Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Burnley
Tottenham Hotspur finally put an end to their run of woeful results in the North London sunshine this afternoon, following up four straight defeats with...
The post Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Burnley appeared first on The Spurs Web - Tottenham Hotspur Football News.
Tottenham Hotspur finally put an end to their run of woeful results in the North London sunshine this afternoon, following up four straight defeats with a 2-1 win over Burnley.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned:
Top five almost secured
With Tottenham winning and Newcastle drawing, a top-five finish is almost secured for the Lilywhites now. One more point from the final two games of the season would be enough to guarantee Spurs fifth place and a Europa League campaign next year. It also keeps the thin hopes alive that Aston Villa might lose their final two games of the season to open the door for a late Champions League push from Spurs, but that remains very unlikely.
The wasteful final third
Postecoglou must be pulling his hair out at the number of chances his side have wasted over the past two months, and today was no different. Amidst some awful performances, Spurs have actually been consistently getting into scoring positions. The number of times Kulusevski, Johnson, Maddison and even Porro got into fantastic crossing positions only to balloon the ball over everyone’s heads or selfishly go for goal was bewildering. On the plus side, Spurs are getting into those positions. On the other side of the coin, do they have the right players to turn those positions into goals?
The left-back experiment
Oliver Skipp was handed a start at left-back this afternoon, with Ange Postecoglou dropping Emerson Royal to the bench. And while the academy graduate had a pretty solid first outing in the back four, the left-back experiment actually finished with a big twist, courtesy of Mr Micky Van de Ven. The Dutch centre-back was moved out left for the final 20 minutes when Radu Dragusin came into the game and he looked a much more natural fit than Skipp, Emerson and maybe even Davies too. Food for thought!
New striker incoming
For two games in a row now, we have seen Heung-min Son absolutely ghost through the match as a central striker, then burst to life as soon as he is moved wide left. After an afternoon of wasted crosses and poor dribbling, Sonny’s cameo was a breath of fresh air in the final 15 minutes. Postecoglou will love to see that too as Tottenham are surely on the hunt for a new number nine this summer. I would love to see Dane Scarlett start the final two matches of the season, with Son back at left wing.
Strange times ahead
With the Burnley win out of the way, there are strange times on the horizon… Manchester City at home. A large section of the Spurs fanbase will want the team to roll over in order to dent Arsenal’s title challenge, but the players will have other ideas. Coming into the match off the back of a win, their superb record at home to Man City, it being the final home game of the season and perhaps some players’ final match in a Tottenham shirt, it all seems lined up to be a weird and wacky affair.
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