Everton 2 Arsenal 5
Spurs 4 Liverpool 1
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Surprised to see Arsenal win so easily?
Not really. I knew they’d win because there’s never been a better time to play Everton. Arsenal had to bounce back after losing 2-1 at Watford, where their team performance was pathetic. So Goodison was the ideal place to get back on track. Sometimes the fixtures help you a lot and this was one of those fixtures.
Ozil, Sanchez and Lacazette starting together?
It was a nicely balanced team with four left-footed players. Xhaka, Ozil, Kolasinac and Monreal. And Sanchez and Ozil decided to play for a change and Ozil scored by starting a beautiful move from just outside his own box and sprinting 70 yards to head in a pinpoint cross by his mate.
How could Petr Cech allow Niasse to tackle him and score that stupid late goal?
Arsenal are very robotic that even an intelligent goalkeeper can become a robot. Every Arsenal player has been programmed to pass short, pass short and pass again, maybe a bit longer. Their game is ensemble passing and it worked well against eleven Everton players before it swamped ten. But what Cech did there was ridiculous and very unprofessional.
After 9 games Arsenal are fifth, Spurs third. Will Spurs finish above them again?
We’ll find out on November 19 when Spurs come to Arsenal the week after Man City host Arsenal.
Will the club with the best away record be champions?
I don’t know. But it’s a big factor: Man City and Spurs have both won their four away games. Man United have won two, Arsenal, Newcastle & Liverpool only one.
Can Spurs maintain that intensity for 92 minutes?
No. But they can score two goals in first 12 minutes. As I noted a few weeks ago, Son is the best Asian footballer to ever play in Europe.
Were you glad to see Dele Alli back?
Of course, I was delighted. My three favourite players are KDB, Dele and David Luiz. Dele was playing a bit deeper yesterday, while Son was narrower. Dele wasn’t playing Sheringham to Kane’s Shearer, but he still hit a first time shot that bounced into the net to make it 3-1 at half-time.
All we hear these days is Harry Kane, Harry Kane. Why?
Because Harry gives you a lot of things Lukaku doesn’t give you, a lot that Aguero doesn’t give you. His energy and physicality create Tottenham’s style of play. His runs allow them to pass the ball forward more than other teams, to penetrate sooner and more often.
It’s been said many times: Kane has a bit of everything: he’s rugged, versatile and fast enough. And he scored headers, left foot, right foot, flicks, rebounds, shots from distance, improbable efforts from flank positions that bend and flash inside the far post.
He wants to be involved all the time, so he moves around , yanking his markers here and there to create holes behind them, as we saw when Son made it 2-0 from his pass. That was a real Jimmy Greaves goal, a flashing left foot shot hit first time by a guy who was flying and didn’t believe he could miss. Confidence is 90% of football, as Ossie Ardiles once said.
Do you think Maradona liked the Spurs style?
Probably. I don’t know if he said anything. The best Argentinian football has been very dynamic . Passarella and Mascherano are men of steel. Batistuta was powerful too. Batigoal started clumsy but refined his game and became very explosive. At Fiorentina he was often played in by Rui Costa. Like Kane, Batistuta was a bang!bang! centre forward who did not give the goalkeeper time to set himself.
Did you win many bets on Sunday?
There was so much going on at home, and so many phone calls around the matches, that I never had a chance to get a bet on. But I strongly fancied Spurs to ride the wave after giving Real Madrid something to think about on Tuesday night. They played really well in that 1-1 draw and I reckoned they’d be really at it against Liverpool.
Was it a real Sky Super Sunday?
Yes. Martin Tyler and Gary Neville are good together. Neville actually says what nobody else dares to say: “Watching some of the Liverpool defenders over the last three to four years, I can’t believe they’re still there.” Me neither!
But Pochettino has never won a trophy?
It’s just a matter of time. Keeping the manager will be Daniel Levy’s main priority. Being an accountant, he’s well aware that the club’s wage bill is increasing. However, they pulled in a crowd of 80,000 yesterday. That’s better than Arsenal selling 55,000 tickets and 10,000 not turning up or giving their tickets away.