Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s narrow win over Fulham

Tottenham Hotspur are now just three points away from the top four, hauling themselves back into the race for Champions League football with a win over Fulham. Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game: Dele needed that – Yes, they took the goal away from Alli, but that doesn’t […]

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Tottenham Hotspur are now just three points away from the top four, hauling themselves back into the race for Champions League football with a win over Fulham.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the game:

Dele needed that – Yes, they took the goal away from Alli, but that doesn’t really change the fact that he was there to tap it home. Dele has always brought goals to this Spurs side and, if he can get his work rate up too, he could be a force to be reckoned with. Today, we saw the work rate, we saw glimpses of the end product, Dele just suffered from a little lack of sharpness. Definitely enough to make a case for some consistent starts.

Matt Doherty improvement – As an attacking outlet on the ball, Doherty was a little disappointing today as his end product ultimately missed the mark. However, off the ball, his pressing game was second to none. The right-back put in so much effort pressing Fulham high up the pitch and winning the ball back in dangerous areas. Unfortunately, that went to pot in the second half, but that was a team issue rather than Doherty himself.

BASK – We had years of DESK to enjoy with Dele, Eriksen, Son and Kane, but are we now BASKing in the glory of a new front four. It’s very early days for Bale, Alli, Son and Kane, but there would promising signs out there. I think interplay has always been a strong point for all four of them, especially given that Dele, Son and Kane have been playing together for donkey’s years now. Once they all get up to fitness, play together for a few more games, and understand this new line-up, it could be very potent indeed.

Same old Spurs traits – Tottenham did see out the win and they did keep a clean sheet, but it was far from confident in the second half. As the team did a lot in the middle of the season, they went 1-0 up and seemed afraid to give it a real go in the second half. Instead, they sat back, protected what they had and resorted to hoofing it long and resetting. That needs to change moving forward.

Not Kane’s night – It wasn’t Harry’s night in front of goal today. He missed a sitter from a Son cross, went down far too easy and claimed for a penalty, then hit Areola with a great chance in the second half. Usually, a clinical Kane would have put the game beyond Fulham with time still on the clock, but that wasn’t the case today. Everyone has off days, at least Spurs got the win.

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