Holding Our Own

Liverpool arrived at White Hart Lane through the flare of a thousand bulb flashes. The enigmatic Jurgen Klopp had arrived for his first game in charge of the Merseyside club, and optimism was high amongst the travelling faithful.

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Article by Jon Ruskin

A week of candid, light hearted interviews from the German had left the remainder of the Premier League wondering just how Liverpool would perform against an in form Spurs outfit. Whilst Liverpool pressed, harried, and fought their way to a hard earned point, one man took all the plaudits - Moussa Dembele.

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During the close season, Spurs parted ways with Benjamin Stambouli, Etienne Capoue, Paulinho and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Lewis Holtby. This meant that the holding midfield pair was likely to be the same as last season, with Mason and Bentaleb providing protection for our often all too shakey back four. However, Pochettino seemed to prefer Dier in this deeper role, much to the surprise of the Tottenham fans. Dier had previously been very vocal about his desire to be a centre back, rather than a full back, even to the point where he snubbed international duty in favour of staying at home and learning his craft. So why now, having parted company with several recognised midfielders, and two bonafide holding midfielders, was Poch asking a player to play out of position? Whether by luck or judgement, it's worked. Eric Dier has been a revelation this season, and his performances have gone from strength to strength. I personally thought we were desperately unlucky to lose to Arsenal in the Capital One Cup tie at the beginning of the month, however Dier especially did not deserve to end up on the losing side that day. He played with a calm determination, a maturity not only beyond his years but also beyond his experience in that position, and was a real enforcer for the full time he was on the pitch. He's also chipped in with goals against Stoke and City. He's become integral to out performances, essential cover for Toby and Jan, and in no short part a reason for only losing once in the league so far this season. However, suspension meant he would miss the home game with Liverpool, and Poch opted for Dembele to partner Alli in the holding roles.

Since signing from Fulham, it'd be harsh to say that Dembele has been a disappointment, however it would be fair to say that he hasn't quite reached the heights he promised to reach when at Fulham. Against Liverpool, he put in arguably his best display in a Spurs shirt. He was combative and measured in his distribution. He did well time and time again to create space and time for his teammates. He seemed almost impossible to shrug off the ball. The fears of how we'd cope without Dier were soon quashed, as Moussa started to run the show. At Fulham, Dembele was a forward thinking, edge of the box nuisance, however his managers at Tottenham have invariably played him deeper, seeing his bullishness as a greater asset than his creativity, and Saturday's performance would give some justification to that thinking. With Dier due to return, there is an opening for Poch to play Dier and Dembele in the deeper roles, moving Alli forward to play in his more familiar position further up the field. To me, the combination of Dembele and Dier in front of Alderweireld and Vertonghen would be the closest we're going to get to a defensive brick wall. We're seemingly tough to beat, we've got a settled and competent back 5, and we've got two, strong, sensible, combative holding midfielders - are we on the verge of losing our 'Spursy' tag? Stability is crucial to success - as dull as they were to watch, it's hard to not have admiration for Chelsea's ability to grind out routine 2-0 wins last season - and whilst our number of draws this season is frustrating, I'm personally thrilled that we look so tough to beat. There are questions to be answered about our lack of goals, and, more obviously, out lack of recognised strikers, however, small steps are needed, and if we're able to control games from the back, we're doing something right. The best is still to come from Lamela (and it is coming... I think...) and Eriksen is again having an impact following his injury, so I'm confident that the goals will come, but there is a feeling that we're finally seeing Pochettino's grand plan come to fruition.

I wrote previously about this fixture last year. We lost 3-0 and there was a sinking feeling that we were going nowhere fast. On Saturday there was such a sense that this was Liverpool's new era dawning. Klopp watched his team warm up from the centre circle whilst the camera circled him. However, the truth is, we learnt little about the new look Liverpool, and more about Tottenham's new resolve and strength in depth, despite thinning the squad drastically in the summer. International breaks often disrupt a teams flow, however Spurs seem to have found their feet quickly. It's refreshing to know that the loss of a player such as Dier isn't now cause for concern. I'll admit that the jury has been out on Poch for some time for me. At times I've felt that everything has been a sideways step. Whilst not pausing to be cynical at the time and choosing to enjoy the moment instead, I was acutely aware that last minute winners are not a sound foundation on which to build a team, so I never quite bought into the idea that Pochettino really had a direction, however the last few weeks have changed that. I felt against Manchester City, it was the personification of Poch's ideas. I felt against Liverpool it was further confirmation of this. We're organised and hard working - which we've rarely been prior to Pochettino taking over. I used to watch with envy as teams with players of half the ability of ours would out work us seemingly every time we played them, but that's not the case anymore. It's refreshing, and exciting to think that we're now actually being managed by someone Levy trusts, and that the necessary time is being given to Pochettino to build and hone his squad to what he wants. And if every player in the squad can buy into his philosophy in the same way Dembele did on Saturday, we could be on the verge of somethings special.

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