The Irish Times

If Arsenal do go on to win the Premier League title then Declan Rice should probably win Player of the Year. If it’s Manchester City, then it will be hard to look past Erling Haaland.

Haaland, though, will probably finish out the season without experiencing the misery Rice must have suffered in the middle part of this north London derby on Sunday.

In the build-up to the game, Rice had done an interview with Sky where he spoke of his admiration for Steven Gerrard. Rather trying to specialise in any one area of midfield play, Rice aims to become the best all-round midfielder in the game, as Gerrard was for a few years.

Yet in this high-pressure derby, Rice looked to have re-enacted Gerrard’s worst moment. When Eberechi Eze lashed in Arsenal’s first against Tottenham, the Arsenal players formed a joyful huddle, which was quickly taken over by Rice, who appeared keen to make sure his team-mates’ minds were quickly back on the job.

In the last two league matches, against Brentford and Wolves, Arsenal had conceded within minutes of scoring. This was the theme of the impromptu team-talk Rice now delivered, re-emphasising the message by pointing repeatedly to his temples are he urged the Arsenal players to focus. “This does not slip!” as someone once said.

Fate callously decreed that Rice would give away the equaliser within 24 seconds of the restart, his poorly judged attempt to dribble in the right-back position gifting the ball to Randal Kolo Muani who ran into the box and slammed it past David Raya.

When Gerrard’s slip let Demba Ba in to score towards the end of that 2014 title race, he spent the rest of the match trying to redeem his mistake with a series of wild shots from increasingly outlandish positions.

Rice is nearly seven years younger than Gerrard was that day, but his reaction to his own error was more mature. He focused on the simple stuff, winning his battles, dominating the centre and trusting his team-mates to come up with the goals Arsenal needed.

Two of those goals came from an unexpected source. Viktor Gyökeres’ first season in the Premier League has not been a success. You could dress it up and say that in all competitions, he has 15 goals and two assists in a little under 26 matches worth of playing time.

You could also say he’s only scored in seven of 26 league appearances, and that he has managed only one goal and three shots on target against the other sides currently in the top half.

The fact is Gyökeres looks short of the required standard, not fast or powerful enough in the Premier League context to compensate for his technical limitations.

The main effect of his signing has been to massively enhance the centre-forward reputation of the persistently injured Kai Havertz.

But if Gyökeres got to play against Radu Dragusin every week then he would be rivalling Rice in the Player of the Year stakes. In the first half he had fired a dangerous-looking shot past the far post after cutting inside Dragusin. This was the kind of thing he did every game in Portugal and has hardly produced in the Premier League.

At the start of the second half Spurs gave Gyökeres five yards of space to control and hit a shot from 20 yards. He buried it past Vicario. His second goal of the game made it 4-1 and came after he shrugged aside Archie Gray on a run down the inside-left channel: Primeira Liga Gyökeres in full flow, as Arsenal charged to their biggest away win at Tottenham since 1978.

Probably only Spurs can make Gyökeres look this good. Many home fans flooded from the stadium, others stayed on to abuse a team that now looks at serious risk of relegation.

This is a club where the accumulated mistakes of several years are starting to tell. Maybe the moment it all went wrong was not parting company with Mauricio Pochettino after the defeat in the 2019 Champions League final.

The relationship had obviously broken down, but Spurs and Pochettino hung on like a 1970s married couple who think having another kid (Tanguy Ndombele) is going to save the marriage.

When Pochettino inevitably left a few months later, Spurs made a drastically unsuitable appointment in José Mourinho, who not only favours a completely different style of football from Pochettino, but doesn’t like using young players – an unfortunate trait for the coach of a club whose model at that time was based on buying and building young players.

Next came Antonio Conte, who, after rebelling at the financial restrictions imposed by owners such as the Agnelli family and Roman Abramovich, was never going to last long working with Daniel Levy.

Throughout this time Harry Kane kept scoring 30 goals a season to disguise the wider institutional decay, but he departed as Spurs embraced another radical change of direction in the form of Ange Postecoglou.

The Australian would at least play young players, but his inability to organise a Premier League defence nearly got the club relegated last season.

Spurs replaced him with Thomas Frank, who it turned out had no idea how to organise an attack, especially one where the five top scorers from last season – Brennan Johnson, Dominic Solanke, James Maddison, Son-Heung Min and Dejan Kulusevski – were either sold or suffered long-term injuries.

Now comes Igor Tudor, the “fixer” who hardly ever manages a full season in the same place. It appears he has arrived at Spurs on the recommendation of a sporting director who no longer works at the club.

“These are good players, with bad habits,” Tudor said after the game. You feel this team will soon knock that optimism out of him.

In an interview on the Overlap last week, Postecoglou made the point that Spurs are not a “big club” – in that they don’t take the financial risks other members of the so-called big six are prepared to take to secure the kind of players who can keep you up at the top of the Premier League.

The irony is that in financial terms, Spurs’s place as one of the big six has never been so secure. Deloitte reported Spurs’ income in the 24-25 season at €672 million, placing them fifth in the Premier League (ahead of Chelsea), and 11th in the world.

They made 2½ times as much money as their current relegation rivals West Ham, and more than three times as much as Nottingham Forest, Burnley or Wolves.

This season their income will most likely surpass Manchester United’s, due to participating in the Champions League and playing more home games.

Sports Briefing

Latest news from the world of sport, along with the best in opinion from our outstanding team of sports writers

Premier League: Manchester City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 [Johnson 35; Joao Palhinha 45+2]

How to rally Tottenham after the Eberechi Eze farrago: turn up at Manchester City and mastermind a dominant 2-0 triumph that takes your side to the top of the Premier League, for a few hours at least.

Spurs missed a number of chances but were far more cut-throat than their hosts, as Brennan Johnson and João Palhina’s first-half goals took them back to north London with the points.

City were just not allowed to enjoy any rhythm. Instead they were a discordant bunch who kept finding a Spurs player rushing up to undermine their composure.

Towards the end, Jérémy Doku wriggled through and found Phil Foden but Micky van de Ven chopped the ball away. Moments after Bernardo Silva, at a tight angle, headed on to the roof of the net.

“Good vibes” was Guardiola’s description of the mood as City hoped to banish the spectre of last November’s 4-0 humiliation here by Spurs, though an ill augury came early in a Rico Lewis-James Trafford mix-up. Hesitation between the right back and the new goalkeeper, preferred to Ederson, allowed Richarlison to pounce. While City escaped, Trafford’s performance was one to watch.

Before this Pedro Porro committed a howler for the visitors: the right back’s header back for Guglielmo Vicario was weak, Oscar Marmoush took over and shot, but the Spurs goalkeeper saved.

Marmoush was fashioned another opening when Erling Haaland lit up the contest with a bulldozing run that splayed those in black. After a lucky ricochet when challenged, the centre forward slipped in the Egyptian: he took a glance and unloaded but Vicario repelled.

Guardiola always enthuses about Frank’s managerial smarts and 35 minutes in the Dane showed how he already has Spurs drilled. Along the right Mohammed Kudus outfoxed Rúben Dias and put Richarlison through. The Brazilian ran forward, squared for Johnson, and the Welsh international beat Trafford: the shot was close to the goalkeeper but was hit hard so may claim mitigation if Guardiola scolds him about it.

The flag went up but the semi-automatic offside technology showed Richarlison had been onside. The goal stood, and Spurs’ celebrations were soon to double.

Now, Trafford’s shakiness came home to roost. The goalkeeper dawdled when playing out from his goal, finally plumping for Nico González. He did not want it delivered close to his penalty spot anyway but Trafford passed only to Pape Matar Sarr, the ball went to Richarlison. He tried to shoot but failed, though the excellent Palhina did, driving the ball home on his full debut.

City were a mess and Guardiola’s decision to choose Trafford over Ederson cast as quaint, however the Brazilian views his future (he may leave for Galatasaray) – he is still an employee, after all.

The disarray of those in blue was summed up by two moments at the other end. Attack is supposed to be their forte. But first Rayan Cherki aped a pub player by hitting the first defender from a corner; then Haaland headed the same player’s delivery to the heavens with Vicario’s goal gaping.

City’s backline had been disrupted by the 23rd-minute injury to Rayan Aït-Nouri but he was replaced by Nathan Aké, a treble-winner, so this offered no mitigation for the first-half horror show.

The next time Trafford took the ball with Spurs at close quarters he coolly (and advisedly) launched a 50-yard pass for Marmoush, but the wide man slipped and Guardiola spun away in disgust. The reaction showed how bitty his side’s patterns were. At play in Spurs’ ascendancy was City’s greater ball share (60-40) not transmitting into the relentless pass-and-move of their finest years.

Instead of fluency, Guardiola’s men hoped to prosper on scraps and moments. One came when Vicario did an unwitting impression of Trafford: the goalkeeper passed sideways and near goal to Van de Ven, who must have cursed the Italian as he had Oscar Bobb for company. The Norwegian pilfered possession and tapped to Haaland, who passed to Cherki; at close-range the Frenchman went to pull the trigger but Palhinha, Spurs’ star act, snuffed out the danger.

Guardiola began the day with no Foden, Rodri, Silva, Doku and Ederson (all substitutes), plus Manuel Akanji (left out completely for tactical reasons), yet could still field Haaland, Cherki, Marmoush, Tijjani Reijnders, and Bobb.

In the 74th-minute Foden and Rodri wandered on – the Spaniard for his first action since being injured in City’s 4-3 Al-Hilal Club World Cup knock-out in early July.

Instantly, Rodri leapt to meet a corner and headed only into Vicario’s gloves.

It was towards the end of June when it became clear that Tottenham were considering a move for Eberechi Eze, one to install him as the centrepiece of their new project under Thomas Frank. Or, at least, when it became public knowledge. And it was the prompt for two things to happen.

Firstly, it would be reported a few days later that Arsenal were also on the case. The club’s new sporting director, Andrea Berta, had put the feelers out for the Crystal Palace forward. Call it a declaration of interest, albeit Berta was having a lot of conversations about a lot of potential targets at the time. His idea was to have plenty of options on the boil before deciding which to prioritise.

Then, there was a subtle change to the mood music at Spurs, a kind of step back into a holding pattern. Agent talk, was the word inside the club. Eze was more likely to stay at Palace. It would be wrong to get too far ahead of anything on this one. But it was impossible to ignore the alternative reading: Spurs did not want to be drawn into a battle with their rivals over one of the most exciting talents on the market.

Spurs were fearful of that, and for good reason. They had to know that, given the choice, Eze would go for Arsenal over them. There were the emotional reasons. He had supported Arsenal as a kid and played in their academy until his release as a 13-year-old; the line about how he cried for a week after is a well-known part of his story. Yet it would not only be about dreams and unfinished business. Eze would surely look at the Premier League table from last season. At which club would he stand the better chance of winning the title?

At this point it is worth introducing Mikel Arteta, who let it be known just how highly he rated Eze and how perfectly he would fit into his team. Eze’s head was turned. So Spurs entered territory in which the reward was tantalising, almost irresistible, but the risk was extreme. It was as if they were shadow boxing with Arsenal, their every move over Eze likely to come right back at them. Arsenal were a devil on their shoulder; watching, waiting.

Spurs would pivot to Morgan Gibbs-White in July only to run into the immovable object that is Evangelos Marinakis. No deal, the Nottingham Forest owner said. There would be a new one for Gibbs-White at Forest and, sadly for Spurs, egg on their face after they believed they would be able to exploit a £60 million release clause in his old contract.

The Gibbs-White episode has been a climate-shaper in Spurs’s summer and then there was the moment when James Maddison ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the preseason game against Newcastle on August 3rd; a shattering blow for him and his team.

Dejan Kulusevski, the club’s other key central attacking midfielder, underwent knee surgery in May and is out until around the turn of the year, so the need to act in the market was obvious and urgent. Why not move straight away for Eze; give him and Palace a decision to make by meeting the £68 million release clause in his deal, which was in place until August 15th?

Spurs’s hesitation was to do with the fact they considered the number to be too high for a 27-year-old with 12 England caps and no experience of European football at club level. It is not the only detail in terms of optics that has hurt them as Arsenal prepare to pay pretty much that amount to take Eze to the Emirates, with Spurs themselves having ended up ready to do likewise.

There has been the idea that Spurs had a clear run at Eze because Arsenal, after spending around £200 million on six other signings, would need to raise money via sales before they could make a bid. Well, they have sold nobody and still pushed the button. Unless Arsenal have a sale or two lined up, could it be that they have more financial headroom than they have let on?

It is easy to pick over the curiosities. Eze is represented by CAA Base, the influential firm of agents who have close links to Spurs. Should that have given Spurs an edge? It must be said that Base will always put the wishes of their players first. And why did it seemingly take Kai Havertz feeling a knee injury after Sunday’s win at Manchester United for Arsenal to move on Eze? There are similarities in the profile of both players but there is a fundamental difference: Havertz can play as a number 9, Eze cannot. With Gabriel Jesus a long-term injury casualty, the loss of Havertz ought to have seen Arsenal look for a number 9 to provide support for the new signing, Viktor Gyökeres. Not take Eze.

The reality is that Spurs were never going to win this fight. We will never know what would have happened if they had offered to pay Eze’s release clause. But it feels fair to assume that it would have led Arsenal into following suit. Spurs eventually reached an agreement with Palace on Wednesday and they believed they had one with Eze, too.

If Arsenal were not an option, Eze would have joined Spurs. At this stage of his career, after giving everything for Palace across five seasons, he is ready for a change; the chance to play in the Champions League. But Arsenal were an option; they never went away. It took them a matter of hours to slide in for the steal. The bad news for Spurs is that the very thing they feared has come to pass. The memes are out, an Eze mural has appeared in the tunnel outside the Emirates and the time is tighter to provide Frank with a new number 10.

Have Spurs built on the momentum of their Europa League triumph from last season? They have added João Paulinha and Mohammed Kudus for the starting XI, while it was a tonic to tie the new captain, Cristian Romero, to a long-term contract. But when their supporters look around, they see that Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal have spent £200 million or significantly upwards on signings. Manchester City, meanwhile, have invested £150 million.

The mood at Tottenham is back to being edgy. Arsenal have made a statement of intent. – Guardian

The mood of Spurs’ fans would, you’d imagine, have picked up a bit after Saturday’s 3-0 win over Burnley, but they’ve been less than content with the club’s work on the transfer market during the summer, especially after losing their captain Son Heung-min to Los Angeles FC and James Maddison being ruled out for most or all of the season through injury.

So when the club started a tweet with “we are delighted to announce ...”, little wonder that said fans got excited. Except? They were announcing a partnership with premium pet food brand Frontier Pets which would become it’s “Official Pre-Season Tour Sleeve Partner” and “Official Partner of our groundbreaking Supporters’ Club for dog-owners, Tottenham Hotspaw”.

Alas, we can’t repeat the gist of most of the replies from deflated supporters, most of them a bit obscene. There was one, though, from a West Ham fan by the name of ‘Big Dave’: “Well it was never gonna be Winalot, was it?” Unkind.

Quote

“I really like him. He churns the games out, reads the game really well. He’s got a physique that makes him look like SpongeBob, but I think he’s a real talent.” Stuart Pearce on his admiration for Nottingham Forest defender SquarePants Murillo.

That’s how many million Euros Liverpool have spent in the transfer window, making them the biggest spenders in world football this summer. And that’s before they nail down Alexander Isak and Marc Guehi.

Word of Mouth

“I’m going to stop after this stage with City because I need to focus on myself. I want to watch the cows go by when the train goes by. My grandfather used to say, ‘you look at me like cows watch the train go by’.” Pep Guardiola on career breaks and cow-watching.

“He’s a decent player, nothing more. He’s no Marco van Basten.” Arrigo Sacchi tries to contain his excitement over AC Milan’s interest in Rasmus Hojlund.

“In medical terms, the operation succeeded but the patient died, so not that good in the end.” Thomas Frank on Spurs giving up a two-goal lead with five minutes to go against PSG in the Super Cup, before being laid to rest in the penalty shoot-out.

United fan sets up GoFundMe to try to send Baleba

It’s always touching to see supporters try to help out their clubs when they’re in desperate financial need, and another such example arose last week when a man who identified himself only as ‘Ian M’ set up a GoFundMe page to help his club buy a very badly needed midfielder.

“We need this to happen we need this to happen we need this to happen we need this to happen,” was all Ian wrote.

His target figure is £120 million (€139m), but unfortunately he’s only raised £506 so far. All of which means, Manchester United have to find another £119,999,494 to buy Brighton’s Carlos Baleba. Just Google ‘Baleba to Man Utd fund’ and donate what you can.

More Word of Mouth

“Saudi Arabia is a country where there’s no alcohol, there’s no nightlife. There are no distractions. He only has one option: to play and rest and be with friends and family.” Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus confident that new signing Joao Felix will focus on his football, seeing as he’ll have nothing else to be doing in Riyadh.

“Italy continues to be an elephant’s graveyard – before it was [Cristiano] Ronaldo and [Franck Ribery], now it’s De Bruyne and Modric.” Paolo Di Canio suggesting that Kev (Napoli) and Luka (AC Milan) are over the hill.