Irons v Spurs – The Manera verdict

A lot depends on Rice’s young shoulders again

CandH match analyst Mike Manera takes a look at how we will beat Spurs 🙂

Let’s face it, we don’t like Spurs, and we love to beat them above anyone else.

But Spurs are a very good side. They have good players, an excellent manager and a cohesive style and philosophy. Having said that, they will be more worried about playing us than we will be about playing them.

The much-vaunted Spurs cohesion has been disrupted by injuries. Spurs love to play through the middle in a 4-2-3-1 shape, relying on the passing of Christian Eriksen and the movement of Deli Alli to break through the defensive lines and feed Harry Kane.

But with Ali injured, much of their fluidity has gone. The loss of Danny Rose and Serge Aurier has also deprived them of what little width they did have on their left. They are also without key defender Jan Vertonghen.

With midfielders Mousa Dembele and Christian Eriksen just returning from injury, there will be doubts over their ability to last the full 90 minutes let alone match sharpness. So it’s as good a time as any to play Spurs.

OK, there is Harry Kane, and he has scored six goals in six games against us. But he has also blanked three times in the last six games. He either scores two or none it seems. And Kane, along with three other key Spurs players took part in a very tough England international on Tuesday in Spain. Just how fresh and up for it are they?

Don’t get me wrong, we will still need to be at our very best on Saturday to beat them. Our full backs will need to be positionally spot on, tucking in to combat the Spurs central over-load.

For me, Masuaku is a weakness at left back for that reason and should be replaced by Cresswell. After all, Cresswell spent most of last season playing on the left side of a central three at the heart of our defence. Anderson and Yarmalenko will need to tuck in out of possession, and spring wide when we have the ball to exploit the space.

Luckily, both appear to have the intelligence and pace to do this. Once again, a lot will rest on the young shoulders of the excellent Declan Rice. But our three-man midfield should outnumber theirs and be enough to contain and transition into attack.

Of course, Pochettino could spring a surprise and match our 433 on the day. But thanks to our team improvements this summer and their injury issues, I still think we would have enough man for man to beat them.

I predict a 2-0 win. Come on you irons!!