Tottenham overcame first half injuries to Victor Wanyama and Harry Winks, eventually cruising to a 2-0 victory over Burnley at Turf Moor. So how did they perform individually?
Hugo Lloris, 7
Wasn’t troubled much, only forced to make a few routine catches.
Eric Dier, 8
Hugely improved when he moved into midfield in the second half. Scored the crucial opener with a well taken finish.
Toby Alderweireld, 8
Showed just how multifaceted he is as a defender, completely untroubled by Andre Gray’s pace and Sam Vokes’ strength.
Jan Vertonghen, 7
Has shown his best form for Tottenham in recent weeks as the left-sided defender in a back three, but looked just as comfortable after the tactical switch to a back four.
Kieran Trippier, 6
Was inaccurate with his passing and crossing in the first 45 minutes. Grew into the game and was mostly comfortable in the second half.
Victor Wanyama, 6
Endemic of Spurs’ slow start, he tried to soldier on through a back injury at least twice but eventually succumbed.
Harry Winks, 6
Seemed keen to drive forward but overhit a couple of simple passes before being stretchered off with a really unfortunate injury just before half-time.
Ben Davies, 6
Was unlucky to see a powerful shot saved after a one-two with Vincent Janssen. Didn’t get into those dangerous positions often enough.
Christian Eriksen, 7
Looked most likely to cut through Burnley for the most part, seeing a left-footed shot well saved before Dele Alli missed the rebound. His pass set up Alli to assist the second goal.
Dele Alli, 7
Missed two sitters that would have made things far more comfortable. Led Tottenham’s attack during their best spell and set up Heung-Min Son’s goal.
Vincent Janssen, 7
Didn’t ever really look like scoring but held up the ball brilliantly with some beautiful touches. Promising signs of at least some sort of contribution.
Substitutes
Mousa Dembele, 8
His 44th minute arrival and the subsequent tactical change were key; Dembele controlled the midfield with some dazzling runs that left Burnley players trailing in his wake.
Moussa Sissoko, 4
Replaced Winks just before the break and contributed nothing but a torrid first touch and one wayward strike that should have been on target.
Heung-Min Son, 7
Scored the second goal which all but secured the points. Arguably should have bagged a couple more.
A few observations from this game –
1. Eric Dier is a better holding midfielder than he is a centre back. He was brilliant in the holding midfield role for England, which is why Mourinho wants him as a replacement for Michael Carrick. It would make a lot of sense if we rotate him with Victor Wanyama. The latter’s back was probably overstretched from playing too many games.
2. Moussa Sissoko isn’t worth a third of what we paid for him and probably never will be. No first touch, no pace, no awareness, no commitment. I was surprised Poch brought him on instead of Son. Sonny at least is a game changer.
3. While I would like to see Sissoko out of Spurs asap, I think Vincent Janssen deserves another season with us, simply because he works hard for the team and does try his best, but I do think we need a proper back-up for Kane, a striker who can be almost as interchangeable as Dier is with Wanyama.
4. If Wanyama is out for the next game, we should revert to 4-2-3-1 with Dier and Dembele in central midfield and Eriksen, Alli and Son supporting Janssen in attack.
Steve writing common sense Hiano of VS almost a decade ago.
Typo (Still) writing. – Strawboy
Good to see Sissioko getting more time to demonstrate exactly why he has nothing to offer the team.A disastours piece of business in the transfer window.Hopefully the rumours that a few clubs are interested in taking him off our hands are true and we can move him on.
I also think that Janson should get another season with a proper supervised pre-season.However we still need a direct cover for Kane because Janson is not the same type of player as Harry.My feeling is that he would perform better supporting Kane,as he holds the play up well and has good physicality against big defenders.
Lastly sad news for Winks’ most unfortunate injury.