While I am a big fan of Ange and his style of play, the game with Crystal Palace is a nice example of people seeing what they want to see. I watched the game and I don't think the performance was all that good, to be honest. Just like our game against Crystal Palace (who are incredibly organized), Spurs hardly created anything. There were no "patterns of play". There was a lot of aimless passing. Spurs had 0 shots on target in the first half (Palace had 2). For the whole game, they had 1 shot on target with 75% possession. We had 4 shots on target with 77% possession. The fine margins in football mean that while we conceded a world-class goal through Joachim Andersen, Spurs got a deflected goal early in the second half. The interesting thing is that had we won that game, we'd be on a 4-game winning streak in the league.
Not to take anything away from Ange though. He is brilliant.
This post is interesting, as it highlights how some perceive a good performance.
Spurs were v good last night imo. A difficult game, away from home, against a v v well organised, energetic, physical team with a superb home support. Maybe see this as a game which shows a resilience, patience, confidence and maturity that now reflects this Spurs team.
Spurs have clear patterns of play,
every single player knows exactly what they are doing, every single one. Their right back and both centre halves are playing excellent football, all v good on the ball (the right back is a proper footballer..) and you have James Maddison with a free role, which helps tie their whole game together.
I don't think they will win it because their squad lacks depth. But they have a lot to build on. A good January window for them, and who knows.
They are miles, miles ahead of us and Ange hasn't been there a for v long.