Tottenham Hotspur look like a completely different team these past three weeks, and they are truly dominating the opposition. After six winless games to start the season, Spurs have now won each of their last three matches, and Roberto De Zerbi's vision of exciting, possession based football has fully come to fruition. And better yet, Spurs are not just scrapping by their wins. Each of their victories over Coventry, Chelsea, and now Crystal Palace have been quite convincing.
There are many reasons why things are working out better for Tottenham, but at the crux of it all is the player De Zerbi wanted Spurs to sign the most and whom Spurs spent the most money to sign, defensive midfielder Sandro Tonali.
The regista from Serie A had honestly been out of the spotlight, for footballing reasons at least, at Newcastle United, and you could forgive someone for thinking that he was honestly underperforming since reaching the Premier League after being one of the main architects behind AC Milan's rise to the Scudetto.
As Sandro Tonali clicks, so does Tottenham
Now, he is one of the main architects of the revival of Tottenham Hotspur under Roberto De Zerbi. So much good emanates from Tonali at the heart of the Tottenham lineup. He is the one who finds the right passes, covers the spaces, and unselfishly covers and wins the ball. His best traits to start the season were his defending, and now he has become a bigger creative force and a table setter for the team, helping the wingers find the space to win their one on ones and his new midfield partner Mateus Fernandes to statistically dominate.
The whole system, though, does not work the same without Sandro Tonali. De Zerbi's buddy from Brescia is so adept at knowing exactly where to float and how to stop a counter before it develops while still being active enoguh to win possession that the defensive solidity he provides is both subtle and lasting.
And then offensively, Tonali is a great athlete who tames down his own athleticism in order to win the space battle, which is so important for a possession based team. Tonali is a player who ensures Spurs are never holding the ball just to possess it, but rather he is focused on quality progression - even if that means taking a back seat to the others. Tottenham's best play has a team is coming when Tonali is reaching his best level and familiarizing himself fully with the others, and that is no coincidence in the slightest.