- May 26, 2004
- 4,768
- 2,099
After two wins in a week, should be good weeks all round...
GOOD WEEK
Heung-Min Son
Three goals in two games, and the £22million signing is away. Unlike some of our attacking midfielders/wing forwards, Son is direct and heads for goal both on and off the ball.
Also shows impressive work rate, pace, and generally looks to have the kind of mentality that we have lacked from a lot of our offensive players. Too often players have stood, watched, waited but Son is always on the move, gets in the box, and its great to see he score.
Daniel Levy
How the magnificently bald one must be smiling now. After plenty of (deserved) criticism for not bringing in more striking options, Levy must have been grinning like a Cheshire cat as Son popped up for his brace on Thursday night. It was not just the goals, either, but the manner of Son's strikes which showed real striking instinct.
Erik Lamela
Has his Spurs career finally got off the ground?
Picked up an assist in the win at Sunderland last week, and was rewarded with starts this week. Starting on the left, he was involved to a good degree against Qarabag before a switch to the right got him in some goalscoring positions and I was pleased he got his goal.
Then started the move that led to the winner against Palace. Surprisingly, getting stuck in has never really been Erik's problem, however after every good thing came a bad thing but I think Lamela will produce more as the attacking unit as a whole improves. Some of his assists and goals have come when we've shown great off the ball movement and fluidity, and Lamela strikes me as a player who is his best when acting on instinct. With Son injecting some much needed pace and movement, Eriksen coming back to add that touch of quality, and Alli and Dier offering creativity and solidity in central midfield, the Argentine could finally be ready to justify his record breaking fee.
Dele Alli
He looks like Jermaine Jenas in terms of running style, but plays so, so much better. Has the confidence and conviction in his ability that Jenas lacked, and although we are just a month or so into the season, has the teenager cemented his first XI place already?
Connor Ogilvie
Extended his loan spell at Stevenage and is performing well. Injury put a halt to his progress over the last 18 months, but now appears to have his career back on track.
Tom Carroll
His long term future is a little up in the air, and Alli's rise has not helped the academy graduate, but Carroll is benefiting from others injury misfortune and will hope to get plenty of minutes in the cup. With Dier providing a physical presence in midfield, Carroll's lack of stature will not be such a problem and he must hope he can still push his way into the league team more often.
Josh Onomah, Harry Winks, and other youngsters
A good opening win in the Europa League increases the chances that the young players will get meaningful game time later on in the group stage.
BAD WEEK
Reserve full backs
Kieran Trippier had an inauspicious start to his Spurs career, while Danny Rose on the other flank looked rusty and also seemed to be carrying an injury that was causing a slight limp. With such quality competitors for those places, anything other than perfection will likely result in cup football for the foreseeable.
Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason, Mousa Dembele
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but with the exception of probably Mason it looks like a long road back to competitive football for the injured trio of midfielders. I'm not writing them off, but it is not just fitness they need achieve to get back into the match day squad.
GOOD WEEK
Heung-Min Son
Three goals in two games, and the £22million signing is away. Unlike some of our attacking midfielders/wing forwards, Son is direct and heads for goal both on and off the ball.
Also shows impressive work rate, pace, and generally looks to have the kind of mentality that we have lacked from a lot of our offensive players. Too often players have stood, watched, waited but Son is always on the move, gets in the box, and its great to see he score.
Daniel Levy
How the magnificently bald one must be smiling now. After plenty of (deserved) criticism for not bringing in more striking options, Levy must have been grinning like a Cheshire cat as Son popped up for his brace on Thursday night. It was not just the goals, either, but the manner of Son's strikes which showed real striking instinct.
Erik Lamela
Has his Spurs career finally got off the ground?
Picked up an assist in the win at Sunderland last week, and was rewarded with starts this week. Starting on the left, he was involved to a good degree against Qarabag before a switch to the right got him in some goalscoring positions and I was pleased he got his goal.
Then started the move that led to the winner against Palace. Surprisingly, getting stuck in has never really been Erik's problem, however after every good thing came a bad thing but I think Lamela will produce more as the attacking unit as a whole improves. Some of his assists and goals have come when we've shown great off the ball movement and fluidity, and Lamela strikes me as a player who is his best when acting on instinct. With Son injecting some much needed pace and movement, Eriksen coming back to add that touch of quality, and Alli and Dier offering creativity and solidity in central midfield, the Argentine could finally be ready to justify his record breaking fee.
Dele Alli
He looks like Jermaine Jenas in terms of running style, but plays so, so much better. Has the confidence and conviction in his ability that Jenas lacked, and although we are just a month or so into the season, has the teenager cemented his first XI place already?
Connor Ogilvie
Extended his loan spell at Stevenage and is performing well. Injury put a halt to his progress over the last 18 months, but now appears to have his career back on track.
Tom Carroll
His long term future is a little up in the air, and Alli's rise has not helped the academy graduate, but Carroll is benefiting from others injury misfortune and will hope to get plenty of minutes in the cup. With Dier providing a physical presence in midfield, Carroll's lack of stature will not be such a problem and he must hope he can still push his way into the league team more often.
Josh Onomah, Harry Winks, and other youngsters
A good opening win in the Europa League increases the chances that the young players will get meaningful game time later on in the group stage.
BAD WEEK
Reserve full backs
Kieran Trippier had an inauspicious start to his Spurs career, while Danny Rose on the other flank looked rusty and also seemed to be carrying an injury that was causing a slight limp. With such quality competitors for those places, anything other than perfection will likely result in cup football for the foreseeable.
Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason, Mousa Dembele
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but with the exception of probably Mason it looks like a long road back to competitive football for the injured trio of midfielders. I'm not writing them off, but it is not just fitness they need achieve to get back into the match day squad.