Spurs’ return to form wins Beckham praise
Tottenham look to have turned a corner after they sweep aside Palace 4-0, writes Gerry Cox
Tottenham’s stylish 4-0 destruction of Crystal Palace on Saturday had their fans purring again and prompted the watching David Beckham to joke with Mauricio Pochettino that he wished to come out of retirement to play for them in their impressive new home.
Beckham, born and raised locally, was back in Tottenham primarily to assess their new stadium as he continues plans to house his own club, Inter Miami, in Florida. But the former England captain was also impressed with the way Spurs regained the flair and forcefulness that had been missing for much of 2019, certainly in the Premier League.
This display, led by two goals from Son Heung-min, another from Erik Lamela and an own goal before half-time, was much more like the Tottenham team that pushed hard for the title in 2016 and 2017. Last season they struggled to find their fluency at home and tailed off badly after Christmas. Here are the factors that turned it around for them.
demanding the ball in difficult positions and creating chances.
There is talk of Tottenham preparing a huge contract offer for the Dane, whose current deal expires next summer. On this display he is worth every penny. Pochettino has tinkered with different formations and personnel as Spurs have struggled to score goals, especially at home against teams that defend in numbers. Their poor home form from last season continued into this, as they laboured to beat Aston Villa and lost 1-0 to Newcastle three weeks ago. Against Palace, Spurs went back to a tactic they used to devastating effect in 2016 and 2017, with both full-backs bombing forward, and centre-back pairing Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld launching balls forward. The Belgian pair are also in the final year of their contracts, but were back in form. Roy Hodgson, the beaten manager, said: “The two centre-backs, the quality of their passing was really outstanding, although they probably won’t get much credit for it as is the way with centre-backs.” The Ivorian’s first game of the season produced a decent impersonation of Kyle Walker, who peaked for Tottenham at rightback before his £50million transfer to Manchester City in 2017. Walker and Danny Rose made a formidable full-back pairing for Spurs and England, exploiting space down the flanks to get forward and produce dangerous crosses. Rose is getting back to his best after injuries and transfer talk, while Aurier was another unsettled player this summer. But after one of his crosses was turned in by Patrick van Aanholt and another volleyed home by Son, Aurier said he wanted to leave in the summer but added: “That was the situation before the transfer window closed, but now I am happy to stay. I don’t want to leave.” In the first minute Son set the tone for an afternoon of high intensity, chasing down a loose ball and rattling a shot at Vicente Guaita. The Korean forward never let up, scoring twice and going close once more, but also harrying Palace’s defenders until the end. Hodgson said: “If I had a player who did what Son did today, I’d be really delighted.” Son said: “I wanted to help the team and put them (the opposing defenders) under pressure. I think we should play like this always.” Alderweireld said: “We had a good talk, there was a focus to get back to playing like last season, and we played with a lot of pressure, full of energy.”