With Aston Villa and Man United only drawing at the weekend, Tottenham leap frogged Aston Villa with a game in hand to secure 4th place in the Premiership. This is good news as Tottenham brushed away Nottingham Forest yesterday. Although Spurs did not start motoring until the second half. It was smooth enough sailing as former Tottenhma manager Nuno Espírito Santo came back to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium for the first time since his dismissal. Totenham have some tough games coming up. They have Newcastle away next up and then Arsenal at home. Chelsea and Liverpool are in amongst the fixtures and the Man City game still has to be rearranged so it is safe to say the run in is no walk in the park. 5th place looks to be a Champions League place. It is ironic that if Arsenal knock out Bayern in the Champions League next week then it is all but secured. United are 11 points behind us now so it is unlikely that they will catch us with 7 games left. Villa are on their usual plummet arch at the end of the season as they too are inconsistent. However Spurs need to get better in order to compete with the big boys in the next few games. Nottingham Forest went some way to looking into our teams as Sarr and Bissouma were taken off at half time in the game yesterday. Sarr is carrying a little injury but Bissouma is letting the game pass him by and it is unlikely he will regain his place now after that display in the first half yesterday. HPEH and Bentancur came on and really changed the game. There is life in the Viking yet and he really put in a solid display to get Spurs back in it after a bad first half. Some other points to pick up
Udogie did a Rashford
For Nottingham Forest's first goal , Udogie never tracked his runner. Leaving him off lazily in a hope that nothing would come from it. The cross assisted the goal and Destiny Udogie was left with egg on his face. I am aware he is young and playing an attacking role but basic defending is inexcusable and I expect Ange will be having words with the Italian national around his marking. Udogie has played well this season however he has been the fault of a number of goals as well. For our great centre half pairing a a solid Porro on the other side, the leaks are coming from his side and this may become more than a tactic for some teams to get in behind him.
Maddison still Off the Pace
Maddison is still trying to regain his form from the start of the year. He was magnificent pre Christmas before he got his injury but since then he has not been himself. Maybe Los Celso may have to come in here as he looks like a more agressive option for Arsenal. The problem with this is that we will effectively be dropping our most creative player who normally plays his way back into form. A problem though.
Werner Has Been Excellent
Werner had another assist yesterday and he is starting to really gain confidence and playing freely again. He was a major thorn in Forest's side yesterday as he was turning his marker inside out. His best game for the club this one. A definite keeper here. The goals will come in Werner's case when he is happy playing his football and it looks like he is.
Kulusevski Disappointing Again
The Swede who has dropped to the bench has had a nightmare recently and he was not great again yesterday after he came on. I am not sure what is happening here but it was the first time I have seen Ange dig out a player and he told the press how Kulusevski kept cutting inside rather than dribble down the touchline. When pressed on this around a left footer cutting in on the right , he gave the example of Werner being right footed and playing on the left.
Ange on 4th Place
Ange has been grumpy all season when being asked about 4th place. He has been saying and saying that he is not interested on 4th place but when the national journalists who do not attend the games quiz him on a question that have been asked by the local journalists he is not best pleased. Everybody loves Big Ange but he is a grumpy character by nature. He does not suffer fools and can get fairly ratty with journalists who have not done their homework . He again told a journalist that he doesn't give a monkeys around the battle for 4th place. He wants to see if the team is going in the right direction which it is so he is building to challenge for the title. It took Klopp and Arteta as well as Pep as couple of years to challenge so Ange is getting there faster.
And Finally ,
Did anyone see the Ben White's murder at the weekend against Brighton. Arsenal will do anything to win including cheating. I know Ben is a bit touchy at times especially when he is the England squad and he has arguments with coaches but to go down like John Wayne after he has been shot in a dual was a bit much. He should get a a ban for feigning injury here as Estubian bearly even touched him. Same old Arsenal. Always Cheating. I am thinking Spurs may dent their title hopes seeing that nobody else will beat them for us. I look forward to that one.
So that is it. Newcastle next up. We were hammered last season there. That won't happen again .