It was another three points for Tottenham in the Premier League- this time at the expense of Fulham, meaning Ange Postecoglou has made history with the most points (23) from a new manager in their opening nine games of a Premier League season.
The game started off relatively evenly, with Spurs‘ best chance within the opening thirty minutes a James Maddison free-kick which Cristian Romero flicked on to Micky Van de Ven, who hit the ball over the crossbar.
Fulham came close from a corner when João Palhinha tried to head the ball into the bottom right corner, but it was a fine save from Guglielmo Vicario to keep it out.
Spurs took the lead in the 36th minute after some brilliant pressing. Calvin Bassey’s misplaced pass found Van de Ven and with a simple pass from Richarlison found Heung-Min Son, who skillfully placed the ball into the top right corner from just outside the box.
The Lilywhites doubled their lead shortly after half-time in the same fashion.
Spurs’ press led to Bassey misplacing yet another pass to Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, whose first-time pass found Son. A perfect pass from the South Korean found James Maddison clear through on goal and the Englishman slotted home in the 54th minute to double Tottenham’s advantage.
After a number of changes, Postecoglou’s side looked significantly weaker towards the end of the game – Fulham almost pulled a goal back in the 84th minute when Vicario denied Raul Jiminez.
But Spurs held on, and Vicario’s heroics ensured they came away with all three points and their fourth clean sheet of the season.
Tottenham’s pressing is top quality
Both of Spurs’ goals came from Bassey’s errors in misplacing the ball- demonstrating how well the North London club have been at doing that so far this season.
It’s clearly a big part of the way Postecoglou wants Tottenham to play. During Antonio Conte‘s tenure, pressing wasn’t a word in Spurs’ vocabulary, but now it’s the first thing the Aussie expects.
Ahead of the game, Maddison was explaining how important pressing was to the team. “Postecoglou told us on his first day that pressing high is non-negotiable at any stage of the game.
“We had a pre-season game against Shakhtar Donetsk and we started to sit off a bit and he went ballistic at us at half-time.
“He said ‘that’s how Tottenham have been in the past trying to protect a lead, but under me it’s a non-negotiable to keep going.”
It’s clearly drilled into the players and it has been a major part of Ange’s success so far.
Despite having a few chances, Fulham struggled
Throughout the game, there was always a sense that Fulham were second best.
But the away side really struggled to fend off the Spurs press. Postecoglou’s team controlled the pace of the game and never allowed Fulham any breathing room.
Against the run of play, there were a few occasions where they nearly took the lead. Namely Palhinha’s header at a corner in the 12th minute which was denied by a fantastic fingertip save from Vicario.
They seemed up for a fight before Son’s goal but seemed to lose all faith once it went in.
The goal came at the perfect time for Tottenham who were creating chances but in the opening half an hour Fulham were closest to scoring.
After Spurs had made a number of changes Fulham grew into the game, but it must be said that the Lilywhites had taken a number of first-team players off to let them rest ahead of Friday’s visit to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace.
Vicario has had a brilliant start to life at Tottenham
Despite Son and Maddison getting all the plaudits, Vicario deserves all the praise he can get too. He shone in a game which could’ve easily gone the other way if it wasn’t for the Italian.
Vicario produced a wonderful fingertip save to deny a header from Palhinha early on, and Fulham were kept out by Vicario for a second time in the closing stages when Jimenez was played through on goal and the keeper produced a fine stop.
The 27-year-old goalkeeper was brought in this summer to replace former captain Hugo Lloris – some big boots to fill.
Lloris had played 361 games for Spurs and was one of the first names on the teamsheet since his arrival in 2012, but the Frenchman had expressed his desire to pursue other options in the summer transfer window.
After not securing a move away in the summer, the Frenchman hasn’t made a single matchday squad under Postecoglou.
Vicario has hit the ground running at Tottenham – he’s had some unbelievable saves in his nine games in the Premier League and has become a fan favourite around the club.
Spurs fans were wary whether Daniel Levy had made the right move going for the Italian rather than David Raya – who’s now ended up at Arsenal – but at this moment fans of the Lilywhites are delighted with his signing.
It became obvious that Spurs need better squad depth
It was quite a calm and controlled game for Tottenham before they made their substitutions. However, their subs failed to impress once on the pitch.
Noticeably, Emerson Royal looked like he was struggling when he came on for Destiny Udogie. Albeit he was playing out of position in the left-back position, rather than his favoured right-back role.
Oliver Skipp failed to light up Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Brennan Johnson didn’t seem to create much too. However, Johnson was starting his first minutes since coming back from a hamstring injury, so you can cut him some slack.
But there was a noticeable significant drop-off once the likes of Son and Maddison came off- you’d expect that with the quality of the two players, but it was stark how much the quality did drop.
If it wasn’t for Vicario, Spurs could’ve gone on to draw that game as they didn’t create much going forward and looked more open at the back, and Fulham looked to exploit that drop in quality.
It feels obvious that the North London club will have to strengthen in January as there currently seems to be a lack of squad depth to achieve their goals.
There’s a feeling if their stars were to get injured they’d struggle somewhat, so it seems important they make it to January unscathed to bolster their squad.
Their first XI looks very strong and united, but they will need stronger back-up options going forward.
