Positivity around club bringing joy back to Tottenham football

The 2-0 victory over Wolves yesterday wasn’t the only positive to celebrate, as Tottenham went about their business with a resounding sense of joy scarcely seen this season. 

While it wasn’t Tottenham’s most convincing performance, the home side still breezed through the 90 minutes relatively untroubled. Ryan Mason’s side came out of the gates slowly, struggling to take control of a match that was there for the taking.

But there was a different, more lighthearted perception about the way Spurs acquitted themselves. Spurs played loose, free and unconstrained. And even though they didn’t play their best stuff in the first 45 minutes, it never, aside from an unending threat posed by Adama Traoré, felt like the result was in doubt.

The lads are enjoying their football once again, something that was clearly missing from Jose’s tenure. Unafraid to make a mistake or face the reprisal of repudiating the Special One’s rigid instructions, individuals yesterday were contrastingly relaxed on the ball, appearing to actually enjoy plying their trade.

Tottenham certainly haven’t had it all their own way since Jose left the club. Far from it. Mason’s Spurs have won three and lost two since he took charge of the club on an interim basis.

Results haven’t completely gone Tottenham’s way in the aftermath of Jose, but there’s a palpable new, refreshingly positive aura about the side, an encouraging exuberance spreading throughout the squad. Confidence is returning to a number of individuals ostracized by Jose, one of whom setting his sights on a return to the rarified air of superstardom.

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.