The former Spurs man believes Victor Wanyama and co. proved they are a far stronger midfield than that of the Gunners.
Former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jermaine Jenas has written for Yahoo! that the North London derby proved that Spurs have a far greater midfield than their arch-rivals Arsenal.
The neighbours played out a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday in a closely-fought affair which maintained Spurs’ status as the only unbeaten side in the Premier League this season.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side went into the game on the back of a dip in form, and the single point against the Gunners means that they are now without a win in seven matches in all competitions.
However, they showed plenty of resilience at the home of their rivals after falling behind shortly before half-time, and the goalscoring return of Harry Kane after six weeks out was a huge plus point.
Jenas has identified another positive to take from the game. The player-turned-pundit believes that the game proved that Tottenham’s midfield is stronger than that of the Gunners.
He wrote for Yahoo!: “Arsenal may have been in better form of late, but we learned on Sunday that their central midfield is nowhere near as good as Tottenham’s. Francis Coquelin had a decent game, but Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Christian Eriksen, playing in a slightly deeper role, were dominant.”
Jenas then went on to single out Wanyama for particular praise, and claimed that the Kenyan has shown that he was a far better summer signing at about £12 million than Granit Xhaka, for whom Arsenal paid over £30 million.
The 33-year-old wrote: “When you look at the two major midfield signings the sides made in the summer, Wanyama looks a far better purchase than Granit Xhaka.
“The Kenyan was brilliant at the Emirates. He seems to have added a calmness and maturity to his game that was sometimes lacking at Southampton. He’s less crazy and far more assured, to the degree that he already looks like the main man in that midfield, alongside Dembele.
“He has managed to dislodge Dier, which is no mean feat after the season he had last year.”
That is a bold shout, but perhaps a fair one. Wanyama has looked impressively solid and dynamic so far in his Spurs career, qualities for which he became known at Celtic and then at Southampton under Pochettino.
Meanwhile, Xhaka has shown that he is a tough tackler with the ability to score spectacular goals – always two crowd-pleasing traits – but has also indicated that he has a lack of discipline and can sometimes fail to take games by the scruff of the neck.
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