Tottenham Hotspur certainly suffered no Carabao Cup hangover in the Burnley sunshine today as the much-changed Ange Postecoglou XI recorded a 5-2 victory.
Let’s take a look at the five things we learned:
BURNLEY, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 02: Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates with teammate James Maddison after scoring the team’s fourth goal during the Premier League match between Burnley FC and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor on September 02, 2023 in Burnley, England. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Changing the team
Ange Postecoglou changed the team back to what is likely his first-choice, and Spurs purred more than ever before this season. Despite going behind early and finding themselves in a 1-1 battle for a long time, Spurs eventually ran away with the game, scoring five in the process. I know Postecoglou wanted to take a look at some of his squad players, but it does make you wonder what could have been achieved by changing just half the team, rather than 9 players.
Heung-min Son number 9
Richarlison was benched today and Heung-min Son was handed the role of number 9 – and boy, did he do well! Even though he was rather quiet and didn’t see a huge amount of the ball for large parts of the game, he burst into life once Spurs made their way into the final third. He also seemed to enjoy life on the shoulder of the defence a lot more than Richarlison has in recent weeks. It leaves Postecoglou with a big question, who is his first-choice striker moving forward?
Tottenham are fun, Tottenham are chaos
Whatever happens this season, Tottenham are going to be the most entertaining team to watch all year long. Yes, there is something to be said of the dominance of Man City or the plucky electricity of Brighton, but Spurs are offering excitement at both ends. All out attack and last-ditch defending. What’s not to like? After all, we are here to be entertained, are we not?
Goal from all over the pitch
Something that Postecoglou seems to have achieved (and something Antonio Conte struggled to) is creating goals all over the pitch. Not only are Sonny, Kulusevski, and Richarlison all now off the mark this season, but Tottenham also have goals from Maddison, Emerson Royal, Romero, Pape Matar Sarr, and Ben Davies (kind of). For so long, Harry Kane has covered the weight of the goalscoring and match-winning burden, but now it’s being shared, which I imagine is a lot harder to play against.
Up to second in the table
Postecoglou won’t like to look at the table so early, and even fans shouldn’t really, but 10 points from 12, including Brentford away and a game against Man United. Sitting second in the Premier League is fun, whatever point of the season it may be. However, it should also be a warning sign. We all know that Mourinho and Conte both also enjoyed positive starts to seasons, as did Nuno Espirito Santo, so there is a lot more work to be done for Postecoglou and his side.
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