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Tottenham v Arsenal: 5 things to learn from Spurs easy win

By Rucker Haringey

LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 30: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his sides first goal with his Tottenham Hotspur team mates during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at White Hart Lane on April 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 30: Dele Alli of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates scoring his sides first goal with his Tottenham Hotspur team mates during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal at White Hart Lane on April 30, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) /
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LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 26: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on April 26, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 26: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur celebrates during the Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Tottenham Hotspur at Selhurst Park on April 26, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images) /

2. Tottenham don’t need Harry Kane to win

Casual fans will glance at the box score and assume that Harry Kane played a really influential match for Spurs. While he deserves credit for his hard work and excellent penalty, he was anonymous for long stretches of the afternoon. Despite that, Tottenham were able to dominate the match against their rivals.

This doesn’t mean Kane isn’t important. Obviously, Spurs are at their best when the attack flows through their talisman. The point here is that Tottenham are not dependent on Kane to win. If a club makes him the focus of their defensive game plan, Spurs have enough other options to win in a different manner.

The first half against Arsenal really showed this perfectly. Remember, Spurs should have been up 2-0 after both Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen blew easy opportunities to get on the score sheet. The point is that Tottenham produced these quality chances without Kane being really involved.

It was obvious that Arsene Wenger instructed his defense to take Kane away and live with the consequences. In some ways, that worked since they went into the break on level terms. That was more a product of good fortune though. Players like Dele, Eriksen and Son Heung-Min tormented Arsenal without playing through Kane.

In many ways, this is the biggest difference between last year’s team and this year’s squad. Pochettino has enough offensive options to win when Kane isn’t playing his best. That bodes very well for Spurs’ future.

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