— HarryHotspurBlog (@TheBoyHotspur) January 23, 2020
Dele Alli had a good game by anyone’s standards, and casting an eye over the dreaded numbers, and there’s a pattern that’s perhaps worth sharing. The more involved he has been this season, the better the results.
For example, in games where he hits over 90 actions (last night there were 94) the more likely he is to score. The key point here is that this trend is not influenced by whether the actions were successful or not. The trend relates to him pulling his weight.
- Passing accuracy 73.9%
- Attacking third passes 20
- Attacking aerial duels 5
- Interceptions 2
- Attempts on goal 4
- Recoveries 4
Listening to Mourinho’s post game comments it’s clear he’s concerned about the players fitness levels and the frequency of games, he mentions Lo Celso in this regard. In Pochs first few years Spurs were a high pressing team as good as as Man City and Liverpool. Those days are long gone but the toll taken on the players is very much present in our injury list and poor fitness levels. We and City and Liverpool were early adopters of pressing, now it seems every team presses. Unfortunately Tottenham’s squad hasn’t changed to reflect the demands made on players. I think you need a bigger squad with physically strong players with exceptional stamina. If you don’t have proper rotation you end up where Spurs are, a broken team with numerous injuries. Every game is now a physical battle from the first to the last minute. I think this also explains why there have been so many upset results and why teams like Chelsea and United will have a few good results against better opposition and then have an inexplicable loss to inferior teams. It explains why so many teams are blowing hot and cold, Burnley and Southampton were written off and have bounced back. The physical demands are too great. With this new era of pressing net spend is not going to work and is being exposed with every day that passes.
23 days into the one time in the season we can try and get the cavalry in to help the walking wounded, and we got a kid on loan from Portugal. Not the kind of help I suspect any of us hoped for…
Grateful for the win but thought it was undeserved at home to the bottom club. Norwich looked stronger in midfield for most of the game – with a gaggle of championship triers – and pukki let us off the hook on at least three occasions. All in all, grotesque value for money last night with the prices Joe and Daniel are charging; but that has been the case in virtually every home game since the enic dome opened.