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#3 Is Dele Alli now firmly back in the Tottenham fold?
Ever since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, questions have been asked over the Tottenham future of Dele Alli. Once considered Tottenham’s most valuable player, the England international has struggled in the few appearances he’s made thus far and has often been left out of the matchday squad by Jose Mourinho.
When Tottenham’s team was announced tonight, it came as a surprise to see Dele in the starting XI. But in the end, he repaid Mourinho’s faith with a tremendous performance.
Sure, the opposition wasn’t up to a high standard at all, but Dele looked like he had his swagger back tonight. Not all of the tricks and flicks he tried came off, but he worked extremely hard, pressed the opposition from the off, and had a hand in three of Tottenham’s four goals.
Judging by tonight’s game, it looks like rather than being on his way out of North London, Dele is back in the Tottenham fold. And if that’s truly the case, then it’s a massive bonus for Spurs. When he’s at his best, Alli is still one of the best players in the Premier League.
And not only that, but he adds even more quality to what is now a very deep Tottenham squad.
#4 Winks scores a worldie – even if he didn’t mean it!
It quickly became clear that tonight’s game would be a stroll in the park for Tottenham, and it took them just 16 minutes to open the scoring. But one man who nobody would’ve expected to see on the scoresheet was Harry Winks.
The England midfielder is renowned for his smart passing – he completed 105 of his attempted 116 tonight, far more than any other player on the pitch. But goalscoring isn’t exactly his forte. In fact, the last time he found the net for Tottenham was in a match with Fulham in January 2019.
But tonight, that changed, and in dramatic fashion. Receiving the ball from a throw-in on the left side of the pitch, Winks hit a 53-yard lob that somehow looped over Ludogorets keeper Plamen Iliev and into the net.
It was a ridiculous goal, one that was reminiscent of David Beckham’s famous lob for Manchester United back in 1996. Sadly, in a post-game interview, Winks admitted that he hadn’t meant to shoot – the lob was actually a pass to Gareth Bale gone awry. But it still provided Tottenham fans with a massively memorable moment.
Winks will now undoubtedly be hoping his next Spurs goal comes around before another 22 months is up!
#5 Did Jose Mourinho give any clues into his line-up for the Chelsea game on Sunday?
Given that Tottenham have a huge London derby against Chelsea to look forward to on Sunday – with the winners likely topping the Premier League table – Jose Mourinho was never going to play his full-strength XI in tonight’s game. And indeed, the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, and Eric Dier stayed firmly on the bench.
But with some question marks over Tottenham’s starting XI on Sunday, did Mourinho give any clues tonight? It’s possible.
Firstly, given that Matt Doherty played tonight after recovering from a bout of COVID-19, it’s likely that Serge Aurier will be preferred in the right-back spot for the Chelsea game. The center of Tottenham’s defense, though, is a bigger question mark.
Mourinho has used a partnership of Dier and Toby Alderweireld, but with the Belgian on the shelf with a groin injury, who is likely to partner Dier on Sunday? Judging by tonight’s game, the most logical option could be Japhet Tanganga.
The youngster returned from an injury to play the full 90 minutes tonight and was largely impressive against weak opposition. With Mourinho seemingly not fully trusting Davinson Sanchez and Joe Rodon still wildly inexperienced, Tanganga could provide the injection of pace that Spurs need alongside Dier.
And in midfield, did Tanguy Ndombele’s appearance tonight mean that Giovani Lo Celso will be preferred for Sunday’s match? Or was his slightly deeper role a suggestion that he could pair with Lo Celso alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg against Chelsea? We’ll find out come the weekend.
Essentially, tonight’s biggest lesson was that Tottenham now have a hugely deep squad with options in every position. And that can only bode well for Mourinho’s hopes of delivering the club’s first trophy since 2008.
