Hotspur HQ

Go on, how many times have you watched it? Up to a million yet? I've got Gary Neville's "oh, he's done it" ingrained in my soul.

Mathys Tel wrote his name into Tottenham Hotspur folklore by becoming just the third player to score for the club in a Premier League victory at Stamford Bridge. The maligned Frenchman joins Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli in the club, after they inspired a 3-1 victory in west London eight years ago.

Outsiders will never quite grasp just how significant a win this was for Spurs. With this fixture on the horizon, so many of us were hesitant to suggest that last week's triumph over Coventry City would ignite the club's campaign. However, we're now wondering just how far Roberto De Zerbi can take the Lilywhites in his first full season, having overseen a 2-0 victory at a ground where Tottenham's dreams have died for the past 36 years.

A comical Mike Penders own goal got the ball rolling before Cole Palmer saw red and Tel scored superbly with a determined carry and strike. It was the Frenchman's first goal of the season as De Zerbi offered him a surprise start.

Now, the boss is demanding Tel to build on his special moment.

De Zerbi tells Tel where he must improve to fulfill potential

Once lauded a generational talent when he moved to Bayern Munich from Rennes as a 17-year-old, Tel has merely flashed such potential in N17. Plenty had sold their stock after a discouraging opening two months of the season, and there may well have been an eye roll or three when his name was read out in Saturday's starting lineup.

But there's something there with Tel. That cannot be denied. His issue isn't the talent; it's that he doesn't know who he is. He's not a touchline winger, but not an outright centre-forward either. He's somewhere in between.

Tel was imperfect on Saturday, too. Bright at times but often frustrating, I wouldn't have known what to make of his showing until he did what he did to seal our victory.

“He has to push, to push, to push, to keep going, because he's a talent," De Zerbi said about the 21-year-old after Saturday's triumph (via Chris Cowlin). "He has to clean the last 30 metres, the last decision, the last pass, the shot. He has an unbelievable shot."

De Zerbi's not wrong there. Tel, as we saw against Leeds United twice last season, is an excellent striker of the ball—not too dissimilar to Omar Marmoush.

“I believe in Mathys, maybe more than he believes in himself. I think it's a journey of this club. I think Tottenham is lucky, and me as a coach, I'm lucky, because we have a great group of players, as a quality, but also as people," De Zerbi continued.

After Tottenham’s improbable 2-0 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, the cameras panned to a beaming Jan Paul van Hecke. The centre-back had just led Tottenham to another clean sheet, their third this Premier League season, and it was the sixth game in which Spurs have allowed no more than one goal. This much is now clear: Tottenham have an elite defense, and I don’t know how to handle the resulting positive emotions.Â

Overall, Spurs have conceded 9.43 expected goals, good for a 1.35 xGC per 90 minutes. That solid performance places them as the fifth-stingiest defense in the Premier League. But back out their horrific opening day performance against Brentford and Tottenham are suddenly elite.

In defense that day, Spurs were missing World Cup winner Pedro Porro and an injured Mickey van de Ven. Breakout World Cup star Jedd Spence was on his way to Italy. In the midfield, Sandro Tonali was recruited to be a box-to-box stalwart, but he had possibly the worst match of his career. Consequently, Tottenham conceded 3.96 expected goals, on par with your local beer league team.

In the ensuing seven league games, Spurs have conceded just 5.47 xGC, or 0.78 xGC per 90 minutes. For context, Arsenal have indisputably the best defense in England and arguably the best in Europe. They’ve recorded 0.79 xGC per 90 this season. Tottenham’s resurgent defense is led by Van Hecke, the do-it-all Dutch star.Â

Jan Paul van Hecke is finally living up to his £52 million transfer fee

After a rough debut in a Spurs shirt, van Hecke’s stats, per DataMB, indicate an all-round beast:

Passes completed - 87th percentile

Forward pass completion - 63rd percentile

Progressive passes completed - 98th percentile

Progressive carries - 99th percentile

To be fair, van Hecke’s individual defensive metrics aren't that strong. He sits in just the 39th percentile in duels won, for example, but sitting below him in that category is Luka Vuskovic, the ballyhooed centre-back that Tottenham essentially traded to Brighton for van Hecke. In almost identical minutes, Vuskovic laps van Hecke only in aerial duels won, a role that van Hecke isn’t asked to fill in manager Roberto De Zerbi’s possession-based system. van Hecke's ability to control possession is major reason why the defense is so solid.

More than stats, though, why I am considering getting a van Hecke tattoo is a stop he made against Coventry City. It’s a moment already forgotten in the 3-1 victory, but when the result was still in the balance the ball bounced around in front of Tottenham’s net. It looked like it would fall to the feet of a Coventry attacker, but van Hecke launched his body into the scrum and headed the ball away, ending the threat. He does whatever it takes to win.

It’s a far cry from January 19, 2025. On that dreary day away at Everton, then-manager Ange Postecoglu started a back three of Ben Davies, Radu Dragusin, and Archie Gray. By the 30th minute, Spurs were down 2-0 and, thanks to an own goal by Gray, down 3-0 at half. They’d go on to lose. It’s also a far cry from February 22, 2026. That’s when, led by blink-and-you'll-miss-him interim manager Igor Tudor, Spurs lost 4-1 to Arsenal in one of the most embarrasing losses in recent team history. Dragusin again got the start at centre-back. (He is safely at Fiorentina now.)Â

As the self-appointed xG police, I must point out that Tottenham’s offensive issues are endemic. Despite utterly dominating Chelsea, Spurs generated just 0.74 xG, yet another game of less than 1.0 xG this season. But maybe that’s okay, for it as surprising as it is invigorating knowing that, this season, Spurs have a chance to win any game due to their stout defense. All hail, Jan Paul van Hecke.

Less than a week after Tottenham Hotspur fans rejoiced James Maddison returning to the starting 11 and putting on a masterclass in the No. 10 role with a world class goal and a few chances created in the team's first win of the season vs. his childhood club Coventry on Monday Night Football, the former Leicester City star has gone down injured yet again.

It had been nearly 18 months since his last start after tearing his ACL in the 2025/26 season, as Maddison suffered a dislocated shoulder on Matchday 1 vs. Brentford that slowed his return further. And as if to only double down on the injury prone label, Maddison came into the Chelsea game with surprising injury doubts after missing multiple practice sessions. He started but looked hobbled during the game and pulled up in the 50th minute with a groin injury, having to be taken off in frustration by Conor Gallagher.

Tottenham won 2-0 over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge anyway, and knowing how important Maddison is but also how delicate he has become, it is highly likely Spurs shut the No. 10 down for a little bit rather than risk further injury to the groin.

Omar Marmoush is a better option than Conor Gallagher

For the most part, Spurs have struggled to find a 10 to replace Maddison, and the usual suspect was the very player Spurs put into the game against Chelsea, Conor Gallagher. Once again, Gallagher didn't really do much in that role, and while his work rate makes him a useful rotational player to the team, he has no creativity and is far from the profile to replace James Maddison.

Other options are underwhelming, too. Dejan Kulusevski is not yet ready to start after his major injury. Luca Williams-Barnett is very intriguing but raw. And Mohammed Kudus is so much better on the right wing than he is in the middle, as is the case for Savio.

Omar Marmoush, however, is worth pondering as a major position change to try out in the 10, perhaps in a more advanced role behind Dominic Solanke. Roberto De Zerbi chose Marmoush as the 9 over Solanke against Chelsea, but he struggled in that game alone, whereas he played much better against Coventry with Solanke in the lineup with him.

Mathys Tel had a great goal and overall performance against Chelsea to all but confirm he will continue to start, which will make Marmoush's path to playing time harder if De Zerbi wants Solanke at striker again. Getting Marmoush in as a Maddison replacement in the 10 role is a way to potentially play all of Tel, Kudus/Savio, Solanke, and Marmoush in the attack, see what can be done without Madders, and trial a new attacking setup against Crystal Palace next weekend. It's worth a shot. After all, Marmoush can't be worse than Conor Gallagher.

Tottenham Hotspur picked up another clean sheet this past Saturday at Stamford Bridge, except, this time, it was a clean sheet victory, as Spurs shut Chelsea down 2-0, neutralizing two of the most talented and in form English attackers around in Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers.

Micky van de Ven did not have a single tackle or interception, and he's only averaging one tackle and 0.4 interceptions per game this season. But he was the main protagonist defensively again, showing that the best defense, especially against world class players like the ones in the Chelsea attack, is playing off and being patient.

Whereas Van de Ven lacked discipline in the preceding seasons and almost seemed like he was becoming the worst possible clone of Cristian Romero - because the sequel can never be as successful as even the flawed prequel - he has been much smarter and more composed as the captain this season.

Micky van de Ven is closer than the pundits think

In seven appearances for Tottenham Hotspur this Premier League season, the young Dutch center back has only been dribbled past once. That is the kind of quality that his compatriot Virgil van Dijk over at Liverpool would be proud of in terms of not getting beat.

it is a huge uptick in form in terms of his approach to the game and quality at helping Tottenham avoid surrendering goals, and it is exactly what Spurs need to see more of from their defenders, especially after how much ill discipline hampered them as they nearly got relegated last season.

But Micky van de Ven is only almost there. He has improved a lot and is already close - a lot closer to being a true elite center back than he was last season. Van de Ven, though, has to get even better at blocking shots and positioning himself for interceptions. He is doing a great job of not gambling and of positioning himself smartly so that he does not have to make the tackle to stop the chance, but there are still some times where he can make the intervention.

For example, he had a couple of plays against Chelsea where he did brilliantly to cover for Andy Robertson getting burned by Pedro Neto or Cole Palmer on the right side of the Chelsea flank, but he did not position himself correctly to prevent the shot, leaving a very aware Antonin Kinsky exposed to a scorching shot in the box. If Van de Ven can get better at decision making off the ball and positioning, he can block more shots and make Tottenham's defense even deadlier. He's so close to putting it all together.

Sandro Tonali has been cooking these last several weeks, and after a poor performance against his old club Newcastle United, the blockbuster 100 million pound Tottenham Hotspur transfer has been steadily improving his performances to the point where he has really come into his own as the midfield general for Roberto De Zerbi.

After a game winning assist against Manchester United and a strong all around display in Spurs first win of the season over Coventry, Tonali totally bossed Chelsea at Stamford Bridge with another metronomic passing display and another elite, composed defensive performance at the base of the Tottenham midfield.

And yet he was not even the Man of the Match or the best midfielder for the Lilywhites. Young defensive midfielder Mateus Fernandes, signed for only 15 million pounds less than Tonali's even 100, finally got to start in his preferred position. And while he was more 8 than 6, he actually led Spurs in pass attempts, one shy of 100, completing 92 percent of them. Far from passing sideways, Fernandes was decisive with two key passes, two accurate crosses, and four accurate long balls out of seven for the victorious road side.

Sandro Tonali can now rest, too

Fernandes playing this well in his first start in the defensive midfield is such a relief for Sandro Tonali, who is going to be a workhorse this season but also needs some rest. And to see the way Fernandes has been passing the ball around this season and what he did at the base of the midfield against mighty Chelsea, Moises Caicedo, and Jordan Henderson is a reminder that he can play as the holding man at the base, ticking the team over as a leader, too.

That means Tottenham Hotspur do not have to push so much on Tonali either. They can rest him against, say, Crystal Palace with Fernandes as the 6 and either Lucas Bergvall, Rodrigo Bentancur, or even Archie Gray as the shuttling half 6/8 like Fernandes was for Tonali.

The Mateus Fernandes dominance against Chelsea is an even bigger storyline for the Lilywhites than it is being sold by the Premier League punditry teams, because it means Tottenham's 185 million pound investment is already paying dividends. And that gives Spurs not only dominance when both play, but it also gives Spurs the flexibility to rest one player or the other, which, in turn, is a boost for the young stars of the future like Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall.

Prior to suffering an injury before Tottenham Hotspur's first win of the season against Coventry on Matchday 6, Savio was the best player on the team, at least in an attacking sense. With 2.8 key passes and 4.5 dribbles completed per game, Savio has been one of the most efficient wide creators and dribblers in European football, with only Lamine Yamal convincingly outproducing him when combining both categories.

Consider how badly Spurs were struggling before the Coventry win, that only makes what Savio was doing all the more impressive. But now that Tottenham have won twice by a combined score of 5-1 without Savio, the luster around the Brazilian star has diminished.

Mohammed Kudus has been vital to Spurs again

More to the point, the other left footed right winger in the squad, Mohammed Kudus, was excellent in both games. His incisiveness, skill, and grinta were all on display in both games, and while it's not that Savio lacks skill or work rate, Kudus was playing at a high level all season long in 2025/26 before his injury on an even worse Tottenham side - and now that he is fully fit, he has picked up where he left off.

Roberto De Zerbi and Tottenham Hotspur fans love both of these guys. As they should. Kudus and Savio are two of the best in the Premier League at taking a man on, beating them, and creating a chance, and in an ideal world, Spurs would play both. But the problem is that they are best on the right wing. They are not 10's, and if one were to play on the left wing over either Mathys Tel or Omar Marmoush, that would really hurt Spurs ability to score goals - and we all know how poor they have been at scoring goals, even with five in the last two games against Coventry and Chelsea.

Mohammed Kudus playing at such a high level these past two games is amazing news for Tottenham, and this team is so much better with the former West Ham United star in form like this. But with Kudus dazzling in two wins for the Lilywhites, the question about what to do with Savio and how to negotiate the playing time of both stars wingers, which was already something in the back of Roberto De Zerbi's mind, becomes an even bigger point of discussion. Because it's hard to justify taking out Kudus when he has been so instrumental, especially in this upset over Chelsea.

It is hard not to feel for Mathys Tel. The young Tottenham Hotspur left winger was the only thing remotely resembling a bright spot in the 2025/26 Premier League season after Mohammed Kudus went down with a hamstring injury, and he was the team's best player in the preseason. He even actually played well on Matchday 1 in a blowout loss to Brentford despite the criticisms, and while he struggled thereafter before his benching, you could still see the electricity and glimpses of quality.

Tel did not start since the beginning of September as Roberto De Zerbi divested from him fully with new Manchester City signing Omar Marmoush and Savio in the fold, as well as Kudus rounding back to fitness after that hamstring ailment from the last season.

But De Zerbi gave Tel a start against the odds in the must win rivalry matchup against Chelsea, and he sealed the deal with a world class late goal, marauding down the left flank, cutting into the middle of the pitch, and unleashing another trademark clutch driven shot past Mike Penders in the Chelsea goal.

Omar Marmoush has no margin for error

Tel's breakout performance with two key passes, four dribbles completed, and a great goal as Tottenham Hotspur's leading threat came at the same time that Omar Marmoush started in the middle of the attacking formation over Dominic Solanke with a poor performance. Marmoush did not create chances, beat his man, or threaten the goalkeeper. And he was even sloppier than Tel on the ball again.

It is going to be impossible for Roberto De Zerbi to justify leaving Mathys Tel on the bench in next weekend's Halloween rivalry matchup against Crystal Palace. And it's not like he would want to either, as De Zerbi is a big fan of Tel, perhaps even moreso than either Solanke or Marmoush.

The Egyptian international has to be the most worried about Tel's breakout, though. Because if De Zerbi goes back to Solanke over him as the main striker option, he may not go back to Marmoush as the striker partner or the left winger. Because with Tel playing this well and scoring such a goal to nail down a starting spot, the left wing job or the left center forward job is going to swing towards the young Frenchman rather than the signing from Man City. Tel breaking out again is not the news Marmoush wants to see. It gives him even less margin for error.

Tottenham Hotspur are watching their blockbuster 100 million pound transfer Sandro Tonali get closer and closer to living up to his billing, and it seems like he is finding his groove in not only the Roberto De Zerbi system but at Tottenham in general.

Tonali rose to the occasion in a marquee matchup against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, helping Spurs control the middle of the park against the duo of Moises Caicedo and Jordan Henderson. Facing two very different profiles of established Premier League midfielders, Tonali kep the game ticking over, completing 90 percent of his 60 pass attempts while coming close to the team lead with four tackles.

With Mateus Fernandes all over the place as more of the 8 next to him, Tonali was the anchoring six, and he really blew people away with his defensive quality. Whereas Premier League fans watched Aston Villa kill Manchester City in transitions in a 2-1 upset to start Saturday's action as ex Chelsea defensive midfielder Enzo Fernandez had a woeful afternoon defensively with zero interventions at all, Tonali had his way in terms of covering for the back line.

Sandro Tonali can play lights out defense

It was almost as if Tonali was a third center back, sweeping up danger in front of Micky van de Ven and Jan Paul van Hecke, giving De Zerbi's dyanmic Dutch duo plenty of support. So many players on Tottenham deserve credit for the clean sheet result, but undoubtedly a large part of that credit needs to go to Sandro Tonali.

For the quality on the ball, his leadership, his past success as a Serie A champion with legendary club AC Milan, and his ability to be a metronome of a passer as the general of the De Zerbi midfield, Tonali's defensive quality largely went overlooked in discussions about both his signing and his price tag to Tottenham Hotspur.

But while Enzo Fernandez has been exposed as a liability on the defensive side by Aston Villa, Chelsea, one of the best teams at efficiently getting the ball into scoring positions, really struggled in the hole against Tonali, who was a massive part of Tottenham totally neutralizing the best English duo of attackers in Morgan Rogers and Cole Palmer.

Those guys did nothing, as Tonali was impervious. The Italian international was disciplined off the ball, efficient at tackling when engaging in duels, and better than anyone else on the pitch at finding the right man with the pass.

Although there was optimism that Destiny Udogie could return to the Tottenham Hotspur starting 11 against rivals Chelsea on Saturday after suffering yet another minor, nagging injury, the Italian international was unable to make it for Roberto De Zerbi, so the manager had to go back to his second string option Andy Robertson.

And although Robbo has teased a few better appearances this season, by and large, the free agent Scottish international has been a real blight for Spurs this year. Even though he was signed for free in terms of the transfer fee, Robetson is making a hefty 8.3 million pounds per season and is one of the highest paid players on Spurs.

The thing is, he is nowhere near being one of their top five players despite his high wages. Robertson struggled again and was even hooked off in the 64th minute as Spurs brought star right back Pedro Porro back into the fold for some key minutes off the bench vs. Chelsea as the Spanish international works himself back to full fitness.

Andy Robertson is not good enough cover for Destiny Udogie

Tottenham Hotspur did not sign Andy Robertson to be a star or to even compete with Destiny Udogie as a starter, but knowing Udogie's injury history and the fact that Djed Spence was likely to be sold, Spurs still have some expectations for Robertson. But instead of being a competent backup who ensures not too much of a drop off on the not so rare occasions that Udogie can't play, Robbo has been a massive, massive downgrade.

He was quite useless against Chelsea and comfortably one of the worst players on the pitch for either team. If Cole Palmer were actually more up top it, Robertson certainly would have been more exposed by the Blues on the road.

Robertson did not progress the ball at all for Tottenham and missed a few great opportunities to get his teammates like Mathys Tel and Omar Marmoush in on goal. He had only one key pass and was quite inaccurate with his passing overall.

Defensively, Robertson did not have a single intervention and was pretty disastrous, again, saved by the fact that Pedro Neto and Palmer had very ill disciplined days. But even then, the duo had Robertson on skates defensively a couple of times, and he had to be bailed out by covering midfielders or Micky van de Ven almost doing his job for him.

Tottenham are not getting their money's worth out of Robertson, and they may not be admitting it right now, but clearly they are having some buyer's remorse and probably should have signed someone younger and more versatile like Neco Williams.

As expected, Tottenham Hotspur right winger Mohammed Kudus drew the toughest assignment of any Spurs attacker, but you could argue that even though he was going up against the Chelsea defensive duo of Levi Colwill and Jorrel Hato together as a tag team, the former West Ham United man was mayeb the most consitent attacking player for the Lilywhites.

Mathys Tel stole the show with an insane goal at the end of the game to seal the deal for Tottenham, and he had the most key passes and dribbles completed. But what Kudus did was so important in a road rivalry game going up against a very tough matchup and that was his ability to win the duels and put in the work to run the opposition ragged.

You could not help but constantly hear Kudus's name called by Peter Drury and the commentary team on Saturday afternoon at Stamford Bridge. The Ghanaian international had three dribbles completed and a chance created, but what really made the difference was how much he was willing to fight and defend.

Mohammed Kudus brought the grit for Tottenham

Tottenham Hotspur needed all hands on deck in order to beat Chelsea in a comprehensive performance on the road and exorcise their demons at Stamford Bridge. And they got it. Nobody typified that display more than Mohammed Kudus. To beat a rival with the star power Chelsea have on the road, it takes a team effort and the attackers defending just as hard as the midfielders and defenders.

Kudus had three tackles and an interception, finishing the game as one of the leaders on the entire team in defensive interventions. From the day he joined Tottenham from West Ham, Kudus endeared himself to Spurs fans with his effort and intensity, and we got to see the culmination of that on the big stage, and, honestly, the pundits on the big networks should be raving more about what Kudus did.

This season, Kudus has been earning plaudits for his skill on the ball, which was the case at Ajax, West Ham, and, of course, in his first season at N17. With 2.4 dribbles completed per game this season despite starting in less than half of his seven appearances and 3 dribbles completed alone in the win over Chelsea, Kudus has brought the skill, yes. But against Chelsea, he also brought the grit, and that will do Roberto De Zerbi and the fans very proud.