Tottenham suffered a costly and frustrating defeat to their north London rivals Arsenal on Sunday.
For the third season running, Arsenal beat Spurs at their home ground, with the latest affair being your typical aggressive derby encounter.
Arsenal were missing Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, yet Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham couldn’t force David Raya into any meaningful saves.
It’s the norm for Spurs to have the majority of the possession – they had 63% against their rivals – and on occasions, they were in the 70 territory.
But despite that, Postecoglou’s all-action side only mustered five shots on target from their 14 efforts on goal, and in truth, not many of them were troubling for the Arsenal goalkeeper.
The home side spent a lot of time in the final third, but time and time again, the players couldn’t connect with one another and their final ball let them down badly again.
It’s the same old, same old because Postecoglou has seen this many times this season, but also during the previous campaign.
Tottenham fans would have been delighted when they saw the starting XI because Dominic Solanke and Micky van de Ven – who were absent before the international break – returned from their respective injuries.
Solanke made his debut at Leicester and then proceeded to get injured. He was hoping to score his first goal for the club in such a huge game.
In the first half, the 27-year-old had a guilt edge chance to score following a mistake from Arsenal’s backline, with Solanke receiving the ball on the edge of the area, but taking too long to shoot and then getting dispossessed.
Alan Shearer was critical of Tottenham’s club-record transfer and how ‘top players’ just need one touch to get the ball out of their feet and shoot, as he told Premier League Productions (15/09/24 at 2:55 pm).
Dominic Solanke against Arsenal
“You have got ten yards where there is no defender that can get to you,” said Shearer. “You don’t need three touches which is what he tried to do.
“The really top players take one touch, move it out of their feet and get the shot away at goal.”
Pressure on Dominic Solanke
The former Bournemouth man needs a goal as soon as possible, or else, the pressure will just mount and mount on his shoulders.
Spurs make a trip to the Midlands on Wednesday night when they take on Coventry City in the League Cup.
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The club and its fans are crying out for a trophy. Postecoglou knows that a very negative tone will be set if they don’t beat Cov.
This is Solanke’s chance to get off the mark and ease the pressure on himself, with Brentford, Europa League football and a trip to Manchester United on the horizon.
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