Spurs 3-1 Brentford (Solanke 8’, Johnson 28’, Maddison 85′ | Mbuemo 1’)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM – For a player so bereft of confidence that he has declined to celebrate some of his most vital goals in a Tottenham shirt, the message from Brennan Johnson could not have been clearer. A finger to the lips and a grin from his manager as Ange Postecoglou’s faith in the beleaguered forward was vindicated for the second time in four days.
But first, eight minutes that encapsulated why we are arguably still no closer to finding out where Spurs are at. They began, almost comically, with Brentford’s joint-fastest goal in Premier League history, scored by Bryan Mbeumo – incredibly, in identical time to Yoane Wissa’s strike against Manchester City last week – after just 22 seconds. It would set up an afternoon-long struggle between Pedro Porro and Keane Lewis-Potter that the latter thoroughly enjoyed.
To the comeback, and pertinently the question of how much Thomas Frank’s side were to blame for their downfall. Yet Spurs engineered their own revival, even if the Bees did not help themselves. Sepp van den Berg conceded possession nearly leading to a goal just moments before Dominic Solanke’s equaliser, but when it came it was Ethan Pinnock who gave the ball away under pressure from Dejan Kulusevski.
James Maddison’s effort was easily pushed out by Mark Flekken, and Solanke lay in wait to do the rest. Apt timing, given that Spurs had considered signing Ivan Toney instead this summer.
Though it was Solanke’s first goal for his new club after a dry spell, which included missing a portion of the early season due to injury, there has not been nearly as much unwarranted scrutiny on him as there has been on Johnson.
So when the 23-year-old was teed up by Son Heung-min, it could have gone one of two ways.
It was not the one-hit, instinctive finish he required for the injury time midweek winner against Coventry. The run was similarly well-timed, but required an extra touch past Nathan Collins. Son’s ball was well-weighted, but Johnson did the rest himself.
Postecoglou said this week he would like to give a “punch on the nose” to anyone who dared to criticise the Wales international to his face, following a torrent of online abuse which forced him to delete his Instagram account after the north London derby defeat to Arsenal.
It is easy to dismiss Angeball as being all about indefinable “vibes”, intangibles over substance. Eric Dier certainly did not help matters when he suggested, from the safe distance of Munich, that Postecoglou’s training sessions included no real tactical work, a claim his former boss dismissed.
The idea that Johnson is not receiving one-on-one finishing work is farcical, but Postecoglou deserves credit for his handling of the player too. When Son was through on goal, the screams for the pass from his younger teammate were a welcome sign of a new-found swagger.
There are two ingredients to Plan Postecoglou that cannot be overlooked, and they got them over the line here. If it feels vacuous to focus on “belief”, Spurs are also the most effective pressers in the Premier League, in terms of the average number of passes they allow opponents to take before winning the ball back.
That, more than any other factor, explained Brentford’s self-destruction, sealed when Yves Bissouma’s interception started a quite brilliant break that ended with Maddison’s finish over Flekken. With his 63rd and 64th assists, Son overtakes Christian Eriksen in Spurs’ all-time charts.
Confidence remains key, as its absence has plagued their decision-making in a horror run since April. Since the 13th of that month, this was the first team they have beaten outside of the relegation zone.
That lies at the heart of their great propensity for the sideways/backwards pass, and there were still glimpses of second-guessing: Son holding on too long after one run and searching desperately for Johnson over his shoulder; Guglielmo Vicario flapping under pressure from Fabio Carvalho and later fumbling outside his area.
On the whole, though, the goalkeeper was noticeably improved from set pieces, and made a decent save from Mbeumo 1v1 and a spectacular one-handed stop to deny Kevin Schade.
Amidst the noise, Postecoglou will no doubt have been relieved to hear not only the repeated chorus of Johnson’s name but of his own too.
He conceded this week that Spurs are never too far from a crisis and remains determined to treat the twin imposters of victory and defeat with equal cynicism. That is the only way to get through the indubitable lunacy of being a Tottenham Hotspur manager, and while criticism of his own approach doesn’t seem to have fazed him, he was right to defend Johnson so vociferously.
Accordingly, this was a victory that Tottenham can actually enjoy, after the hapless recovery at Coventry that somehow felt more like a defeat after an appalling display against a second division side that nearly snuffed out the best hope of the much promised trophy in Postcoglou’s second season.
Had they not completed another comeback here, they risked a third defeat in five opening games not seen since the end days of Juande Ramos in 2008. That is what crisis really looks like. Spurs have averted another one, for now.