A Point Against Liverpool is Better than a Loss

Spurs remain 2 points ahead of Liverpool in a game where Liverpool could well have justified themselves to now be 2 points ahead of Spurs.  For Tottenham, an equalizer from full-back Danny Rose was the best they could have expected, even after having given away a needless penalty when out-of-sorts Eric Lamela caught the Liverpool players heels from behind.

Spurs fans would have enjoyed Liverpool's opening day 4-3 victory over North London rivals Arsenal, but they should be concerned at the lethal form of both Manchester clubs and the revival of Chelsea under the new management of Conte. 

With the transfer deadline still open, Liverpool so far have made the better deals in comparison to Tottenham but neither club has matched the targeted approach of Manchester United.  If Sir Alex Ferguson was caught having dinner with Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino, it may have been a blessing to see United land the Spurs boss, if Jose Mourinho would then be the Spurs manager.  As it is Jose Mourinho landed his dream job and he is a perfect 3 wins out of 3, but more importantly has assembled a formidable looking team, that disappointed their fans last year.  Even at this early stage United and City, as well as Chelsea look good for the Top 3.

This means that a bunch of teams including Tottenham are battling it out for 4th, unless that is there are some surprise transfers before the transfer window closes in the next 3 days.  Come September 1st the opportunity to considerably strengthen prospects shuts until January.  The rumour that Isco of Real Madrid maybe the subject of a loan deal for Tottenham, will please Spurs fans, who are still dubious of chairman Daniel Levy's usual style of squeezing every penny out of deals - so much so, that deals have collapsed due to his hard nose bargaining style. 

If Spurs fans hope for the arrival of top quality additions, they are at least not in the angry mood of Arsenal supporters, who are calling for Arsene Wenger to be replaced as manager, even though what Wenger has done over two decades would have Spurs fans naming that kind of manager a legend.  Instead Arsenal fans are booing a man who led their club to a runners-up position last year and who has never seen Spurs finish above his team for over two decades.

Liverpool ironically showcased a substitute in the game on Saturday that was a former youth academy player at Tottenham.   The youth academy is one of Tottenham's strong areas and Mauricio Pochettino prefers to utilize players from the academy system, which is one of his strengths in proven player development. 

Last Saturday he showed his faith in Josh Onomah but many Spurs fans cannot see what Onomah contributes to the team.  They were happy to see youth player Harry Winks get his league debut for the last two minutes, and have seen Winks play in European games where he did show potential.  Reliance on youth should not hide the fact that Spurs need at least two world class players if they are to remain competitive this season.   The other good news is that the continuing saga of Saido Berahino's uncomfortable relationship with West Brom, may mean that Spurs could get him on a free transfer next summer.  It was also good to see that Nacer Chadli is agreeing terms with West Brom before this transfer window closes.

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