#3 Tottenham find a way to win without playing well
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The current Premier League season appears to be more wide open than any in recent memory. With top sides like Liverpool and Manchester City falling to shock results – and then the sides who conquered them, like Aston Villa and Leicester in turn collapsing – no team has truly stood out at the top of the table.
That means that the Premier League title could well be anyone’s for the taking. And judging on current results, Tottenham have to be in the conversation. Sure, their collapse against West Ham United – a game that saw them go from 3-0 up to 3-3 in the space of ten crazy minutes – was a concern. But tonight they did something champions tend to do.
Jose Mourinho’s side were able to go to a tricky ground like Turf Moor against a team looking to stifle and frustrate, and found a way to take three points. Did Tottenham play well? Absolutely not. In fact, this was probably their worst Premier League performance since their opening day loss to Everton.
But the bottom line is that football is a results business, and in the record books, it will say that Tottenham defeated Burnley 0-1. The result now puts Tottenham in fifth place, just two points off the top of the table – and more to the point, they face strugglers Brighton & Hove Albion next.
Some of the Premier League’s pundits may not like it, but it definitely appears that Jose Mourinho has built a Tottenham side capable of winning the title this season. And tonight’s performance was the kind of showing that wins championships.
#4 Should Barnes have been in trouble for his challenge on Alderweireld?
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Tonight’s game was thankfully free of any VAR controversies. Sure, Burnley had a goal disallowed, but a blind man could probably have seen that Ashley Barnes was offside, and so even the Clarets were unable to protest.
However, it’s worth questioning whether Barnes should’ve been on the pitch to score the disallowed goal in the first place. With around 12 minutes of the match gone, the striker jumped for a challenge with Tottenham defender Toby Alderweireld. Barnes clearly led with his elbow and left the Belgian in a heap on the floor.
Worse still, Alderweireld came away with a bad cut over his right eye and had to sport a questionable bandage for the majority of the game. Had things been slightly worse, the defender’s vision could well have been affected.
So why did referee Michael Oliver and his team not check the challenge using VAR? We’ve seen similar incidents punished time after time since the introduction of the system, and yet Barnes was able to get away scot-free.
At best, Barnes probably warranted a yellow card for the challenge. In his post-match interview, Jose Mourinho praised Oliver and mentioned the incident – and there was clearly a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Once again, the inconsistencies of the current officiating system were laid bare here.
#5 When will Mourinho unleash Bale in the Premier League?
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Tottenham’s signing of Gareth Bale in the recent transfer window was easily the biggest capture in the club’s recent history. Sure, the Welshman is only on loan from Real Madrid, and the deal was done because he’d fallen painfully out of favor at the Bernabeu. But he’s still a player who’s won the Champions League on four occasions.
Bale arrived back in North London carrying an injury but made his second Tottenham debut from the bench during last weekend’s draw with West Ham. The Welshman then started last week’s Europa League win over LASK – and when he was withdrawn during the second half, it seemed to be leading to a start in tonight’s game.
And yet we never actually saw Bale tonight, as Mourinho decided instead to deploy Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso, and Joe Rodon as his substitutes instead. So when will the Portuguese boss unleash the Welshman in the Premier League?
Bale himself suggested after the LASK game that he’s still getting up to full fitness, so perhaps tonight’s match was one too early for him. That means that Sunday’s game against Brighton could be the first in which we see Tottenham sport a front trio of Bale, Kane, and Son – something that should strike fear into the rest of the Premier League.
Tottenham fans will now be keeping their fingers crossed for a front trio of Steven Bergwijn, Lamela, and Carlos Vinicius for Thursday’s game against Royal Antwerp - a clue that Bale could be involved against Brighton from the start.