Insane ****. We look insane. Solid defensively. I think it's harsh to blame trippier alone for the goal we conceded because he shouldn't have been marking a 6ft 2 inch striker. What an insane win. We could actually go into the Jan transfer window in the top 4. Unbelievable. We look so defensively solid and our energy and fitness levels are insane. Pope - 7 - Solid, some decent saves, great time wasting skills. Trippier- 8 - Some may disagree, but I'd give him an 8 still. He at 5ft 8 shouldn't have had to mark a 6ft 2 inch striker, that's a **** up as a team that is. He was absolutely insane in every other department. Great crosses, great defending, insane composure under pressure. Schar - 9 - MOTM - Solid defensively, could have had two assists. Was part of a unit that deserved a clean sheet. His passing ability from the back is fantastic. Some may disagree with the rating, but I think he did enough to earn it. Superb defensively, and his pass lead to the first goal and almost set up Joelinton before that. Botman - 8.5 - Solid. Fantastic CB. Burn - 8 - Solid. Willock - 7 - Good energy and good performance. Bruno - 8 - Won a lot of freekicks, good skills, lost the ball a couple of times but mostly good play. Longstaff - 7 - Good assist, sometimes I think he's just a tad under the level of everyone else as he gets caught out quite a bit, but still played well and offered a lot. Joelinton - 8 - Beast in the midfield, won the ball back so many times. Wilson - 8 - Best performance for a while. Great goal, great runs and lead the line well. Miggy - 8 - Fantastic goal, slaughtered that Spurs back line. Went a bit quiet towards the end so couldn't give him higher than an 8 for the whole game, but still excellent. Murphy - 6 - Good pressuring and closing down. -----
Longstaff played a blinder, but Bruno is still the centre piece of our team - wins everything, is perfect under pressure and controls possosession perfectly.
The team performed great from a player-energy point of view. I thought EH might make a couple of changes for this game to give a few a rest - Schar and Joelinton carrying knocks. But they were all just great. I hope to see us not sit back too much in games, but we didn't do that and in this one we reduced Spurs to looking an ordinary side. Our defence looked pretty composed, with only a few close shaves early in the game to give us concern. Bruno could have had a few days off to spend with Matteo, and skip this game, but he managed to do both. That's commitment. He's the perfect pro. The post match interview of him and Wilson was moving, which added to a brilliant day. We're doing this without ASM and Isak, so another good sign. Looks a great team spirit, which bodes well for a good season.
Fantastic overall performance away to one of the big boys. Lots of great performances, so really hard so single anyone out. But I do have to give credit where it's due, I thought Longstaff played really well. I have criticised him before, but that was definitely one of the best games I've seen him play. This is getting exciting.
