December the 6th of a strangely odd and depressing year bore witness to the 201 st North London Derby, which saw Jose Mourinho’s high flying Tottenham Hotspur side host rivals Arsenal, managed by the former aide of Mourinho’s archnemesis, Mikel Arteta. Urged on by a 2000 strong crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the Lilywhites embellished their 1 billion dollar stadium by striking the first tally and winning for the first time ever at their home stadium against their archrivals.
When it comes to Jose Mourinho, efficiency in front of goal and a stone-walled defence are a given. In classic Mourinho style, Spurs ran out 2–0 winners on the day despite barely amassing 30 percent of the ball overall. Lightning-quick counters in the first half, which saw Spurs lead 2–0 into the interval, were followed by a dogged defensive performance that shut Arsenal’s star-studded attack down.
Here are 3 takeaways that we can derive by taking a deeper look into the match:
- Hojb-here, there and everywhere:
Approved by Mourinho and sanctioned by Levy, the £15m signing of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has completely changed the outlook of a Tottenham Hotspur team that stuttered to a 6th place finish last season. Arguably one of the signings of the season thus far, the Danish international has added an element of steel to Tottenham midfield.
Hojbjerg’s role in this side is akin to what Michael Essien and Nemanja Matic did during Mourinho’s reign as the Chelsea manager: to stay compact until an opportunity presents itself, win the ball, and hit the target man. On Sunday,Hojbjerg was everywhere. He worked tirelessly off the ball, snuffed out danger even before it presented itself, and played quick passes into the feet of Son, Kane, and Bergwijn to set them free. The Dane even found himself on the right side of Spurs’ three-pronged attack on one occasion where they broke on the counter. The quintessential Mourinho midfielder, to put it mildly, has more than justified his place in a side that is overflowing with midfield talent.
2. Arsenal lacking zeal, O-zeal:
Sunday’s derby saw the Gunners take to the pitch with the expensively assembled trio of Aubameyang, Lacazette, and Willian leading the line in a triumvirate. Arsenal have tended to operate with Aubameyang on the left, Willian on the right, and Lacazette through the middle. Arteta however, decided to shy away from his oft used system of 4–3–3 by adopting a 4–2–3–1 system wherein Lacazette was instructed to play off of Aubameyang in an unfamiliar number 10 role. The Arsenal captain led the line with Saka and Willian on either side. Lacazette is a player who shines in situations that calls for his first-rate hold-up play; that is, with his back to goal. Tasked with receiving the ball on the half-turn and fashioning openings for his teammates, the French international toiled away but to no avail.
Despite lining up in a similar manner to their opponents, Arsenal lacked the presence of a creator, of someone who could link midfield to attack. Mesut Ozil was one such player until the Arsenal hierarchy decided that the team would be much better off without him. Despite not taking to the pitch since the restart in June, Ozil leads Arsenal in the number of chances created with 52 since last year. That speaks volumes about the predicament that Arsenal currently find themselves in. To put it in numbers, Aubameyang was left so isolated that he had to wait until the 84th minute to have his first shot on target for the evening.
Ozil has time and again proven his quality as an attacking midfielder and if Arsenal wish to climb out of this hole, they need the guile and craft of the German.
3. Harry Kane- Striker, Midfielder, Defender:
One basic mathematical equation that we are all familiar with would be the one of Harry Kane=goals. The England captain has amassed 151 goals in 218 appearances for the Lilywhites. One would have been branded a madman had he predicted that Harry Kane would sit atop the assists charts and not the goal ones.
But lo, in comes Mourinho and transforms Harry Kane into one of the most complete players the Premier League has ever seen. However, in no way has the 27-year-old slacked off in the goalscoring department. His tally of 8 goals in 11 appearances speaks for itself. The overclocked processor resident in Mourinho’s mind unleashed the creative prowess within Kane. Mourinho’s instructions have seen Kane take up a much deeper role than usual. Whenever Spurs manage to turn over possession, the ball is fired into Kane’s feet who, more often than not manages to play in one of the wingers on either side of him, with the major beneficiary being Heung-min Son.
This was a role that Kane essayed to perfection in Sunday’s North London Derby. Despite becoming the all-time top scorer in this fixture by notching up the second goal, Kane will be remembered more for the amount of defensive work he put in. Spurs’ number 10 helped combat the constant flurry of crosses that their London rivals pumped in with a couple of thumping clearances from corners standing out.
Harry Kane, the complete player. Hats off Jose, hats off!
