Here are our Tottenham talking points after their battling 1-1 draw at Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday
This was a match that should have gone horribly wrong for Tottenham Hotspur but they chose to fight, not cry.
The form guide suggested it should have been a horror show and the team Spurs started the match with never actually trained together at Hotspur Way this week. Igor Tudor even went to grab Arne Slot pre-match to say a warm hello with a big grin....only to realise a little too late that it was actually Spurs' team manager and player liaison officer Allan Dixon.
From the back, the long-serving staff member does bear a passing resemblance to his fellow follically-challenged Dutchman, but the look on Tudor's face when he realised before rushing over to the true Slot was something to behold.
Add to that playing a 19-year-old left-back as a right winger and then conceding just 18 minutes in from a Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick that Guglielmo Vicario could only palm into his own net, the 11th goal the Italian has conceded from outside his box this season.
That all should have spelt disaster for a Spurs side that is one of only two teams of the 92 across Europe's four top divisions yet to win a league game in 2026. Sheffield Wednesday, who have already been relegated from the Championship, are the other.
Yet huge credit must go to Tottenham and their 13 available senior players for coming away with a point from Anfield. They created the chances that could have brought a first victory for the north London side at the stadium since 2011.
It finally seemed to click for these Spurs players that if they are going to get out of trouble then they are going to have to go to war. Tudor had issued a battle cry before the match that it was time to fight and not cry, and there was no weeping to be found.
In Richarlison up front they had their general, someone who has been there, done it and bought the 'I survived relegation' t-shirt. Everton fans adore the Brazilian for his crucial goals in keeping them up.
Now the striker might just have provided the moment with his 90th minute equaliser that grabs Tottenham out of their current death spiral and pushes them back up to the surface.
Conor Gallagher had travelled with the team to Liverpool on Saturday night. He had trained with them after seeming to recover from a fever earlier in the week. However, the midfielder woke up on Sunday morning still feeling out of sorts and that meant Tudor needed to rip up his plans for the game later that day.
He had hinted in his pre-match press conference that Archie Gray would have to play in a fourth different position under him which suggested the 20-year-old was going to play as a centre-back on the right of a back three.
Instead the former Leeds man was required in the centre of the park alongside Pape Matar Sarr and that meant a back four instead behind them. The alternative is that Gallagher was simply going to play where Souza did on the right.
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The matchday squad chosen spoke volumes. Tudor named just seven substitutes from the nine he could have selected. They included two goalkeepers, just two senior players and three academy teenagers. The Croatian could have drafted in another couple of youngsters on the bench but he was making it clear just how tough this job is.
The scarcity of senior players continues to make Tottenham's January transfer window look more and more like a horrible gamble with every passing week.
Sporting director Johan Lange made a big point after that window closed about the lack of players available in the market to help them even in the short term and how Spurs had players who would return from injury to help them.
Six weeks on and Tudor having just 12 fit outfield senior players showed the brutal reality rather than the hope the club built their transfer window upon. The Croatian picking just seven substitutes was his message to Lange and anyone watching that said 'look what I'm having to deal with'.
Tudor is the latest Tottenham manager to remark that he has never experienced anything like this in his career. Thomas Frank said it before him, as did Ange Postecoglou before that. Managing at Spurs appears to require one hand to be tied behind your back at all times.
All of which should only add credit to the Tottenham fightback at Anfield. For after the hour mark, Slot was able to bring on Mohamed Salah, Hugo Ekitike and Curtis Jones in a triple change.
Tudor's final changes of the night were 19-year-old academy players Callum Olusesi and James Roswell, both making their Premier League debuts for the club.
In the centre of the pitch, 20-year-old Gray and 23-year-old Sarr formed a young pairing and provided the energy that drove the visitors through the game.
"I liked them very much in the Atletico game as well, in the middle. They have both things, good energy, running and quality," Tudor told football.london.
"I would like to have this consistency with the team, you know, like other coaches. Today, seeing the bench of Liverpool, it's like, it makes you feel different. So, without having a complete squad at the time, you can't work on a daily base, everything is almost impossible.
"So the job is hard to do, sometimes maybe you cannot even imagine, because you are outside, how difficult is the job to do here, and in the end, it is always about results. So if there are no results, you know, it's always like someone who is charged, he's not probably, he's not working good, he's not good enough, but... okay."
It was a strange match at Anfield. Liverpool had all the possession, with 63.4 per cent of it, and they had dangerous moments in the Spurs box with 45 touches inside it and 159 successful final third passes to Spurs' 60. Yet Alisson Becker was the busier of the two goalkeepers with six saves to make.
The difference with Tottenham compared to previous performances was that they refused to give an inch. They ran further than Liverpool, they covered more distance, they racked up more tackles, interceptions, blocks and clearances and they won more ground duels than their hosts.
Sarr was key in the midfield, recording more defensive contributions than anyone else on the pitch with 17, including nine ball recoveries, four clearances, two interceptions and two tackles. He collapsed to the grass exhausted at the final whistle.
Djed Spence won 100 per cent of his ground duels, Sarr 83 per cent, Dominic Solanke 80 per cent of them and Kevin Danso battled away in the centre of defence. There is no other defender in the game who limps around as much as the Austrian international, after banging the turf in frustration to make you think his game is over yet he carries on anyway.
He is a warrior and so is Radu Dragusin, who grew in confidence as the game wore on after numerous poor touches and passes. The Romanian still has sharpness to rediscover after missing such a large chunk of his career to that ACL injury but he gives his all and made a key block in the final moments to help save the point.
Everything had culminated in Richarlison's big moment. The Brazilian had sent three other shots on target, appearing to be held by Virgil van Dijk for one, and he directed one header just wide late in the first half.
In the end, such is football fate, it was probably his worst shot that rolled into the goal, a scuffed effort that seemed to hit both of his feet, but he and Tottenham could not care less. The players and staff went wild, Tudor leapt in the air and Richarlison gave his best impression of Ekitike's arms crossed celebration.
The Brazil striker had earned that moment of fortune by being a thorn in Liverpool's side all game and it's a role he has enjoyed throughout his time in England. No other opposition player has been involved in as many goals against the Reds than Richarlison's six goals and three assists.
He is also the only player in the Premier League era to have scored two goals at Anfield in the 90th minute as a visitor.
This latest strike was his 100th goal involvement in the Premier League, with 73 goals and 27 assists to his name. Roberto Firmino (132) and Gabriel Jesus (118) are the only other Brazilians to provide more.
The strike pairing of Richarlison and Solanke looks to be the way forward for Spurs to ensure they keep getting shots on goal and it was the Brazilian who was the hero on the day.
"Richy was great," said Spence. "He's scored a lot of goals for us this season like that. He's brought us back in a lot of games, so we're happy with him and he's a great player."
On what that goal felt like for the squad, the full-back responded: "Happiness, relief. It's massive for us. We need to get as many points as we can."
football.london asked Tudor if that can be the moment that launches Spurs back on an upward trajectory.
"Yeah, we hope, you know. It's a long way to our goal, which is to stay in the Premier League, still a lot of games to play, but today was important to show what they showed, independent of the result," he said.
"When you are honest, you need to be honest, give everything, then the football will give you back.
"Those were my words before the game, so this happened today. It was not easy, and now we need to see what to do in these two games, in front of us, to see who is able to play, who is not able to play, who is injured, who is not injured, so it's not easy.
"We continue to have problems from that point of view, the numbers, but that's why this result is even more important."
There was still time for that Premier League debut for Callum Olusesi, with 20 minutes to his name, and a busier than expected final minute or so for James Rowswell. Both 19-year-olds acquitted themselves well.
Olusesi was confident and assured with all of his nine touches, the same amount as Souza had in just under an hour. Both had 100% pass success, the midfielder with eight passes and the Brazilian with his three.
Rowswell probably expected that he was going to come on just as the referee blew the whistle. Instead Liverpool had one last break up the pitch and the big teenager played a big part in holding them up before Dragusin got in that block.
"It's all I've been working on, everything's been leading up to this moment and I'm just so grateful and so happy for it to come around," said a beaming Rowswell. "Definitely a proud moment for me and my family. I'm just very grateful for this opportunity to come around."
Olusesi added: "It's great. I'm happy for James as well. Obviously, I've seen the hard work he's put in training every day. Now that his time has come, I'm happy for him. It shows the academy that there is a chance if you keep working hard and believe in it."
At the final whistle, the Spurs players and the travelling supporters acknowledged each other for a moment. The fans had been noisy throughout and the squad, shorn of Romero, Van de Ven, Palhinha and a remarkable list of 10 others, had earned their respect.
Tudor applauded the supporters as well but hang back slightly in order to let the players have their moment.
The 47-year-old told football.london what it felt like to get his first Premier League point on the board.
"Nice! Some fresh air, some good things for the confidence of the players, everyone around the club and especially the fans," he said. "Good team spirit, seeing the circumstances the team was in today, coming here at Anfield with 12 [outfield] players.
"So this is something big. We stayed in the game, we believed, I felt that we could score the goal, the players also felt it, so, ok, it's nice."
Tudor needed a performance from his team that showed togetherness and he needed to show that he could arrest the slump in front of the watching CEO Vinai Venkatesham and owner Vivienne Lewis.
On a weekend when West Ham, Nottingham Forest and Leeds all grabbed a point apiece, nobody expected Spurs to also take one home from Anfield but they did. It could end up being a vital one when it comes down to it, but only if it is the spark that lights the torch.
Wednesday night brings the Champions League second leg against Atletico Madrid but only at Spurs could that pale into insignificance to Sunday's Premier League game against Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
A victory would provide an important cushion between them and their visitors while West Ham travel to a Villa side desperately needing to get back on track in the top four chase after being given a help in that by Spurs' point at Anfield.
Leeds host a Brentford side chasing European football and Tottenham must take advantage of the fact that they face Forest and Leeds at home in the weeks ahead while travelling to Wolves and Sunderland. None of them are easy games but Spurs must build on this result.
Tudor just wants to look forward now after a week in which everyone thought Spurs would do the same at his expense.
Yet he came out fighting both in the dugout and out of it. His press conference and interview style is unpredictable. He can go any which way he chooses and you know when he has decided enough is enough.
His interview with Sky Sports showed his exasperation with questions about his future and in his press conference afterwards he played down that topic. The Croatian finds it irritating that he should answer questions about his future even after a positive performance.
"The job of a coach, you know how it is, I am coaching 15 years, never was I thinking one second about my future, one second even," he said.
"I never think about my future, my past, I always think about training tomorrow, how to help the players. I don't read anything, don't watch anything, the future is just imagination, the future doesn't exist.
"It's a constant thing, of today, of tomorrow, training, so I don't lose energy thinking what will happen. It doesn't give you anything, never, this job in football, in life, nothing, just focus on now, here, that's the key, for the players even, you can get away from the fever in this way.
"What are they thinking, what will happen, brings you in a state of mind which gives you nothing, so stay in the now, be focused on what you can change, that's what every coach is doing."
Tudor did not lose focus. He and his Tottenham side fought at Anfield rather than crumbled and cried at the mess around them.
The Croatian called it "a good start" and that's exactly what it is. This is just the beginning as eight huge battles lie ahead.
