My Condolences to Leicester

Both Spurs teams beat the Foxes | Mini WSL update | Previewing the Women's NLD

While there were times in both matches when the result didn't feel secure, Spurs were able to grab all six points from Leicester this weekend, including a belated opening day match for the Women's team.

I would go in chronological order anyway, but I definitely have to start with the Men's game this weekend because finally, Sonny is back!

Tottenham 6 - 2 Leicester City

We really went on a journey for this match.

As Conte promised, there was some significant rotation in the starting XI from the lineup used against Sporting midweek. Both outer center-backs were swapped (Clément Lenglet in for Ben Davies, Davinson Sánchez in for Cristian Romero), Ivan Perišić switched to the right wingback spot while Ryan Sessegnon started on the left, and Dejan Kulusevski came in for Son Heung-min. The spine of the team remained unchanged though, and Richarlison also kept his spot in the forward line.

We saw a slight overcorrection from the Sporting game when it came to defense—doing too much rather than too little. Sánchez committed a needless foul on Leicester's James Justin in the box and a penalty was awarded in the 4th minute. Hugo Lloris saved Youri Tielemans' penalty—but he had encroached, and Tielemans got to retake the penalty. He scored on his second attempt.

Harry Kane quickly responded with a headed goal in the 8th minute after a Kulusevski and Perišić give-and-go off a corner. Kane's header ricocheted off the Leicester keeper, Danny Ward, as it went into the net, an early sign that Ward had a long night ahead of him. In the 21st minute, Spurs took the lead through another set piece opportunity, as Perišić notched a direct assist from the corner kick for Eric Dier's second headed goal of the season. I would not have expected Dier to have more goals than Kulusevski and Richarlison at this point in the PL season, but here we are! I am not complaining. Side note:  congrats to Eric on his first call-up to the England national team in quite a while. He should have been there for the summer Nations League games if not sooner, but better late than never. I hope for his sake that he makes the World Cup squad, even if I don't have a personal rooting interest in England succeeding.

The two goals from set-pieces were significant not just because they seem to be a particular weakness for Leicester's defense (and boy, are they ever), but also because Spurs have begun to make them an art form under the instruction of Gianni Vio. I suspect that Perišić must be something like a teacher's pet to the set-piece specialist coach because he has such a knack for retaining and properly executing Vio's strategies. Perišić has gotten a lot of attention for his crossing game—which is also superb and hugely important—but I think his most valuable asset to this Spurs team is his set-piece delivery. I often say that Son is underrated by our fanbase in this aspect, but Perišić is undoubtedly a level above Son, let alone the rest of the squad. It's great to have him as an option for games like this where our opponent is particularly vulnerable to corners and free kicks—but also for games where a set piece might be the only way to break through a low block, as we saw against Wolves.

Leicester then equalized in the 41st minute off a James Maddison shot that was either magnificent or lucky, depending on which replay angle you saw. Regardless, we entered halftime all even.

Rodrigo Bentancur must have had a fire lit under him by Conte during the halftime talk, because he was ready to press in the second half. In the 47th minute, he caught Wilfred Ndidi dawdling on the ball on the cusp of the attacking third and was able to poach the ball, dribbling out of reach of both Wout Faes (remember that name for later) and Jonny Evans and curling his shot perfectly around Ward to bounce in delicately off the post. It was Bentancur's first goal for Spurs!

It's time for my obligatory (though always freely given) moment of praise for Lloris. He made a couple of superb saves on shots from Maddison and Patson Daka to prevent a third Leicester goal. In fairness, Ward also made some key saves, keeping Bentancur from scoring a brace as well as making a fingertip save on a header from Sánchez (that would have been a nice moment of redemption for Big Dav, alas). I just would like for one of these classic Hugo performances to be rewarded with a clean sheet. He only has two on the season so far and that feels like a travesty with the way he's been playing, rolling back the years.

And now, what we have all been waiting for:  Sonny finally scored—and how! We would have been happy with just one goal, but he wasn't going to settle for a single tally on the scoresheet after such a long drought. He pulled off a 13-minute hat trick. He's only the 7th player in PL history to achieve such a feat as a substitute, and the first for Spurs.

The only thing that would have made this hat trick even more perfect would have been for it to be, well, a perfect hat trick, but he was missing a header. Still, there was a beautiful kind of symmetry to his first two goals, which were almost identical shots but from different feet. I continue to believe that the claims that Son is right-footed are some sort of Mandela effect/conspiracy theory because honestly y'all... The man doesn't have a bad foot, so how can one be considered his good foot? It's maths, innit.

I should also mention that those two shots were from well outside the box (almost in the exact same spot, mirror images), so I suspect that Son wasn't actually low on confidence all this time, but simply very, very unlucky. Those were shots that most mere mortals (i.e. the majority of PL footballers) wouldn't even attempt, let alone finish with such exquisite aplomb. The curve on each shot was impeccable. And both times, Son made a fool of poor Faes. The Leicester defender was already throwing his hands up in despair after Son's second goal, so by the time Højbjerg put Son through for a perfectly-timed diagonal run into the box, there was nothing Faes could do but slide ineffectually under the ball as it popped under Ward and into the goal. Ward himself was pounding the turf with his fists in agony as if the pitch had personally wronged him. I genuinely felt bad for him enduring six goal concessions. But I was more thrilled for Sonny. From the 73rd minute to the 86th, he put on a show and reminded everyone that "form is temporary, class is permanent." That phrase gets thrown around a lot, but it's incredibly apt for Sonny.

This kind of performance from Son is exactly what made me fall in love with him as a player. He is truly a special athlete from a technical standpoint, but you also have to appreciate the heart and passion he brings to every match, even when the goals are not happening for him. You can never doubt his commitment, especially not his commitment to the club. So forgive me for this extended praise of Son, but I think he deserves the thorough treatment. There's no one else like him.

Getting back to business though, there's one more major topic to consider from this match. Conte must have heard everyone complaining about his lack of subs lately, because he used all but one of them today, and quite effectively. First he brought on Royal to replace Perišić for some defensive reinforcement (Leicester were still pushing for an equalizer at that point). He doubled down with a swap of Romero for Sánchez next, and also brought on Son for Richarlison at the same time for some fresh legs in the offense. Finally, and most interestingly from a tactical standpoint, he replaced Kulusevski with Yves Bissouma, which shifted our formation from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2.

This adjustment was what unleashed Son to score his hat trick. There's no better attacking duo in world football at the moment than Son and Kane, and when they play together in a front-2 they are absolutely dangerous. It's not a coincidence that Kane was responsible for one of the assists for Son. Kane sometimes let Son play as the target man for the expanded midfield's passes, while he dropped back to play facilitator himself. Højbjerg and Bentancur also took turns making runs forward to capitalize on Kane's playmaking, as in the moment when Bentancur almost scored for a brace (check out the extended match highlights and watch Kane's superb ball control near the touchline shortly before Bentancur's chance—exquisite!). At other times Son and Kane both pushed forward as an attacking unit with one of the midfielders making the central run just behind them(we used to see this a lot under Conte last season against teams like Leicester who are foolish enough to play a high defensive line against Son and Kane). This is Conte's Spurs at their most fluid and lethal best.

So why don't we see the 3-5-2 formation more often? Partially because it's a somewhat limited approach despite its inherent versatility (for example, good luck making it work against a low-block team who won't afford the kind of space the front-2 need to run into), and partially because I think it goes against Conte's core instincts when it comes to game management. We all know Conte is going to prioritize defensive stability and incremental progress in the offense as a foundation to grind out results. That's what Spurs have done for most of the season so far. The 3-5-2 formation injects an element of unpredictability that can be punishing for opponents—but also can leave Spurs vulnerable to counterattacks when we have too many bodies committed forward. I suppose you could see a 3-5-2 play out as a more defensive formation where the front-2 are the ones looking to counterattack themselves, but under Conte we've tended to utilize it as a way to up the attacking intensity and actively press the opposition, forcing defensive mistakes and taking advantage of the increased tempo. When we play in this formation, it feels like our most controlled style of play, ironically—no AWOL midfield in these scenarios. And that is a testament to the fact that it's Conte pulling the strings, a manager who drills his teams into automatic yet finely executed delivery. He's not letting them off the leash so much as daring them to be their best selves on the pitch, at their most focused and ruthless—just like they practiced.

I don't think we will see the 3-5-2 formation used right from the start of many matches; Conte probably doesn't want the headache of keeping not one, but two of his favored attackers on the bench that often, as would be required by the expanded midfield. Plus, I don't think Kulusevski is as suited to this formation as the other three—and I'd hate to see his game time curtailed because of that. But it's clearly a formation that has its time and place and can provide a much-needed plan B in certain matches. Conte obviously enjoys the results!

To wrap up the Men's game, Spurs are still in third place, tied with Manchester City on points but behind on goal difference. Still, our goal difference is in a much better place than it was by the 7th matchday last season (a paltry -4). We're unbeaten in the Premier League. We've had seven different goal scorers (I am excluding our pal Own Goal), and nine different players have registered an assist. And perhaps most encouragingly, Conte seems to be getting more comfortable with using (almost) all of his possible substitutions—five, Antonio, five! He'll get there. And he'll have to, since the games quite literally do not stop between the about-to-begin international break and the looming World Cup. Rotation will be necessary, not optional. On that note, we've already had two players forced to withdraw from their national team squads due to injury (Davies and Lloris), so fingers crossed everyone else makes it back safe and sound for the Arsenal match.

Now that you've read my novel about the Men's Spurs vs Leicester match, let's dig into the Women's match sequel:

Leicester 1 - 2 Tottenham

This is probably the point where I should formally extend my condolences to Leicester City FC. It was not a good weekend for the club, and both of their teams' trajectories are looking pretty grim this season.

However, there was no time for sentimentality from Spurs, not even for Josie Green. I have to say, she did her very best to spoil Spurs' opening matchday, and will definitely be a key player for her new side in the coming season, possibly being the difference maker between relegation and staying up. As Jenna Schillaci once said on an episode of Hometown Glory, Green is the type of player you never want to be playing against (she also described Josie as a terrier, but in a complimentary way).

Leicester didn't truly threaten our goal until the second half, but we also got off to a slow start. I think the starting lineup contributed to that issue, primarily because Nikola Karczewska wasn't fit enough to start (she apparently picked up a knock with Poland a couple of weeks ago) and Rehanne Skinner opted to start Eveliina Summanen as a false 9 instead. It wasn't a comfortable role for Summanen, and the team as a whole didn't look fully comfortable until over the half-hour mark.

Other notable lineup decisions included the choice to start more tenured Spurs players like Jess Naz and Rosella Ayane over newcomers Celin Bizet and Ellie Brazil, as well as opting for a midfield pivot of Angharad James and Drew Spence—though admittedly, Rehanne's midfield options were limited with Summanen pushed forward and other key midfielders Kit Graham and Ria Percival still sidelined with injuries. Becky Spencer started in goal. Otherwise, the selection decisions were as expected, with a back-3 of Shelina Zadorsky, Molly Bartrip, and Amy Turner, and Ash Neville and Asmita Ale rounding out the starting XI at the wingback positions.

The makeshift front-3 with Summanen was sent into further disarray when Ayane picked up an early ankle injury in the 16th minute. Ellie Brazil was called upon to replace her, but she lacks Ayane's physicality and aggressive edge, and wasn't as effective. Brazil did have one big chance to score in the match, but sent her shot straight to the keeper. Skipping ahead for a moment, Naz is still under limited minutes after a recent injury and could only play till the 61st minute, when she was swapped out for Kyah Simon. The Australian also struggled to assert herself in the game, just like Brazil, and was also limited to just one big chance near the end of the match.

Getting back to the first half, we did pick up the attacking pace around the 30th minute, although the movements tended to be concentrated on the right flank, leaving that area of the pitch quite congested. Some sloppiness in passing made it difficult to switch the ball out of the defensive pressure. Luckily, on one of the rare occasions where the ball made it back to the center, Ash Neville found herself in tons of space and also noticed that Leicester's keeper, Kirstie Levell, was well off her goal line. I could scarcely believe it when Neville started to pull back to take the shot, because it was such an audacious distance to shoot from, but it's a credit to Neville's legendary football IQ that it was the right decision to make. We've got an early goal of the season contender!

Spurs enjoyed a good spell of possession after Neville's goal and continued to push for a decisive second goal. Spence, who'd had a solid but not necessarily impactful performance up to that point, scored a long-range shot of her own in the 45th minute, although hers was a low-drilled arrow rather than the soaring rocket that Neville scored. It was an impressive goal for Spence to score on her competitive debut for Spurs and it will reassure fans that we have, indeed, signed a midfielder who can contribute goals. It was important to have a more comfortable two-goal lead heading into halftime rather than the narrow one-goal lead we grew so accustomed to riding out last season.

Still, we could have stood to test the Leicester keeper more in the second half, because Levell was clearly vulnerable to a long-range shot, whether in the air or skimming the ground, as Neville and Spence's shots did, respectively. It felt like we could kick on and really cushion the scoreline with a couple more goals.

Unfortunately, Spence's luck went the other way in the second half and she was responsible for the own goal that cut our lead in half. It happened off a corner for Leicester, so it appears that set piece defense might continue to be a problem for Rehanne to work on in training. Spence wasn't under much pressure in the box but her body positioning was all wrong, so it was an unforced error. I'm sure part of the issue was just being new to the team and still learning her individual responsibility within the team while on defense, and I would be very surprised if she made the same mistake again in a future match.

I was surprised that Rehanne waited until the 82nd minute to make her final substitution, because Leicester had been emboldened by the own goal and were pressing Spurs hard to find an equalizer. We finally saw Celin Bizet come in to replace Summanen, who had suffered a head injury earlier in the match and was somehow allowed to continue on for several minutes; she looked very out of sorts and once again, I have to ask why we even have a concussion protocol if it isn't going to be used... Either way, Bizet was a much-needed spark off the bench and while she wasn't quite authorized to help the team push for a third goal (there had obviously been clear instructions from Rehanne to close out the narrow lead with some crafty game management), she at least eased the pressure on the defense by maintaining some possession and not allowing Leicester as many opportunities to get out of their defensive third. I hope we see more of her in the next match.

It's always good to get an away win in this league, and it will have been a good test run before the even more hostile environment of the Emirates stadium next weekend for the North London Derby. We don't yet have an exact attendance figure from the King Power Stadium on Sunday, but the Leicester fans did their best to become a 12th player for the team, booing Ash Neville for basically the entire last fifteen minutes of the game every time she touched the ball. In fairness, the traveling Spurs fans were also quite vocal, so much so that I could hear them loud and clear on the FA Player after each Spurs goal. The away fans will have to bring that same energy to the Emirates to counter the massive Arsenal crowd, which is already projected to break the current WSL attendance record (previously set at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the 2019 home NLD).

And hey, we only had to suffer through one technical error from the FA Player! I think we can consider that an up in standards from last season—though perhaps I shouldn't speak too soon. I'm hoping we get at least a few matches on Paramount+ over here in the states, and I also have my ATA Football membership to fall back on for the select Spurs games they will show.

The second half performance gives some cause for concern, albeit early in the season, but we still managed all three points on opening matchday, which is more than some teams in the league can say...

WSL at large

I thought it might be helpful for readers who are new to watching the WSL to get a quick update on the rest of the league every matchweek, just to become more familiar with the other teams and keep up with the notable narratives during the season.

The only other games I was able to watch personally were Arsenal vs Brighton and the second half of Aston Villa vs Manchester City. The former was a bit of a blowout, 4-0 in Arsenal's favor, as could probably be expected—with the important caveat that Brighton should never have been cut down to ten players. The red card for Emma Kullberg came after a pretty obvious offside call that was missed by the ref, not to mention that it was a very soft foul on Stina Blackstenius. So I feel for Brighton having an already difficult task made much more difficult and unfairly so. The Villa vs City match, on the other hand, was a real thriller, and probably the most unexpected result of the weekend, especially when you consider that Villa had never scored a goal against City. Ever! They led 2-1 at halftime and were able to overcome a couple of quick-fire City goals early in the second half to equalize through Kenza Dali and then regain the lead through a scrappy Rachel Daly goal. Daly had a brace on her Villa debut (the first goal was much more impressive) as well as an assist. I can imagine there are a lot of WSL teams kicking themselves for not signing Daly this summer.

Of the matches I didn't watch, Manchester United vs Reading, was the least surprising result. United were quite ambitious in the transfer window and have already seen dividends from new defender Maya Le Tissier, who scored twice in the 4-0 win. They also had goals from Katie Zelem (a penalty) and England Euros star Alessia Russo. The most competitive match was probably West Ham vs Everton, a narrow 1-0 victory for the Hammers courtesy of a Lisa Evans header (they do love a set piece goal). This match featured two new managers, and it's a bit too early to make any firm conclusions about their efficacy just yet. And finally, the last match of the weekend was a shocking result in Liverpool vs Chelsea. Newly-promoted Liverpool beat the defending league champions 2-1. But huge disclaimer:  all the goals in this match were penalties, so we can't read too much into the result itself. It sounds like Liverpool were just defending deep and hoping to frustrate Chelsea, and Emma Hayes admitted that "I don't think [my team] could hit a barn door today." Chelsea have tended to get off to a slow start every season though, so again, don't be tempted to blow this result out of proportion. I've also heard that the refereeing was particularly bad in this game, but don't get me started on WSL officiating.

My last note from the weekend is not from the WSL, but rather the second division Championship league. Spurs have a young goalkeeper, Eleanor Heeps, who is out on loan at Coventry United. Her first start for the club was cut short after a terrible collision in the 10th minute.

Thankfully, we've since heard an update that she is okay and her x-ray appeared normal. Let's send her some healing vibes and hope for a quick return to the pitch for the promising youngster.

A true rivalry

This might be the most high-stakes Women's North London Derby yet. In previous years this fixture didn't have quite the same element of rivalry as the Men's NLDs do, since it was always a lopsided affair in Arsenal's favor. Last season, we saw that status quo start to shift. While the away fixture later in the season was a frustrating 3-0 loss, the home fixture was a surprise 1-1 draw, and could easily have been Spurs' first-ever win against Arsenal if not for a moment of individual brilliance from Vivianne Miedema. But despite not getting the win, you could argue that Spurs played a part in Arsenal losing out on the title to Chelsea—they finished just one point below the champions.

Arsenal chose to largely stand pat in the transfer window; Miedema choosing to extend her contract was their most important summer business.  They also brought in Lina Hurtig, a talented Swedish forward who didn't see as much gametime as she would have liked during the recent Euros, but was a key player at her previous club team, Juventus. Besides letting a few players go, Arsenal manager Jonas Eidevall mostly felt he had the squad he wanted in place already. Speaking of the Euros, there are lots of recognizable European stars in Arsenal's squad:  Beth Mead and Lotte Wubben-Moy of England, Lea Wälti and Noelle Maritz of Switzerland, Laura Wienroither and Manuela Zinsberger of Austria, and Frida Maanum of Norway, plus Miedema and Blackstenius who've already been mentioned (they play for Netherlands and Sweden, respectively). If that feels like an exhaustive list, that's just to show how stacked their roster is with international talent.

While Spurs have done a fair amount of bolstering to squad depth this season, there's still no comparison to the quality of player that teams like Arsenal and Chelsea can bring off the bench, so getting an early goal will be crucial to staying in the game just as much as putting in a strong defensive performance will be. And although you like to see some spirit in a derby match, we know from the last away NLD that staying disciplined will be important to avoid losing control of the match. It'll be a tougher task this time with such a massive crowd building on the existing tension between the two teams.

I would not be surprised to see Rehanne opt for a back-4 for this game, since the lack of an extra midfielder in the back-3 system was already causing issues against a much poorer Leicester team. We can't afford to have the midfield ran all over in this match. This would entail Summanen reverting to a defensive midfield role to provide extra protection and free up James and Spence to do what they do best, playmaking.

Hopefully Karczewska will be available to start against Arsenal, because we will need that kind of target striker as an option in the offense. No word yet on how serious Ayane's injury was, but I wouldn't be surprised to see either Brazil or Simon starting in her place—or, if Rehanne trusts her enough already, Bizet. Naz tends to play well against teams like Arsenal that play more openly and give her space to run in behind their defensive lines, so I would definitely start her regardless of who the third forward option ends up being. The rest of the positions in our 4-3-3 formation pick themselves, with the exception of the goalkeeper, which is always up in the air; I have not yet learned how to predict Rehanne's decision making for this position, but in the spirit of rotation, Korpela might be the best bet.

If you're going to attend this match, 1) I'm very jealous and 2) I hope you enjoy being part of the record-breaking crowd! Wouldn't a historic win for Spurs be the perfect way to celebrate?

COYS

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