Positivity around club bringing joy back to Tottenham football

Dele Alli was all smiles after the match, the Englishman beaming in his post-match interview about Tottenham’s performance.

"“I enjoy it when we have the ball and when we’re playing with players like this, it’s a joy to play. “I’m just trying to express myself, have fun and like I said I try and help the team as much as I can. “Mentally, I try and help the team, whether it be making runs off the ball or getting on the ball and trying to create things – if we are going to win these games we have to all work together, I’m just trying to find rhythm, find form and play as well as I can for the club.”"

There are two key points about his post-match comments I’ll focus on. Dele said he’s having fun, something you’d never hear during Jose’s time in charge. Dele also spoke about possessing the ball, making it a joy to play.

Tottenham’s players are now encouraged to express themselves. Exceptional talents like Dele and Gareth Bale yearn for creative freedom, a license, when on the ball, to do what they please.

That freedom of expression is precisely why the elite attacking players are rewarded with the most lucrative contracts. They feed off of it, requiring uninhibited autonomy to flourish. Otherwise you’ll stifle, even suffocate their creative genius. Which is exactly what we saw during the previous regime.

Even Pierre Hojberg, whose primary role is to protect the back four, is benefitting from Mason’s Laissez-faire approach. The dogged Danish stalwart, along with his sublime defensive qualities, is, as it happens, a baller.

If Jose had his way, you’d never know that Hojberg has the skill set to threaten offensively. Other than a wonder strike against Liverpool, Hojberg’s offensive contribution has been as minimal as the portion you receive at a fine dining restaurant.

Hojberg yesterday broke free of the shackles, assisting Kane’s opener and, by popping up in the six-yard box, scoring the insurance marker. Nobody expects Hojberg to consistently produce offensively, but it’s nice to see the Dane showcase the talent a number of people didn’t even know he possesses.

Just don’t get used to Hojberg popping up on the scoresheet.

It’s incredibly refreshing to see Tottenham play in an unencumbered way, with joy and freedom, arguably the most important step in the club’s journey to return to Premier League prominence.