The Athletic

Before Tottenham Hotspur’s brilliant 4-1 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, Dominic Solanke had not registered a shot on target across his last six appearances in all competitions.

The forward, who joined Spurs from Bournemouth in August for a club-record fee of £65million, scored the equaliser in a 3-1 victory over Brentford in September and the third goal in a memorable 3-0 win at Manchester United, but he was still waiting to produce a breakout moment; a piece of individual skill, an assist or a goal that earned his side all three points.

But how could the man who is expected to fill the goalscoring void left by Harry Kane succeed when he so rarely shoots? Was the 27-year-old struggling to adapt to Ange Postecoglou’s style of play, or was he just not in sync with his new team-mates? How much longer could this go on before it was time to hit the panic button?

Solanke’s performance against Aston Villa — he scored twice in five second-half minutes and won the free kick James Maddison curled into the top corner in stoppage time — reminded everybody of his quality. The England international’s intelligent run and beautiful chip over Emiliano Martinez was a reminder, were it needed, of his quality.

Judging Solanke just on his goalscoring output alone would be foolish. What he offers Postecoglou’s side out of possession is equally as important as what he does inside the penalty box. This is not the first time in Solanke’s career that his form has been questioned — it took him 18 months and 39 games to register his first goal for Bournemouth after signing from Liverpool for £19million in January 2019.

“We didn’t speak about the lack of goals,” Junior Stanislas, who played up front with Solanke for four years at Bournemouth, told The Athletic earlier this season. “His quality was evident in training. His hold-up play, skills and willingness to run in behind — he was someone you always wanted on your team. He brought so much more than goals.”

Solanke did not touch the ball once in Manchester City’s box when Tottenham beat them in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup last week, but he was still integral to one of the best results during Postecoglou’s time in charge.

In the first couple of minutes, City were trying to attack down the left wing. Matheus Nunes shifts the ball inside towards Ruben Dias. Before Nunes even connects with his pass, Solanke starts running in Dias’ direction. Solanke cuts off the defender’s options and ushers him towards the touchline, where Nunes hits the ball all the way back to goalkeeper Stefan Ortega.

Solanke is not satisfied so he hunts down Ortega, who passes it to John Stones. The England centre-back has lots of time and space until Solanke accelerates. Solanke and Timo Werner look to have Stones trapped, but he wriggles away.

If Solanke or Werner had won the ball, they would have been through on goal. City may have kept possession throughout this sequence but Solanke’s selfless running means his defence have pushed much higher up the pitch.

Solanke constantly disrupts the opposition’s build-up by harassing their defenders and this is one of the reasons Postecoglou was so keen to sign him. Nine of the 10 players to cover the most distance in the top flight last season were central midfielders. Solanke was the exception as he ranked eighth by covering 396.9 kilometres.

Postecoglou admitted a couple of months ago that Spurs had previously considered signing Ivan Toney from Brentford in the summer. Toney had been a more consistent goal threat than Solanke in the Premier League over the last couple of years and contributed to England reaching the final of the European Championship in the summer. Solanke may not have been included in Gareth Southgate’s squad, but he is a far better tactical fit.

In his press conference before Tottenham faced Aston Villa, Postecoglou was asked if it mattered that Solanke had not been taking a lot of shots. “I am delighted with him,” Postecoglou said. “I couldn’t be happier with the way he is leading that front line.

“He was a major reason we won the game the other night because (Manchester) City will grind you and pin you right back for the whole game if you let them, but he just didn’t allow that to happen and just kept running and pressing — and he had the quality on the ball. Any other night he would have had a couple of assists as well. I know everyone talks about the goals. He will get his goals. If he plays at that level every week for us, that is going to make us a really good football team.”

When Spurs won at Old Trafford, Solanke caused Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte no end of problems.

This incident in the 28th minute nearly leads to a one-v-one situation with Andre Onana until Noussair Mazraoui covers for De Ligt and concedes a throw-in. Defenders are never safe in possession when Solanke is around.

It was the exact same situation when Tottenham played Brentford. After Bryan Mbeumo gave Thomas Frank’s side the lead in the first minute, Spurs swarmed them for the rest of the half. Solanke set the tone by repeatedly pinching the ball from Sepp van den Berg and Vitaly Janelt.

“We know they are a good pressing team; they press with a big intensity and we need to be able to deal with that,” Frank told The Athletic afterwards. “I thought today in spells we were good and in others we could have done better. That said, Tottenham are also one of the most aggressive teams in high pressing.”

Spurs won possession in the final third on 13 occasions against Brentford. Only once has there been more from a team in a single game this season — also Spurs against Newcastle.

The most impressive example of Solanke’s work out of possession came in stoppage time against Aston Villa. The angles of his runs force errors. Diego Carlos is right-footed but Solanke intelligently approaches him in a way that makes a short pass to Pau Torres risky, so he goes back to Martinez. This sequence ends with Solanke tackling Torres and Brennan Johnson wins a free kick. Solanke has created a potential goalscoring opportunity from the set piece out of nothing.

“Dom has been unbelievable since he joined. He is working so hard,” Micky van de Ven said ahead of Tottenham’s Europa League match against AZ Alkmaar. “He keeps running the whole game and I am watching him and thinking, ‘Phwoar, how are you even doing this? (You just) keep sprinting over and over again’.”

Solanke has helped Spurs reach the next stage of their evolution under Postecoglou. They are an aggressive, front-footed pressing team who have scored the most goals in the league (22) with eight different players chipping in. They do not need to over-rely on Solanke like they did with Kane and have with Son Heung-min in the past.

“Don’t get me wrong, if Harry was here I’d be a very happy manager,” Postecoglou said last week. “We’d find a way to fit him in. But you’re right, part of him leaving is that opportunity for people to grow and we’re still in that phase.

“There’s more that the guys have in them. I keep saying that some of them have a really high ceiling. Some of them are still trying to stick their head up a little bit more every time. Then you have a performance like (Crystal) Palace and you feel like, ‘Nah they’re going to cower again and not stand up even further’.

“But you need to go through those experiences. I can definitely see that growth. Once I can cajole and convince them to just keep going, don’t be afraid, don’t fear failure and stumble, criticism and scrutiny. There is that opportunity for us and it’s the only way we’ll become the team we want to be. We won’t do that by bringing in another Harry. Those players are rare. For us it’s going to have to be a collective effort to get to where we want to.”

Solanke’s sacrificial running epitomises Postecoglou’s ethos.

(Top photo: John Walton/Getty Images)

At the start of last week, Ange Postecoglou was facing calls from some of the extreme fringes of the internet for his dismissal as Tottenham manager.

Spurs had lost 1-0 at Selhurst Park last Sunday, an afternoon when the players never really got off the bus. It almost felt, from some of the reaction, as if this season or even the whole Postecoglou project might never get fully off the ground.

One week on, Postecoglou can look back on two of the best wins of Spurs’ season so far: two huge scalps of teams who both finished ahead of them last season.

On Wednesday night, they knocked Manchester City out of the Carabao Cup, summoning up all of their energy and belief to win 2-1. At the end of that game, the players looked exhausted, emptied out by the physical effort of overcoming City.

And on Sunday, they did it all over again. Aston Villa were almost the worst possible team to face four days after City. They came to north London to be disciplined, physical and efficient, doing everything they could to stop Spurs from playing their football. They took the lead from a corner and then decided to slow things down even more.

But Tottenham kept going and going in the second half, raising the tempo, looking back inside themselves and raising it again. They forced their way through to equalise, got bogged down again, got back to their feet, and then blew Villa away. By the end, Spurs were flying down the home straight, roared on by the crowd, leaving Villa looking like they had long run out of gas. Above all, they worked hard enough to earn the right to play their football.

There is something familiar about this type of Tottenham win now.

They did it against Brentford. They did it against West Ham. They did it plenty of times last season, too. They can afford to start slowly or even go behind at home because they always back themselves to make up lost ground in the second half. They can hit and maintain a second-half intensity that few other opponents can live with. But Villa were the team who beat them to Champions League football last season, a side who have looked smarter and more solid than Spurs in recent months. Tottenham needed to show they could beat them.

Put the two performances together — first City and then Villa — and you are looking at the best week Tottenham have had maybe in the whole Postecoglou era. As ever, Postecoglou did not see it quite this way in his post-match press conference, suggesting that the Palace defeat was also part of this same week, but weeks start on Monday, so here we are.

Looking back to the start of this week, the day after Palace, Postecoglou said the most important thing was that the players did not arrive feeling sorry for themselves.

“We had to come in and get our heads straight,” he said, “and work back towards being the team we want to be. That’s what’s happened but it doesn’t mean that that’s the end of it now.”

It was also a poignant week at Tottenham. Sunday would have been the 52nd birthday of Ugo Ehiogu, Tottenham’s youth coach who tragically passed away in 2017 at the age of just 44.

Spurs senior assistant coach Matt Wells worked with Ehiogu at Tottenham and this week, he spoke to the players about Ehiogu, the impact he had on him as a young coach and his legacy at the club. “When you hear things like that, and how people affect your life, it helps give clarity to the players about what we’re trying to do here,” Postecoglou explained afterwards. “It’s important that his legacy lives on.”

Postecoglou does not want Spurs to rest on their laurels after their win over Villa. They have another big week before the international break: flying to Istanbul to face Galatasaray on Thursday, then coming back to host Ipswich Town on Sunday. Thursday does not feel especially high stakes after Tottenham’s strong start in the Europa League, but fail to win on Sunday and the mood will shift back again — just as it did before the last international window when Spurs lost at Brighton & Hove Albion.

But just because Postecoglou does not want to look back does not mean we should ignore what a big week this was. At this stage of the season, everything is provisional, but Spurs are starting to find answers to some of the questions they face. They have now won nine of their last 11 games in all competitions, a run going back to the Arsenal defeat on September 15, and as painful as the losses at Brighton and Palace were, they increasingly look like the exceptions rather than the rule.

Tottenham will always get accusations about their perceived flakiness or bottle, questions which are as inevitable as the weather, but both of their recent statement wins have been against top sides, teams who won here in the league last season, and who made it as difficult as possible for Spurs in their own ways. Whether holding onto the lead against City or chasing the game against Villa, Tottenham dug deep, survived the difficult moments and stuck to their plans.

Postecoglou himself has faced questions about his own tactics and substitutions, and his ability to change games that were going against him. But on Wednesday, Yves Bissouma came on at half-time and changed the flow of the game, giving Spurs a more solid base in midfield. On Sunday, Richarlison came on and set up the third goal before James Maddison was introduced and scored the fourth.

We could talk about individuals, about Son Heung-min’s cross for the first goal, Dejan Kulusevski’s reverse pass for the second, Pape Matar Sarr’s influence or Dominic Solanke’s selfless work rate, or his first goals since September.

But above all, this was a collective effort: the result of a group of players running and working for each other and for the manager’s ideas.

This is what Postecoglou’s second season is meant to look like. Just don’t expect the manager himself to talk about defeats avenged or corners turned.

“You don’t fall off cliffs and you don’t climb mountains within a week,” he said. “It’s all part of the same process for me.”

GO DEEPER

The Briefing: Tottenham 4 Aston Villa 1 - Solanke's best game so far, Spurs' back-post threat, and another defensive injury

(Top photo: Gaspafotos/MB Media/Getty Images)

There was a distinct feeling in the air at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night. Something that had been lacking for the past year or so, maybe even for most of Ange Postecoglou’s reign. But the crowd felt it and fed it. The players felt it and channelled it. It was both the fuel and the flames of one of Spurs’ best wins of the season so far. You could even give it a name: big game energy.

Spurs had won five home games before this one and at times played very well. But Everton and West Ham United were so poor when they came to Tottenham it did not feel much of a contest. Brentford, Qarabag and AZ Alkmaar were professionally dispatched. But Wednesday was different. You could see it at the end when the fans celebrated the final whistle and the exhausted Spurs players fell to the ground.

The reward for winning this is another home game seven weeks from now, against a Manchester United side who might be a very different prospect under their new manager. The hope for Spurs is that the players and fans can summon up the same energy, the same force that they did this week. Win that and Tottenham will be in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, their first semi in three years.

Before then there are seven more Premier League games, as well as three more in the Europa League. This starts with Aston Villa coming to Tottenham this Sunday. This will be billed as a gigantic game, a crunch clash, the chance for Spurs to get one over on the team who pipped them to Champions League qualification last season. For Villa, it will be an opportunity to avenge their 4-0 defeat to Spurs in March, which at the time looked like it marked Spurs’ supremacy in the race for fourth. (In fact, Spurs took 13 points from their last 11 games and Villa strolled over the line in front of them.)

But maybe this is wrong. Maybe no league game in early November can ever be as important, tense or momentous as a last-16 cup tie against Manchester City. Maybe the obsession with their Premier League finishing position has gone too far if it means seeing Wednesday as a warm-up or springboard for Sunday.

For all the talk of Postecoglou changing the mentality at Tottenham, this debate, this tension, is far bigger than the manager himself. It has been here for much longer than he has. It will survive long after he has left. It is a question as old as time: should Tottenham try to win a cup? Or should they try to finish as high as possible in the league?

People can disagree on this in good faith. There are merits to both positions. Fans are allowed to change their minds. There was certainly a time, under Mauricio Pochettino, when it felt like establishing Tottenham as a regular Champions League contender was the right thing to do. (You could call it the ‘Top Four’s Our Everything’ era.) Pochettino upset some fans when he said that winning domestic cups “only builds your ego”, rather than helping the club, especially given he said that immediately after cup exits to Crystal Palace and Chelsea. But he said that from a position of strength after three consecutive top-three finishes. He could point to the example of his own work.

That was almost six years ago now, most of which Spurs have played in one of the best new stadiums in the world. That has done a lot for their global status, their cachet and their revenues. But not a lot for their trophy cabinet. In fact, it almost feels as if the clock has ticked louder in their new home, now almost 17 years on from the 2008 League Cup win. How can a team who plays in a stadium like this never win anything? Fans who pay so much for their tickets want a reward, a day out at Wembley (or Bilbao next May) that they will remember forever.

This has not felt like a winning argument in the past few years. Remember that the last time Spurs were in a final, the 2021 League Cup, they sacked Jose Mourinho six days beforehand. They wanted to give Ryan Mason six league games to try to save Spurs’ European hopes for the following season. Spurs ended up finishing seventh.

When Antonio Conte came in a few months later, he invested everything in a top-four finish and he nailed it. But he never gave the slightest indication of being interested in the cups. Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United all knocked Spurs out of cup competitions on Conte’s watch. His standing with the fans never recovered from playing a weakened team at Bramall Lane. He only lasted four more games.

Of course, no Spurs manager is making these decisions in a vacuum. When Daniel Levy was asked about fixture congestion at a fans’ forum in September, he did not exactly give a ringing endorsement of the importance of the Carabao Cup. “I agree there’s too many games,” he said. “But the problem we have, the particular problem in England is we have an extra cup competition compared to the rest of Europe.” Levy said that Tottenham “would like to see less games but higher-quality games”. “So if that means we have to see some changes in some of our competitions, then so be it.”

Since Postecoglou came in last year, we have all waited to see which side of the fence he would be on. To put it bluntly, would he be a cup man or a league man? Postecoglou, perhaps understandably, does not like being put in boxes like that. Last season he was very clear that the top four was not his target, saying that it was not a “Willy Wonka golden ticket” to success. (It would be impossible to argue otherwise after Spurs’ forgettable 2022-23 Champions League campaign.)

But then when Postecoglou was asked before the City game about this old debate, he gave an answer that would have been familiar to Spurs fans. “Progress in the league is a better indicator,” he said. “That’s still where I think our most meaningful progress lies.” A cup win would be great for many reasons, he continued. “But it’s not a panacea for everything, obviously.” It sounded like a more rounded version of the arguments Pochettino used to make in the same room.

No one is suggesting radically deprioritising the Premier League. No Spurs manager, or coach of any club, would last very long if he did. The beauty of those first three wins in the Europa League is that Spurs are on course for a top-eight league phase finish, even if they take a weakened team to Galatasaray next week. Manchester United in the Carabao Cup quarter-final is still a long way away.

But even if Spurs lose to Villa on Sunday, or even Ipswich Town next week, or if the top four or five starts to look beyond them, that does not mean this season should be written off. There is a huge amount to play for, three chances to make memories, three chances to make history. There is no shame in being a cup team. Tottenham just need to embrace nights like Wednesday, whatever the cost.

(Top photo: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

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