The Media Review: Tottenham Hotspur

In the football media world of 2022, readers demand something a little more sophisticated from their favourite writers than a few old-school lines of transfer gossip, news of groin strains and clichéd match reports. 

Journalists these days have to be capable of reading club balance sheets, comfortable with advanced statistical analysis, familiar with low blocks and false nines, and sensitive to what goes on between players’ ears as well as their quads and metatarsals.

So instead of laments about a Big Six team being shut out by a less glamorous club from beyond the M25, many of the reports of Albion’s 1-0 victory at Tottenham on Saturday contained appreciative comments about the Albion’s tactical approach.

In the Sunday Times, for example, James Gheerbrant wrote that Tottenham “were simply outplayed by Brighton & Hove Albion. After an unlucky run of six defeats, which did not reflect the quality of this team or their coach, Graham Potter’s side backed up last week’s win against Arsenal with another superb display, with Yves Bissouma and Leandro Trossard, who scored the late winner after a mistake by Cristian Romero, especially outstanding.

“Spurs’ previous seven games had seen them average 3.6 goals, creating almost at will through those systematic wing-back moves. Here they didn’t muster so much as a shot on target. It was a defensive masterclass from Brighton, who pinned back Emerson Royal and Sergio Reguilón, stopped Rodrigo Bentancur and Pierre-Émile Hojbjerg playing forward, and interrupted the magic connection between Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

“Overall, Brighton looked likelier to score, and eventually they did. Trossard scooped a pass infield from the left touchline, and continued his run even when Tottenham won the ball. He was rewarded by a mistake from Romero, who slipped on the ball. The Belgian darted in, dropped his shoulder to escape Eric Dier, then beat Lloris with a beautiful outside-of-the-foot finish.”

In the Observer, John Brewin also went beyond the usual cheerleading of England captain Harry Kane. “Baked by Easter sun and seemingly overburdened by expectation, Tottenham reverted to fallible type,” he wrote. “For the second time in a week, Brighton damaged a north London’s club’s top-four challenge, with Leandro Trossard’s late goal, stolen after Cristian Romero’s slip in his own box, repeating what happened to Arsenal at the Emirates.

“Romero, stumbling in tackling Adam Lallana, the late substitute, presented Trossard with the chance to score the winner Brighton - and Tottenham - deserved. Until a volley from Steven Bergwijn following Trossard’s goal, Robert Sánchez in the Brighton goal barely had a shot to face, and none on target, his work usually done for him by a defence throwing in repeated heroic blocks.

“Brighton pressed aggressively, closing space before the ball could reach Harry Kane in his trademark deep-lying positions. Conte barked from the edge of his technical area. He stayed there throughout, though the Italian, like his team, seemed lower amped than normal.

“’Brighton was very good at closing the space,’ Conte said. ‘We moved the ball slowly. We will have to do much better than today. Perhaps the more fair result was a draw but Brighton is a good team. If you win at Arsenal and Tottenham away it means that it’s a good team’.”

“Brighton deserve credit for cutting off supply lines. Kane and Son Heung-min’s partnership barely featured, the South Korean anonymous until he had a pair of shots blocked at the start of the second half, first by Joël Veltman and then by Trossard’s scamper back to join the all-hands effort.

“Yves Bissouma, patrolling, striding in front of Brighton’s defence, was outstanding. ‘Tactically, he was really good,’ said Potter. ‘You can see his quality. His high end is of Champions League level’.

“And meanwhile Brighton continued to compile more chances, before at last the ball fell to Trossard. The Belgian’s decisive cut inside and finish would be the coolest piece of play seen all afternoon.”

At first glance, Riath Al-Samarrai’s report in the Mail on Sunday appeared calculated to annoy Albion fans and prompt a flood of #teamslikeBrighton tweets. He wrote: “To concede two points in this fixture would have been careless. But to drop all three? At home against Brighton? Without putting so much as a single shot on goal, and with that frontline? What a peculiar mess and what a way to make things interesting, just when we were starting to talk about Tottenham and corners turned.”

But he continued: “Give credit to Brighton at this point. They were good for it and so was the finish, applied by Leandro Trossard in stoppage time. It was an excellent way to settle a game and this was no robbery – Brighton didn’t dominate Spurs at any point, but at no stage were they chasing. They swallowed Conte’s side at moments with their pressing and took the one good chance of a fairly dull match.

“That it was dull was no accident, for which all eyes should first go to Graham Potter, and then to Yves Bissouma, respectively the architect and the implementer of good tactics. The latter swarmed all over Heung-Min Son and Dejan Kulusevski, to the extent that there were no lines of service to Harry Kane. The England striker has rarely looked so isolated.

“Indeed, it was a plan well followed by a fine team that has tended to look one solid striker shy of being very good. But that is where we return to Tottenham, because irrespective of where Brighton punch in relation to their weight, there was little forewarning of this result.

“True, they had a good win against Arsenal a week ago, but prior to that, they had lost six of seven, with their sole point coming against Norwich. So that’s the team that found it easy to keep Spurs at arm’s length and then kicked them in the spuds at the death.”

In the Sun on Sunday, Mark Irwin had a unique tactical take on the coaching of a man usually lauded for his enterprising and expansive football, writing that “Graham Potter turned into the English [Diego] Simeone as his Brighton spoilers threw the Champions League race wide open again.

“The Seagulls boss took his tactics straight from the Atletico Madrid playbook to leave exasperated Spurs rueing three crucial points dropped in their quest to secure a top four finish. And Antonio Conte was left tearing his hair out in frustration as Leandro Trossard’s 89th minute goal sucked the very life out of his suffering team.

“One week after ripping up the form book to triumph at Arsenal, the visitors were at it again with another doggedly determined display. And just like Spanish Champions Atletico, they used every trick in the book to stop their superstar opponents from performing at their peak.

“Having scored 25 goals in their previous seven League games, shot-shy Spurs were unable to force even a single save out of Brighton keeper Robert Sanchez. This was Brighton’s first win at Tottenham since 1981 and means they have not lost any of their six Premier League visits to London this season.

“Just as at Arsenal last week, they were clearly looking to frustrate their opponents and take any early sting out of the game.

“The mood certainly wasn’t helped by a series of niggly fouls by both teams which constantly interrupted the flow of an already scrappy game. And no-one was pushing their luck more than Mwepu, who was booked for a 26th minute foul on Reguilon before catching Ben Davies with a raised boot.

“The Kenyan international [sorry, Mark, he’s from Zambia – but you’re not alone: BT Sport’s commentator thought he was Malian] was instantly surrounded by protesting Spurs players, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg right in his face and demanding a second yellow card.

“Brighton fans would argue that Dejan Kulusevski was equally fortunate to escape with a yellow card for lashing out with an arm at Marc Cucurella. But nothing Conte tried could prise open a Brighton defence that was giving absolutely nothing away.”

Gerry Cox was a little more generous with his praise in the Sunday Telegraph: “A week after winning at Arsenal, Brighton completed a north London double when Leandro Trossard scored in the 89th minute to put a dent in Tottenham's hopes of finishing in the top four.

“Graham Potter's side had struggled for goals and gone almost two months without victory before winning at The Emirates Stadium last week, and have now won two games in succession for the first time since September.

“It was a big blow for Antonio Conte's previously free-scoring Spurs, who struggled to break down Brighton's well-organised defence and hardly forced goalkeeper Robert Sanchez to make many meaningful saves.

“Spurs are the top scorers in the league in 2022, but failed to get a shot on goal during a frustrating first half for their supporters. Kane dragged one shot wide and was denied by a timely interception from Marc Cucurella as he teed up a volley close to goal.

“Antonio Conte clearly urged more urgency in his half-time team talk, and his team responded well. Son was denied twice early in the half, with first Joel Veltman and then Leandro Trossard blocking the Korean's goalbound shots.

“Brighton finally called Lloris into action in the 74th minute with a low shot from Tariq Lamptey, and captain Lewis Dunk had a header saved from a corner. But there was little he could do in the 89th minute when Trossard pounced when Cristian Romero slipped. The Belgium-international danced towards goal and shot into the far corner of the goal with the outside of his boot.

“Brighton's delighted supporters started singing “Is this the Emirates?” and “North London is ours” as their side left this corner of the capital with three points for the second week in succession. And who could deny them their celebrations?”

Joe Krishnan of the Mirror online wrote that “Tottenham were reportedly considering Graham Potter as a candidate before they decided to hire Nuno Espirito Santo in June last year. On the evidence of this season and this game, the Englishman certainly has a bright future in the game.

“His side may be comfortably in mid-table but were anything but complacent in their approach. They looked prepared, hungry and were perhaps unfortunate not to go into the interval ahead after having the better of the first half action. Trossard's late winner was exactly what they deserved after a brave performance.

“There is an argument that they lack a cutting edge in the final third, but the football they produce in the build-up is not inferior to what Liverpool and Manchester City conjure — and on a shoestring budget compared to the Premier League’s top two.

“Go back to Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Burnley on February 22 and that is the last time Harry Kane or Son Heung-min failed to score in a game for Spurs. In the seven games in between, Kane has five goals and five assists, Son eight goals and one assist. But with a mixture of clever tactics and tireless work, Brighton managed to end their reign of terror.

“A lot of Tottenham’s play was far too lethargic to cause the visitors problems. But on the occasion when they got in behind, the three centre-backs — Joel Veltman, Lewis Dunk and Marc Cucurella — dealt with the threat superbly. They had some help from Yves Bissouma, who tracked Kane in the deeper areas and denied him the chance to play as the link man.

“Other than Chelsea, Brighton are the only other side who stick with the 3-4-3 as often as Spurs do, and they demonstrated they know how to defend against it here. Halting the individual talents of Kane and Son, statistically the best striking duo the Premier League has seen, will feel as good as [the] win.”