It’s hard to draw on many positives for Tottenham Hotspur right now.
They are 19th in the Premier League on three points, are yet to win a game and spent more than £300m to avoid this exact situation in the summer.
Against Manchester United, however, Roberto De Zerbi saw the first signs of his system coming together. Spurs outworked the Red Devils, out-created and would have eased to victory had they taken their chances.
One of the biggest positives was the performance of Sandro Tonali, who was much improved. Whether it is a sign of things to come or a sign of how disastrous Man United are at present is now the big question.
How Tonali is finally coming good at Spurs
Prior to their trip to Old Trafford, Tottenham fans may have been wondering whether they had simply welcomed an athletic midfield runner rather than the player who took control of games for Newcastle United. In many ways, it looked like they’d simply signed Italy’s finest version of Conor Gallagher.
That’s why Tonali’s performance against Man United would have signalled a sigh of relief.
The big-money signing got the crucial assist for Dominic Solanke’s late equaliser and enjoyed his best performance yet in a Tottenham shirt.
|
Sandro Tonali vs Man Utd |
|
|---|---|
|
Minutes |
90 |
|
Assists |
1 |
|
Line-breaking passes |
12 |
|
Dribbled past |
0 |
|
Defensive contributions |
9 |
In the process of picking up that assist and registering as many as nine defensive contributions, it was a complete display from Tonali and he has cemented his place in De Zerbi’s side.
Now, he must be joined by another big-money star at the heart of midfield.
Why De Zerbi must finally trust Mateus Fernandes
Mateus Fernandes must be wondering what he has to do to earn a place in this Tottenham side.
Since arriving for as much as £85m in the summer, the former West Ham United has started three out of six Premier League games. De Zerbi has been unsure about the midfielder since his first minutes in north London and that must change.
It’s not like Spurs have been in excellent form, either. Now is a good time to note once again that they are currently 19th on three points. Yet still, De Zerbi has hesitated to form a midfield partnership between Fernandes and Tonali.
By doing so, however, the Italian would help solve his side’s problems in front of goal. Fernandes is in the top 4% of midfielders for accurate long passes per 90 this season, whilst also creating more than one chance a game. The 22-year-old can become the answer to Spurs’ biggest problem for years to come.
De Zerbi’s next task is to form the midfield duo that fans have been crying out for, even if that spells the end for one of Tottenham’s brightest young talents.
Tonali and Fernandes are bad news for Tottenham’s brightest young talent
The reality of spending more than £300m on fresh faces is that those expensive new faces are likely to be ahead in the pecking order until it is proven once and for all that they are ready-made stars and not transfer flops. If they turn out to be the latter, then the process towards that conclusion tends to take a lot longer.
This means that, no matter what, Tonali and eventually Fernandes will form the midfield partnership at Spurs, even if the Lilywhites continue to languish in the relegation zone yet again.
It’s good news for the two new stars, but bad news for Luca Williams-Barnett.
A forward by trade, the 18-year-old scored 16 goals and assisted another eight in just 19 appearances at academy level last season.
It was a red-hot season and one that proved he’s not just capable of finding the net with great regularity, but that he is also versatile. Indeed, 16 of his outings came as an attacking midfielder or a deeper-lying midfielder.
Based on that evidence and the evidence we saw across pre-season, the teenager is ready for first-team action. He dazzled and starred from midfield, most notably against MK Dons in pre-season, showing a few shades of the great Mousa Dembele in the process.
Sadly, though, as a result of the business conducted over the summer he won’t get much of a look in either in midfield or further forward, where the likes of Savio and Omar Marmoush both signed.
In many ways, it’s like if Harry Kane faced off against two £100m strikers for a Tottenham place all those years ago. Instead of an instant rise to stardom, he’d have been forced into a delayed rise and perhaps denied the legacy that he has built over the years.
Williams-Barnett cannot let himself suffer the fate of delayed progress. Reports have already claimed that top clubs are circling and it’s clear that the teenager is good enough to move elsewhere before receiving an opportunity ahead of Fernandes or Tonali at Spurs.
The best thing that Williams-Barnett can do for his career is turn his attention towards the exit door as soon as possible.
