London. Sickbed coach, record man on the field and best effort of the season.
When Arsenal faltered, it was suddenly Tottenham who showed mental strength.
This is a triumph that breathes life into the whole of North London.
Mental monsters. A term that may not have been coined, but was made famous by Jurgen Klopp. With 17 rounds played, psychology seemed to play a more important role this weekend in the Premier League.
Liverpool are not mental monsters anymore, far from it. Is it arsenal? Upcoming matches will show this after Everton’s treatment of league leaders at Goodison Park. The Merseyside side, who won 1-0, on the other hand, had Shaun Daichy injected, almost a bit of a cheat.
One of the reasons Pep Guardiola let Joao Cancelo walk out the door into Bayern Munich’s open arms is because he wanted to boost morale in the dressing room. The manager’s fiery speech after Man City’s conversion against Tottenham two weeks ago was intended as a lighter fluid.
Guardiola believes that the indolence and naive inadequacy of the goalkeeper and the back line do not win the league title.
feelings deja vu So it was clear when Manchester City repeated the same mistake at Tottenham.
Graves may be the biggest – but Kane is the best
Ahead of Super Sunday’s meeting, the headlines around Tottenham revolved around two men: Antonio Conte and Harry Kane.
Conte because he suffers from the smallest gallbladder and is resting in his home in Italy. Instead, assistant coach Christian Stellini pulled strings along the touchline. Tottenham must hope Conte can distance himself from the family, who still live in Milan, and eventually return.
In Kane’s case, it’s time to set a record. Many older tabloid writers stubbornly maintain that Jimmy Graves, who was active between 1961 and 1970, is older. But as of now, Harry Kane is the best.
The Man City players got themselves into trouble in the 15th minute when Rodri sent the ball straight to Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. The Dane fumbled the ball to Kane, whose end rebounded behind goalkeeper Ederson to make it 1-0 and a total of 267 goals for the club.
Tottenham Hotspur’s All-Time Top Scorer shone with gold on the big screens. In addition, he is third in the Premier League behind Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208). Kane looked visibly emotional, a reaction that was amplified after the final whistle when Ben Graves’ speech was played inside the arena.
Didn’t get a chance to breathe
With Kevin De Bruyne relegated to the bench, Guardiola wanted to see Bernardo Silva exploit the areas behind the opposition midfield. It didn’t happen often.
The coach’s best chance for his team to recover from the deficit was to regain control at the central level. De Bruyne ripped his coat off, while Silva took Riyad Mahrez’s place on the right. A fine free-kick into a dangerous position was soon covered by centre-back Eric Dier, but Spurs’ energetic conversions meant City never got a proper chance to breathe.
Tottenham needed this, the fans needed this. Barely a month ago, the team fell in humiliation to Arsenal. Now they are once again helping the local rival take a small step closer to the title. Those bitter feelings have to be put aside when fourth-placed Newcastle are a point ahead (with a game less played), and not performing as convincingly as before.
They are sometimes accused of starting matches slowly and with a lack of fighting spirit. It may have been partly due to the desire to play for the absent Antonio Conte. Anyway, Tottenham did their best today, they were mental beasts.
