At their Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in North London on Saturday, Spurs handed Everton a correct thrashing within the second spherical of the Premier League season.
The impasse was damaged within the 14th minute when Yves Bissouma slammed into the highest nook from outdoors the field, and within the twenty fifth, Son Heung-min took benefit of a critical blunder by England No.1 Jordan Pickford to double his group’s lead. Cristian Romero made it three within the 71st, and Son doubled his private tally on the night time within the 77th, setting the ultimate rating to 4-0.
The groups
Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou arrange his beginning lineup in an especially attacking 4-3-3 form, with each James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski deployed in superior midfield roles, simply behind the entrance line of Brennan Johnson, Son, and new signing Wilson Odobert. Bissouma was tasked with sitting a bit deeper, shielding the again 4 of Pedro Porro, Romero, Micky van de Ven and Future Udogie. Guglielmo Vicario stood between the posts.
In the meantime, Sean Dyche organized his Everton facet in a 4-2-3-1, with the quartet of Vitalii Mykolenko, Michael Keane, James Tarkowski and Roman Dixon forming the final line in entrance of Pickford. Idrissa Gana Gueye and Tim Iroegbunam paired up in the course of the park, whereas the trio of Dwight McNeil, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Jack Harrison supported striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin up entrance.
The sport
Since his largely profitable days because the supervisor of Burnley, when he managed to maintain the Clarets in England’s prime flight for 5 consecutive seasons, Dyche has been often called a coach very able to having his group play in opposition to the percentages and shock superior opposition. His defensive setups and largely bodily method used to frustrate groups who tried to play a fluent recreation in opposition to them.
It appeared the 53-year-old tried to do one thing of the type in North London on Saturday, and the Toffees loved not more than 29% of possession, however Spurs had been just too good to not benefit from controlling the ball for a lot time. Even earlier than Bissouma’s opener, Postecoglou’s males threatened very significantly a number of occasions, forcing Pickford into a number of fantastic saves. And when the Everton goalkeeper misplaced the ball to Son in his personal field and the South Korean made it 2-0, the result of the match appeared just about settled after 25 minutes.
From that time on, Everton tried to push ahead extra, with clearly nothing to lose, however they repeatedly didn’t trigger the house facet any issues, other than a number of comparatively promising set-piece conditions. The distinction in photographs taken between the 2 groups doesn’t appear too drastic at first look (Spurs 13, Everton 10), however the Merseyside Blues solely managed to hit the goal as soon as; Spurs did it seven occasions.
In the long run, Spurs fully deserved their snug win.
Everton in hassle
With simply two rounds performed, it’s turning into clear that there’s loads that wants fixing at Everton. They’re already firmly nailed to the underside of the Premier League desk, having misplaced the season opener at dwelling to Brighton and Hove Albion the earlier week. They’re but to attain a aim, they usually’ve now conceded seven.
A fast turnaround in outcomes is clearly wanted in what’s already shaping as much as be a determined race for survival all through 2024/25, however whether or not Everton are able to getting issues proper earlier than it’s too late, stays to be seen.
As for Spurs, they now have 4 factors to their identify after enjoying a disappointing draw in opposition to Leicester Metropolis within the first spherical. Postecoglou can have gotten their followers excited once more after this recreation, however conditions just like the one the place Jamie Vardy was allowed to attain in opposition to them on the King Energy Stadium will must be lower out of their recreation.
