Top of the League

A flawless start to the season has Tottenham sitting pretty going into the first international break.

And breathe. After the first stretch of the Premier League campaign, Spurs have a perfect record thanks to three 1-0 wins. In fact, we're the only team with all wins, putting us free and clear at the top of the table. A certain other North London club is all the way at the bottom. Ahem.

While Watford had a few chances, there were no truly threatening moments from the Hornets. In his first start for his new club (surprise!), Moussa Sissoko showed many of the reasons that Spurs had to move him on, unfortunately. But it was nice to see him and Danny Rose both given some love from the home fans for their years of service at Tottenham.

Once again, Son was the difference maker with the game-winning goal, off a free kick shortly before halftime. Was it a bit flukey? Mayyybe. Will we take it? For sure. I do think this counted as a "big game" because of what a winning result would bring (first in the league, perfect record), and Son continues to prove that he can be depended on in these high-pressure matches. And the best part? He's still getting warmed up. I have no doubt that we'll see a return to his lethally clinical finishing from last season soon enough. And once Kane has also gotten into the swing of things (he was still looking ever so slightly off the pace today), they should be a formidable duo again. We were also unlucky to have missed chances from Dele and Tanganga on the night.

Despite notching our third successive 1-0 win, there are definitely areas that can be improved upon. Skipp had a few bobbles, showing that he's still adapting to the higher level of competition in the Premier League. Reguilón was probably our least effective player, and we really need him to be more consistent this season. But I'm still very impressed with how well Dier and Sánchez have been working together in the back line, and their individual performances overall. It's amazing how strong our defense can be when the players aren't fearing excommunication by the manager for making a mistake. It also helps that we aren't constantly inviting pressure by sitting back the whole match. So for now, Dier & Sánchez haven't given Nuno much reason at all to drop them from the starting lineup, and with Romero likely to be quarantining after his international duties with Argentina, I have a feeling we'll be seeing them in the starting XI for all of the September PL matches. Romero will have to work his way into the lineup by proving himself in the cup competitions.

I have to say I've been annoyed, if not totally surprised (knowing that Tottenham rarely gets credit when it's due), that pundits and fans of other teams don't seem to be too concerned about Spurs being at the top of the table. I mean sure, it's probably still too early to be making any firm predictions based on three matchdays--not that it's stopped anyone from continuing to heap praise on the likes of City and Chelsea. It's just the sort of "it's Tottenham, lads" attitude that really gets to me. Sure, it's likely that over the long season we'll fall out of first place and that CL qualification is a more realistic goal. But even with my bias acknowledged, I still think other teams are dismissing us at their peril.

I share the same concern as many pundits that we haven't been scoring enough goals, but I don't think it's going to stay that way once Sonny and Kane really get going. But the bigger reason I have hope for our chances this season, and the reason I think we're being underestimated in the general consensus, is that our defense has drastically improved from last season, and still has room for growth with the additions of Romero and now Emerson Royal (more on the closing of the transfer window in a minute). Our problem last season wasn't that we weren't scoring enough goals, but that we were conceding too many. Even now, I get upset when I think about that West Ham draw, or Fulham, or Wolves... I could go on. So many points dropped needlessly. So the fact that we've been so solid at the back this season is giving me a lot of confidence in our chances that I didn't have last season.

I suppose it would be fair to say that the worst tendencies of Dier, Sánchez, Reguilón, Dele, etc. might come back to haunt us, but I honestly believe that Nuno is rejuvenating the squad's confidence. Just seeing the collective team spirit and effort in the first match against City was enough to show that something has changed at Tottenham. It's not the same toxic, negative dressing room environment as we saw under Mourinho. We've also seen quite a few players moved on who either didn't want to be at Spurs or weren't a part of Nuno's plans going forward, so everyone left on the team should be feeling unified and focused. Ndombele is a wildcard in that aspect, but hopefully Nuno can get the best out of him like he has so far with other players that a lot of Spurs fans (myself included) had written off. I think Nuno deserves a lot of credit for what the team has achieved so far. Plus, he doesn't make me want to throw something at my TV screen in frustration like Mourinho frequently did, so that's a massive improvement on the fan morale front.

All of that being said, the month of September is going to be a huge test of the team's renewed mettle. After the international break (which could see us lose a few players to quarantine, though hopefully not to injury!), we have a gauntlet of London derbies to deal with, as well as a couple of ECL group stage matches and the first Carabao Cup fixture (away at Wolves, annoyingly). Even with how poor Arsenal's form has been so far, you still can't take an NLD lightly (though I do think a Spurs win is expected at this moment in time), and I can't think of any team who would feel confident facing Chelsea right now. So this upcoming month will give us a better idea of where Spurs are going to land in the table long-term based on how we handle these challenges. It will be a test of our squad depth, too, with the intermittent cup games demanding at least some rotation.

As for transfer business, the deadline day signing of Emerson Royal makes me feel much better about the likelihood of our strong defensive record continuing. I don't watch enough (any) La Liga to know if he's going to be replacing Tanganga at starting RB right away or having to work his way into the lineup like Romero, but even if he does, that allows Tanganga to be another CB option when needed. I'm sad to see Aurier go because when he was on, man, was he on, and one of the most exciting Spurs players to watch. I will miss his infectious energy on the pitch, if not his heart-stopping tackles on the edge of the box 🙃.

Overall, I'm pretty satisfied with Tottenham's transfer business this summer. Along with today's new RB addition, we got a promising keeper as security for Lloris' eventual departure from the club (which nobody wants to see anytime soon, let's be honest), an attacking-minded CB to add variety to the back line, a left winger who is young and still developing but frankly electrifying to watch already, and... a player who is staying on loan in Ligue 1 this season, but one to keep in mind for the future. The only areas of the lineup that we didn't bolster this window are the midfield and central forward (the elusive backup striker), but there's still hope that Ndombele can provide a creative spark in the midfield (or Dele if some tweaks are made with his positioning), and we can kick the can down the road a little bit on a striker now that Kane is staying... at least until January. Fingers crossed that Dane Scarlett is ready for his moment to shine in the cup matches.

I'm going to hold off on previewing the Crystal Palace match until the international games are over--you never know what complications could arise in the meantime. Until then, enjoy the World Cup qualifiers, and don't forget to support Spurs Women this Saturday for their season opener! Sadly, it's not one of the televised matches for US fans, but there's always ye olde FA Player.

COYS

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