On Thursday night, Spurs overcame AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League with a narrow win, thanks to an early second half penalty.
Here are some of the main takeaways from the game, and what was particularly noticeable.
James Maddison showed great leadership when it came to the aforementioned penalty, and letting Richarlison take it. There looked to be a bit of confusion about who was going to take it, but in the end, Maddison let Richarlison step up and be the hero. He told TNT Sports after the game:
Initially we both wanted to take it. I’m a senior player and captain today, I was going to take the penalty and then when I was stood there I had a little conversation with myself and thought Richy’s just come back from an injury, it can be difficult for a striker – so a split second decision to let him take it and that’ll do him the world of good.”
Considering the 27-year old was captain, in the absence of Heung-Min Son and Cristian Romero from the starting XI, it was very good of him to let the Brazilian take on this occasion.
Now that Wilson Odobert is fit again, Timo Werner has to have started his final game cor Spurs. The only reason, surely, he started vs Alkmaar is because Moore had to play on the right hand side – with Ange wanting to manage Johnson’s workload.
However, from now, there is no reason not to start Moore and Odobert when Son and Johnson are being rested.
Moore showed just how talented he is, and why there is so much hype around his game. He produced an absolute world class carry up the field in the second half, before creating a chance for Johnson. Maddison said that for twenty minutes in the second half, he thought Spurs had Neymar out there on the left.
He missed an opportunity in the first half, but it is seriously encouraging that he was able to get into the right area to get the chance. In fairness, it was a good cross from Werner to create it.
Fraser Forster’s experience was handy. In a very rotated side with a lot of youthfulness, his experience was useful at the back. Made a few a saves when called upon. He has a lot of experience in Europe with Celtic and Southampton. Certainly more productive than his games in the Carabao Cup.
Finally, Destiny Udogie is really important in games like this, so much so, there is a piece of its own about it — which you can read here.
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Tottenham held their first clean sheet and 3rd consecutive victory in the Europa League with their win over AZ Alkmaar at Tottenham Hotspur stadium today. Here are my rapid reactions to the match.
Mikey Moore is the second of Tottenham’s youthful players that have truly shined in one of the 3 Europa League games that Tottenham has played. Moore played the entire first half on the right side of the Tottenham formation, a tactical choice that seemed to leave Moore struggling to find his footing, but in the second half Tottenham’s manager, Ange Postecoglou, made the tactical decision to sub off Timo Werner and bring on Brennan Johnson, a move that allowed Moore to shift back to his normal position along the left side.
It didn’t take long for Moore to find a rhythm once he took his place on the left hand side, and he gave Alkmaar’s defenders trouble throughout the entire second half. Moore routinely found pathways where none existed and pushed the pace on the left hand side, creating chances early and often throughout the second half.
While Moore failed to turn any of these chances into a true goal, the showing today gives a glimpse of what Tottenham’s coaching staff see in the homegrown talent of Mikey Moore. With that being said, there’s an argument to be made that the time has come to let Moore be among the every game substitute list for Tottenham’s Premier League Matches, and if that arguments being made, allow me to offer a name to remove from that substitute list for Moore to replace.
Timo Werner has been given the nod in all 3 of Tottenham’s Europa League matches so far this season, and has been given ample opportunities to turn the playing time into a form of success. So far, not only has Werner failed to find the net, he’s failed to truly make any keeper even remotely worry when he’s had opportunities on goal. Today, Werner found himself 1 on 1 with Alkmaar’s goalkeeper Rome-Jayden Owuso-Oduro in the 26th minute, and with ample time to determine what kind of shot he was going to take, Werner shot the ball right at Owusu-Odoro’s feet. The playing time being given to Werner at this point seems to be being wasted on a player whose confidence in front of goal is completely gone, and at this point, with the youth that Tottenham have invested money in, It makes more sense for the club to start getting young players like Mikey Moore the experience that they need to grow. Werner is a 28 year old player who Tottenham doesn’t have a lot of money invested in, while Moore is 17 and a player that Tottenham has been training since he joined their youth program in 2016.
Another young player who deserves some attention is Lucas Bergvall. While he hasn’t had any outstanding moments for Tottenham since joining the club this past summer, Bergvall has shown flashes of something that Tottenham doesn’t have available to them in their midfield as of now.
Routinely, the Swedish midfielder will find himself in situations where a lot of players would lose possession as they are surrounded by the opposition, but somehow Bergvall seems to thrive in these specific situations. Regularly, he works his way out of the danger with one or two flashy moves, and then passes the ball away. and moves on.
While Bergvall hasn’t done anything impressive enough to push for the regular substitutes list, he is a player to keep an eye on as Tottenham’s season progresses.
