Tottenham Hotspur lead the Premier League table thanks to a combination of nerve-free, energetic football and some daft errors from their opponents. Ange Postecoglou has, for now at least, eradicated the flimsiness that so often beset Spurs whenever glory beckoned. Tottenham’s head coach has taken 23 points from his first nine games in charge, a Premier League record.
His team survived a spirited finale but that, too, seems to be a Postecoglou trademark. Where once Spurs would wobble, they are, at present, immune to self-doubt. We wait for the bubble to burst but it is by no means clear what it is that will puncture the club’s imperious flamboyance and right now the team have to be considered title contenders. This could have been a season full of chatter about how much they miss Harry Kane and instead the conversation is all about the style and efficiency of Son Heung-min and James Maddison, Monday night’s goalscorers.
Postecoglou resolutely ignored compliments about his impressive start to life in charge of Spurs and instead gave a darned good impression of a coach far from content with what he had just witnessed. “We’ve got a long way to go,” the Australian said. “We have to improve and that puts the responsibility on me to make sure we do.”
We have come to expect a frenetic start from Postecoglou’s side and sure enough they ran at Fulham with a sense of urgency. Monday night football, according to Postecoglou, means that he and his team have “to sit around all weekend” and they certainly began as if they had been cooped up and forced to watch repeats of Home and Away. All Fulham could do was track, block and foul.
Marco Silva’s side won a corner from their first counterattack which brought a fine, stretching save from Guglielmo Vicario as he reached João Palhinha’s strong header. It was a sobering juncture for the home team, who calmed down as a consequence, while it allowed Fulham to grow in confidence.
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Willian was relentlessly jeered by the Spurs supporters for the fact that he very nearly signed for the north London club in 2013 only to join Chelsea instead at the 11th hour, but it served merely to ensure he was inspired to be heavily involved in most of what was incisive for the away team.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg started in place of the suspended Yves Bissouma and had a chance to give Spurs the lead but his long-range strike was simple enough for Bernd Leno to gather. After Antonee Robinson wasted a promising Fulham foray, Spurs broke at pace only for Richarlison to miss the target. Silva’s side had begun to look, if anything, too comfortable and sure enough, a poor clearance by Calvin Bassey was intercepted by Micky van de Ven. He fed Richarlison, who in turn found Son for his highly composed seventh goal of the campaign.
Silva made two changes at the interval, bringing on Raúl Jiménez and Alex Iwobi. A single lapse in concentration had marred a commendable first-half display and the Fulham head coach, having masterminded a victory over Spurs in the EFL Cup in August, was keen to maintain a sense of optimism. Yet this proved practically impossible given that Bassey made a second gaffe just as the mood around the stadium was beginning to turn impatient.
The Nigeria defender once again gave Spurs a helping hand, this time passing out from the back so that Hojbjerg was able all too easily to intercept. The Dane almost casually passed to Son, who set up Maddison for a simple finish. For Silva it was an unpleasant instance of déjà vu. His team were compact and reasonably inventive but prone to very costly errors.
The mistakes, gobbled up by Tottenham, gave the home side a touch of arrogant freedom. Maddison embarked on a sashaying run through the middle and tried to end it with an audacious pass out wide to Richarlison which was, in the end, overcooked, but the self-belief within the team grew with each passing minute. A slick Maddison free kick was met by Son but the ball skidded beyond the far post.
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Bassey made yet another error, allowing Maddison to nick the ball off him, but this time Tim Ream was able to clear after a slight mix-up between Maddison and Son ensured the resulting strike was hesitant.
Silva explained that one mitigating factor was that the left-footed Bassey was deployed on the right. Jiménez had the best chance as Fulham tried to claw their way back but, once again, Vicario was agile.
That his goalkeeper had been integral to the victory only underlined for Postecoglou that his team had not exerted the level of control he wanted to see. This, then, is how Spurs top the pile. Their manager, somewhat relentlessly, demands much more.
Spurs fans’ Israel support
Ange Postecoglou, the Tottenham manager, refused to condemn supporters who flouted a club ban by waving Israeli flags during last night’s match.
At least a dozen flags bearing the Star of David motif were displayed at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, mostly after the final whistle.
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Postecoglou had spoken eloquently beforehand of his hopes that the game would act as a welcome distraction to those distressed by events in the Middle East. The Australian was in no mood afterwards to criticise the small minority who had decided to take a pro-Israeli stance, however. “I’m not part of that process,” he said. “I have said countless times I’m not going to tell people what to feel and tell people what to do. We move on.”
Tottenham, who have a longstanding association with the Jewish community, had emailed supporters to make it clear that flags or banners in support of Israel, or Palestine, would not be allowed in the stadium. Some fans had been disappointed that the club had not taken an unequivocal stance in favour of the Israeli state in the wake of the attacks by Hamas on October 7.
A club statement made it clear that a minute’s silence before kick-off was to remember all “innocent victims” of a crisis that has claimed thousands of Israeli and Palestinian lives, as well as paying “respects to the late, great Sir Bobby Charlton”, who died on Saturday.
The minute’s silence was honoured by the vast majority of fans, although pro-Israeli outbursts were shouted by two individuals in different stands.
A number of Spurs fans gave broad support to the club’s stance. “I think showing support for Israel is important at this time but then again it is highly political and we are here to watch the football,” said Freddie Smith, 20, from Watford. “I know a lot of fans are in support of Israel so they will be disappointed but at the same time to separate the political from the football makes sense as well.”
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“Given the circumstances probably the best thing to do was not inflame the situation,” added Adrian Bond, 66, from Surrey.
John Bond, 26, also from Surrey agreed. “At the end of the day the club has made a decision to protect the majority of fans,” he said. “They are trying to prevent a spark. The silence before the start of the game showed that at least the club was doing something.”
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): G Vicario 8 — P Porro 7, C Romero 7, M van de Ven 7, D Udogie 6 (E Royal, 56 6) — P Sarr 7 (O Skipp, 62 6), P-E Hojbjerg 7 — D Kulusevski 7, J Maddison 8 (A Veliz, 81), Richarlison 7 ( B Johnson, 81) — Son Heung-min 9 (G Lo Celso, 81). Booked Hojbjerg, Vicario.
Fulham (4-3-3): B Leno 6 — T Castagne 6, C Bassey 4, T Ream 6, A Robinson 5 — S Lukic 5 (H Reed, 72), J Palhinha 7 (T Cairney, 82), A Pereira 6 (A Iwobi, 46 6) — B DeCordova-Reid 7 (H Wilson, 62 6), C Vinícius 6 (R Jiménez, 46 6), Willian 7.
