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The First Four Matches – Tottenham

Four matches into the season is not perhaps time to make conclusions but we can certainly take the opportunity to assess the early season so far. First up I’ll take the opportunity to review Tottenham’s quartet of top flight fixtures and whether it has been a good or bad start to the campaign.

On the evidence of points gained then 7 from a possible a 12 is a record that is not to be sniffed at but in all fairness it will come with some element of frustration as there is arguably a belief that it could have and should have been more.

That is because although Spurs have picked up two wins on the road they are yet to pick up a first home win of the season. Now the fact that they are playing at Wembley this season has been mentioned a lot you could almost say too much but it is more down to poor game management in those fixtures which ended costing them.

Against Chelsea when they leveled thanks to Michy Batshuayi heading into his own net it looked as if there was to be a winner in the game then it would come from Mauricio Pochettino’s side, but they were then hit with a sucker punch as Marcos Alonso scored his second of the afternoon.

That was not a defeat that came because of Wembley Stadium that is being caught out on the counter attack combined with poor keeping from Hugo Lloris. A galling goal to concede late on but also the measure of why Chelsea are the defending champions as they have a habit of getting over the line when it really matters.

The more bitter pill to swallow would have been the draw to Burnley, that would have been the perfect opportunity in which to rid any talk of a Wembley hoodoo and they were minutes away from doing so after Dele Alli’s second half strike.

But instead of seeing the game out they surged forward in search of a second and were caught out by Burnley’s new signing Chris Wood. The New Zealand international opening his account for the Clarets with an injury time equaliser to give his side a share of the points.

Frustration for Tottenham which coupled with at the time a lack of signings meant that some members of their fanbase were started to become irate. It was apparent that the club needed two things, a good end to the transfer window and a win against Everton.

The former was taken care of at the end of last month as Tottenham eventually signed five players, two of them will perhaps not have any immediate bearing on the squad as Argentine pair Paolo Gazzaniga and Juan Foyth join the goalkeeping and defensive ranks respectively.

But it is the capture of the other three that turned a below average window into a good one. The signings of Davinson Sanchez, Serge Aurier and Fernando Llorente will undoubtedly bolster the squad but it is perhaps one signing away from it being a great window.

Arguably they could have done with an extra body in midfield, whether that was set to be Ross Barkley from Everton or Andre Gomes from Barcelona I’m not too sure. To be honest I think Gomes was being used a smokescreen in the Barkley negotiations. That said I would expect Tottenham to try again for the England international in January.

In terms of the latter, whether the window was deemed a good one or not by fans would be dependent on whether or not the club won on Merseyside. Yes it would have perhaps been a snap decision but fans of any club are guilty of making these kind of statements.

Win and the window is deemed a good one, failure to do so and it questions would again be asked. Yesterday did not quite carry the mantle of a must win game but it is certainly one which was a must not lose. On the evidence of yesterday it is fair to say that they passed the test with flying colours.

They made Everton look very ordinary as they coasted to a three nil win that could have quite easily been double that. New boy Davinson Sanchez was given his first start after a brief cameo in the draw against Burnley and looked at home in a back three consisting of former Ajax old boys.

Tottenham’s win yesterday sent out quite the statement especially as Everton have aspirations of breaking the top six this season. Four points from nine made for average reading but seven from twelve looks a lot healthier especially as they are just a win from top spot with Manchester United losing their one hundred percent record.

So the focus shifts back to Wembley again this weekend as they play host to Swansea and again they get the opportunity to put an end to any talk of how the ground is going to be to the detriment to the team. With the personnel settled until the new year the opportunity to build momentum is now in front of them.

In summary the performances have perhaps been better than what the points on board will reflect but at the same time they only have themselves to blame for that situation. That said it has been a relatively positive start as the keep their nearest rivals in their sights.

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