It was October last year and I was sat in a toilet in Maceys New York watching Spurs and Brighton on my Iphone. Spurs had gone 2 nil up but we were about to fall apart and we did in spectacular fashion and it was the start of the slow downfall in the league that year. Brighton came back 3-2 and I was walking down 5th avenue with a big mad head on me. Fast forward to 2025 and Spurs are now 2-0 down against Brighton because of a couple of stupid mistakes. Brighton are a good team though. Great at counter attacking and with a team of relatively newbies after they sell half their team for €100 million to Chelsea every year. Brighton are a well run club by Tony Bloom who famously beat the bookies by being a better analyst than the bookies. His story is very interesting and their recruitment team recruit with data and not old time scouts. He has just purchased Hearts as well up in Scotland who look to topple Rangers as the number 2 team in Scotland. Any Brighton were 2-0 up with goals from Minteh (8) and Ayari (31). and it looked dead in the water but Spurs did a thing that was very surprising. Richarlison got one back in the 43rd which was badly needed but it was scrappy .The second half started and we started coming back. Xavi Simons replaced Bentancur at the 61st minute and this change made all the difference. Simons was all over the place and playing well. He actually missed two goals in the space of a few minutes but he was linking the play well. Spurs are relying on Lucas Bergvall to link the midfield and at only 19 he was having an off day. The Spurs pressure was telling and it led to the OG at the 82nd minute by the keeper. 2-2.
It was Spurs's time to take the game to Brighton and the tables had completely turned. Brighton were under pressure but time ran out and they escaped with a draw. Frank said in the presser it was the best game that Spurs have played under him which was a bit mad to say. Was it? The second half definably was I think. The first half , not so much. But with Spurs sitting 3rd in the table with 10 points after 5 games with a +7 goal difference is good going in my opinion. Frank has always went into teams with a bad opening record because he was trying to nail down the defence and then he would introduce layers in his attacking tactics but by the looks of it after only 5 games his defence is well and truly nailed down and playing well. So now he has to focus on the goals.
The next 5 games are easily winnable for Spurs. Doncaster today in the Cup. Then we are at home to Wolves at the weekend with a trip to the artic circle (for the second time this year) to Bodo Glint. We have Leeds away on the 4th October and then at home to a terrible Aston Villa on the 19th October before and away tie to Monaco. Everton after them. The next massive game is the Chelsea game on the 1st November and then we have a humdinger of a November with PSG, United, Arsenal all in a row.
But we have to get over a small hurdle tomorrow. Frank has always been notorious when it comes to the cup games at Brentford losing to lower league teams. He got away with it because their prime goal was to avoid relegation. But at Spurs he has to win. He will pick a reserve team that will be made up of out of favour Tel up top, Ben Davies, Kinsky, Danso , Archie Gray. Sarr will play because he needs minutes in his legs. Odobert on the left and Johnson on the right. We should have enough for Doncaster but when teams switch it up alot you know what happens. Look at United against Grimsby a fortnight ago . Stranger things have happened but I very much doubt it under this manager.
In other news what is happening in football????
Woolwich yet again decided to play 3 number 6's and a defensive winger in Trossard against Man City last Sunday. But at least they won 1-1. I laughed out loud when I saw the team without Saka or their new start Eze. I then laughed out loud again when Man City were playing like a prime Stoke and parking the bus. Out of all the tactics that Pep would have deployed this was not on my bingo card. What is happening to football. Long throws now seem to be the key. Towels around the ground so a player can dry the ball before they throw it up the field. Gaining ground like in rugby. I would say @cryptoandcoffee is loving this. All that's left is a scrum. I was under the impression that only teams that do not have the quality need to do these tactics. Does this mean that Sam Allardyce , Sean Dyke, Tony Pulis and all the other managers labeled dinosaurs were ahead of their time? Pep and Arteta have been deploying similar tactics of late. And its not just them. Chelsea are doing it as well. I have a friend that knows everything about football. He's like an Irish version of @amirtheawesome1 . He thinks it's a tactic due to squad preservation. Play like this until January February and then when the important time comes they can release the handbrake. Nobody is wrecked , nobody is injured. Play the long ball to get through the crappy rounds and then bang. You win all round you in May. But the problem with this approach is that Liverpool are now 8 points ahead of City and 5 points ahead of Arsenal. I dunno , I just think its all a bit mental. A squad that cost a billion should be able to play football. The Irish national team have been playing this football for years because of lack of quality but these sides have so much talent. It is a shame to not see them play football.