Son & Kane Show Temporarily on Hiatus

Spurs Men cruise to a comeback win over Southampton | Previewing the weekend derby | Transfer window tidbits

Usually, that headline would suggest it was a terrible result for Spurs, but it was a funny quirk of the match against Southampton that Son and Kane didn't combine for a single goal together, yet Spurs still won by a three-goal margin.

Tottenham 4 - 1 Southampton

First, a note on the starting XI. There were two differences from my predicted lineup to the actual lineup, in the wingback spots. I can understand it from Conte's perspective; Perišić and Doherty are both coming off injuries from the end of last season, and it's not a bad idea to ease them in with substitute roles. Ryan Sessegnon and Emerson Royal both put in very strong performances, so they more than earned those starting spots.

You know the mood around Spurs is changing for the better when we went down a goal early in the match to Southampton (who, it should be mentioned, took four points off of us last season) and none of us really felt panicked.

The players certainly didn't panic either. After the somewhat flukey James Ward-Prowse goal (the deflection of his shot onto the ground and back up into the air gave Hugo Lloris little chance of saving it) in the 12th minute, Spurs rallied and responded with an equalizer less than ten minutes later. I was shocked to learn that it was Ryan Sessegnon's first goal in the Premier League—you'd think a player who scored against Bayern Munich in the Champions League three years prior would have found the back of the net in the PL by now. But hey, better late than never! He headed in a superb cross from Dejan Kulusevski, and would have had a second goal later in the game if not for an offside call.

Our next goal was also a headed goal, and from an even unlikelier source. Eric Dier performed one of the most beautiful diving headers I've ever seen from any player, let alone a center-back unaccustomed to scoring (although between this goal and his banger of a shot in pre-season, it might be time to recognize him as a legitimate goal threat again, like he was earlier in his career). In a bit of a deja vu moment similar to a goal from the end of last season, we saw Sonny cleaning up a thwarted set piece opportunity by collecting the ball back out on the wing and sending it back into the box, where Dier was waiting to pounce. We took the 2-1 lead into halftime.

About fifteen minutes into the second half, our old pal Mohammed Salisu (you may recall he got a second yellow card in our first fixture last season and got sent off) became the first representative for this season of everyone's favorite Spurs goal-scorer, Own Goal. This is normally where I do my spiel about how own goals are not just down to luck and are forced by pressure, but honestly... he just goofed. It was pretty poor. And we will absolutely take it!

Just two minutes later, Kulusevski put the game to bed with a classic Deki shot, assisted by Emerson Royal. He fully deserved Man of the Match as the only player with two goal contributions on the night (if you don't count Emerson's phantom assist for the own goal). And it was great to see him finally score a goal at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and get to receive the love and praise of the home fans. Kulusevski is one of those players that any time I watch him play, I have to pinch myself to believe that he really is a Spurs player. We are so lucky to have him at our club.

Thanks to our goal difference of +3, we end the first matchday at the top of the table. Not a bad place to be! The only real bummer from the match is that we didn't keep a clean sheet, but I'll take the comeback win.

Would it have been nice to see Kane and/or Son on the scoresheet? Of course. But it's never a bad thing when our attack is looking this exciting and our two talismans weren't even out of first gear. The wingbacks and center-backs deserve a lot of credit for getting heavily involved on the offensive end. It's not a bad thing to have our goals coming from multiple sources and making our attack more unpredictable to opponents.

Conte will still find things to improve going forward (the passing was very sloppy for large portions of the game, for example), but overall he will have been pleased by a dominant performance from his squad.

Sunday at Stamford Bridge

I won't say that I am superstitious, but I am at least slightlystitious. Bogey teams are a real thing, y'all. I've seen it with my Bundesliga team, and I've seen it with my local USL team. Chelsea definitely feel like a bogey team for Spurs, and the fact that our fixtures are derbies just makes it worse. Worse for my nerves, that is.

But you know, curses can be broken. And we have technically beaten them a few times in recent years, but only at home or in the League Cup. Finally getting another win at Stamford Bridge for the first time since 2018 (remember when Dele scored braces?) will be all the more satisfying for the long wait.

The good news is that we are meeting Chelsea at a good time for us and a bad time for them. You've probably heard about the comments Thomas Tuchel has been making in the media, essentially throwing large portions of his squad under the bus for being incompetent, unmotivated, or both. Romelu Lukaku has been chased out of town and back to Italy (not a bad place to be exiled). Timo Werner is heavily rumored to be returning to RB Leipzig, who have definitely missed him more than Chelsea ever appreciated him (it gives me no pleasure to take pity on him as a noted Timo hater). Despite bringing in Raheem Sterling this summer, it took a Jorginho penalty to eke out an opening matchday away win at Everton. Chelsea are down bad.

While the revolving Chelsea lineup is a study in chaos, the Conte system is a well-oiled machine. The consistency that's carried over from the end of last season will be a huge advantage for Spurs going into this fixture. And for the first time in a while, you can argue that Spurs' typical starting XI is stronger on paper than Chelsea's. They may still have more clout when it comes to bringing in big-name players than we do (for now), but Paratici has—for the most part—made better decisions when it comes to choosing players who actually make sense in our team, and are not just vanity signings, or even spite signings (players who they just didn't want any other team to be able to sign first, à la Werner).

So in other words, if we don't seize this golden opportunity to get a statement win in Chelsea's backyard, I will be quite devastated on Sunday. No pressure, lads!

Some transfer window housekeeping

Since last writing, Spurs Men did manage to get one of the out-of-favor players shipped out. Unfortunately, it was the one that I think most of us were least eager to see go:  Joe Rodon. There's a sense that he's never really had a fair shake at Spurs (across four different managers, if you count Ryan Mason), especially considering how vital he's been to the Welsh national team lately. He's not without talent. But if Conte doesn't think there's a fit, it's best to move him on.

He's technically only out on loan for now at Rennes, but there's an option for the Ligue 1 club to buy if the loan proves successful. Bonne chance à Joey!

No news to report on the Spurs Women front, but as the last players involved in the Euros start to wrap up their post-tournament vacations, you never know... I'm still holding out hope for at least one true marquee signing for our Women's squad. The other teams around us in the league have done some good business in the last week, and we need to keep up.

COYS

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