It was a pass an ordinary Premier League centre-back would not attempt.
Having received the ball on the edge of his area, Cristian Romero had two conservative options: a square knock to Rodrigo Bentancur, or a 10-yard ball upfield to Lucas Bergvall.
But, for better or worse, nothing about Romero’s game is conservative. Rather than either of the above, he fired a 20-yard pass to James Maddison, who controlled the pass with his left foot before spreading it out with his right to Son Heung-min. The South Korean delayed and played Djed Spence in on the overlap, who cut a cross back into Brennan Johnson to drill a shot into the top corner. It was a shining example of the football Tottenham Hotspur have been capable of under Ange Postecoglou, but have not delivered on enough this season.
“It was a goal we’ve done a number of times, but we haven’t done consistently,” Postecoglou said in his post-match press conference after Spurs beat Southampton 3-1 on Sunday. “In the first half, I think we had many of those moments. With Cristian back there and Ben (Davies) and when Micky (van de Ven) plays, we’ve got centre-backs who are comfortable on the ball, can find the right pass and give us some really good solutions.
“It’s about making sure the guys further up find the right spaces. I thought in the first half, we did that a lot. It was an excellent team goal from start to finish.”
Romero is one half of a foundational centre-back partnership, the bedrock that determines whether Spurs flourish or flounder. Van de Ven’s pace allows Tottenham to be aggressive in planting their flag in the opposition half. Equally, without Romero, they do not have the incisive passing quality from defence to break lines and use their territory effectively. In the absence of that alchemy, “the guys further up the pitch” have often looked lost.
As it turned out, Postecoglou did not need the Dutch half of the duo, with Southampton offering little attacking threat. After all, they are in danger of becoming the worst Premier League side in history, and Sunday’s defeat confirmed their relegation to the Championship in record time. Spurs have not piled misery on many of the league’s bottom dwellers — losing to strong relegation candidates Ipswich Town and Leicester City at home — but they have scored eight against Southampton, with just one in response.
Which is precisely why any positive from this game cannot be drawn without a caveat.
Romero’s pass was excellent, and it’s an encouraging sign that the first link in the attacking chain is coming together before the Europa League quarter-final first leg against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday. Against Bournemouth, his first start in the league after missing three months with a hamstring injury, he attempted that kind of game-breaking pass in the first minute, and it almost immediately led to an opposition goal. In this case, it led to one of Spurs’ best goals of the season.
It was against little resistance from Southampton, but the trio of Maddison, Bergvall and Bentancur produced arguably Tottenham’s best midfield performance of the year in the league at a critical juncture of the season, particularly in the first half. After being substituted against Chelsea, with Postecoglou describing his performance at Stamford Bridge as “leggy”, Bergvall was a dominant physical force out of possession and cultured and comfortable with the ball.
Maddison played a vital role in both goals, assisting the second, and Bentancur was accomplished in possession, completing 26 of his 28 passes (93 per cent), though the opposition did not make it difficult (again, that caveat). Spurs’ performance faded in the second half, with Postecoglou suggesting the team became “way too passive without the ball” and “really sloppy” with it. Still, it is a step in the right direction for the creativity hub ahead of Frankfurt.
While Dominic Solanke was denied a long-awaited goal by Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, who made several excellent saves, Mathys Tel opened his Premier League account from the penalty spot in injury time — kindly gifted to him by the penalty-winner Johnson, who was on a hat-trick. The explosion of emotion after the ball hit the back of the net demonstrated how much he needed it.
Yet, these positive lights only pierce the grey cloud looming over the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Before the game, a crowd marched towards the stadium, protesting against chairman Daniel Levy and ENIC Group, an investment company owned by the family trust of Joe Lewis, which owns a controlling stake in the club. Messages of “Time for change” and “Built a business, killed a football club” and chants directed at the chairman inside the stadium reflect a bubbling frustration that might be tempered only by the Europa League trophy.
For Postecoglou, it’s a reflection on his state of limbo at Tottenham that a comfortable 3-1 win comes with caveats. Spurs avoided the ignominy of becoming the only club to lose to all three set-to-be-relegated sides at home.
There is little glory in beating a side whose open ambition is to avoid becoming the worst team in the league’s history. But, before the meeting with Frankfurt on Thursday, it’s what was needed.
(Top photo: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)