the young man is watching what is happening around him and is learning from that play. The more of the little things Bergwijn can add to his game, the more impactful his power and pace will become. While one play does not make a hold-up striker, it is the start of something new and welcome from Bergwijn.

No one player to watch for Arsenal

Over the last few matches, Tottenham have done some things special defensively to help mitigate players on the other team that can influence the game. Against Manchester City, Tottenham paid extra special attention to Kevin De Bruyne. While no one player followed him around the pitch, De Bruyne was rarely more than an arm’s length away from at least one Spur.

Then when Tottenham played Chelsea, Mourinho seemed to ask a bit more of both Harry Kane and Tanguy Ndombele about keeping tabs on N’Golo Kante. While Kante is not the creative force that De Bruyne is, much of what is good for Chelsea stems from Kante, like good things come to Tottenham from Pierre Højbjerg.

With the outstanding talents of De Bruyne and Kante, there were obvious defensive adjustments and tweaks to slow those players. However, when Tottenham played Arsenal Sunday, that need to focus extra on any one player was gone. As a result, we saw more freedom from both Pierre Højbjerg and Moussa Sissoko in the deep midfield to roam forward in the attack.

While Tottenham did not attack a ton, when they did, they did so quickly and in numbers and at least one of Højbjerg or Sissoko always went with them. The Arsenal are a quality team, but they are certainly lacking that one player who can make them something special on the creative end offensively. As Tottenham face more teams in the coming weeks lacking that start playmaker as well as some of the overall ability of an Arsenal, expect more and more freedom in the midfield and more and more offense as a result.