Tottenham vs Red Star Belgrade
Tottenham would play host to Red Star Belgrade on Tuesday evening as they looked to put an end to their dismal run of form.
Mauricio Pochettino took his side all the way to the 2018/19 Champions League final.
But with the start to the season Spurs have had, that must seem like a distant memory for many supporters of the club.
Tottenham’s league form has been rather shambolic in recent weeks.
Before the international break, the North London outfit were comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Brighton.
Spurs then took on Watford this past weekend, a side yet to amass a single victory in the league this campaign. But Tottenham were still unable to pick up a win, drawing 1-1.
Tottenham’s ventures in Europe this season have also got off to a rather worrying start.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men would draw 2-2 with Olympiacos in their opening CL tie of 2019/20.
They were then hammered 7-2 by German powerhouse Bayern Munich.
That put Tottenham 3rd in their CL group heading into Tuesday’s clash with Red Star.
As for Red Star Belgrade, they were 2nd in the group, two points above Spurs.
Here are three key talking points from the clash.
Tottenham back to their best under Pochettino
As mentioned above, Tottenham’s recent results and displays have not exactly been great.
However, on Tuesday evening Spurs looked a completely different side to the one we have become accustomed to seeing in recent outings.
From the get-go on Tuesday Tottenham players were chasing down loose balls, running across the pitch to close down men, breaking quickly and just looked much more like the old Pochettino Spurs side.
Spurs’ great attitude vs Red Star was perfectly encapsulated by Heung-Min Son.
In the build-up to the North London outfit’s second of the evening the South Korean made up about 25 yards in order to get into the opposition box and connect with Erik Lamela’s cross.
Tottenham are flying!
Erik Lamela with a cracking ball and Heung-min Son makes a difficult finish look simple pic.twitter.com/HE3SR4swZa
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) October 22, 2019
Question marks may have arisen over Mauricio Pochettino’s future at Spurs due to recent results. But this display showed the Argentine is still more than capable of getting an exemplary performance out of Spurs.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Heung-Min Son of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates after scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Champions League group B match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crvena Zvezda at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 22, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Stephen Pond/Getty Images)
Davies over Rose
Danny Rose has been Spurs’ main left-back through the 2019/20 campaign so far.
The Englishman would feature in nine games across all competitions for Tottenham this season before Tuesday.
One of those appearances came this past weekend vs Watford.
Rose put in a less than subpar display vs the Hornets with Pochettino choosing to drop him vs Red Star.
That seems to have been a wise choice from the Tottenham boss as Ben Davies, who started at left-back on Tuesday, was in excellent form.
The Welshman linked up well with Son and Dele Alli down the left-hand side going forward. But perhaps more importantly, Davies put in a solid shift defensively.
Danny Rose looked as though he could be heading towards the Tottenham exit door over the summer with the full-back omitted from Spurs’ pre-season tour of Asia to explore a move to another club.
So, perhaps Rose’s heart isn’t 100 percent with Tottenham and he could have one eye on the January or summer transfer window.
Whether or not Rose’s recent displays have been impacted by his future with Tottenham can’t really be known for sure. But given Davies’ display vs Red Star, perhaps it is time to make him Spurs’ starting left-back.
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 22: Ben Davies of Tottenham Hotspur arrives at the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League group B match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crvena Zvezda at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on October 22, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Tottenham Hotspur FC/Tottenham Hotspur FC via Getty Images)
Lamela’s 200th appearance
Erik Lamela would join Tottenham in August of 2013 from Serie A outfit AS Roma.
Just over six years later the Argentine earned his 200th appearance for the North London powerhouse on October 22nd vs Red Star Belgrade.
Spurs appearances for @ErikLamela!#THFC ⚪️ #COYS pic.twitter.com/OYfk3jkw1k
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) October 22, 2019
Lamela certainly looked like he wanted to make his 200th appearance one to remember.
The midfielder played an integral role in Spurs’ demolition of Red Star.
Lamela would provide the assist for Kane’s opening goal before setting up Son for Spurs’ second of the evening.
The 27-year-old had no involvement with Tottenham’s 3rd of the evening.
However, shortly after dragging a shot wide of the mark, Lamela linked up with Serge Aurier to cap his evening with a goal and put Tottenham 4-0 up.
goal
assistsErik Lamela is having a day of it against Crvena zvezda, and Spurs are up 4-0 #TOTZVE #UCL #OptusSport pic.twitter.com/k8WsoR5vvG
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) October 22, 2019
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