The Toffees underwent a period of change in the summer with Ronald Koeman bringing in quite a few new players and shipping out a lot of existing Blues.  Such a massive churning of players was never going to gel a team together straight away and so it proved, with the Dutchman only lasting nine league games before being given no more time.  Having beaten Koeman's side 3-0 at Goodison Park, early in the season, the new boss will make sure that they are not as open as on 9th September.  Since then, they have lost Kevin Mirallis and Ross Barkley, but have gained Besiktas striker Cenk Tosun, who was lined with Spurs for a while recently. 

There may be issues at the back for Everton, with Funes Mori, Keane and Baines all missing, but Phil Jagielka proved himself still fit as ever, after leading a break out from a Liverpool corner to set up Gylfi Sigurdsson's goal and Ashley Williams is there, but he hasn't played well this season.  Cuco Martina is good going forward, but is yet to prove his worth defensively, with talented prospect Mason Holgate getting a run of games, as is another youngster Jonjoe Kenny.  Midfielder Beni Baningime has also been given some playing time by Allardyce, but Ademola Lookman, the forward they signed from Charlton Athletic, has been one who hasn't been playing.  Quick and a good finisher, it is a bit of a surprise, as they don't score a lot of goals since Romelu Lukaku left and wasn't replaced.  Sandro Ramirez (another Spurs target of the past) hasn't adapted fully to the Premier League and Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored a few, but not as many as Everton would have hoped for.

It is good to see Aaron Lennon playing again after his mental health issues earlier in the season and with former Palace man Yannick Bolasie being given a start these days after his serious injury, there is speed in the side, but others, such as Rooney, Sandro and McCarthy lack the pace to keep up with them and newcomer Dominic Calvert-Lewin has been given a leading role in the attack. 

The midfield is solid  rather than spectacular.  Gueye, Schneiderlin, McCarthy, Klaassen, Besic and Davies are all similar players, with little creativity to supply the front men.  Rooney has also dropped back into the midfield, lacking the pace, but sometimes being able to pick out a killer pass.  The manager is said to be looking at Theo Walcott as the player to unlock defences for his team..

Spurs will still be without Toby at the back, but Davinson Sanchez is proving a capable deputy, while Danny Rose's absence has been covered by Ben Davies and Harry Winks' injury coincided with Victor Wanyama's return, so perhaps the depth of the squad is paying off now.  I think Pochettino would like to make a couple more signings during the transfer window, with some of our existing players being signed up on new deals to ensure some continuity to the project.

With Lamela back too, there is competition for starting places again, but expect a strong starting XI with Eriksen, Dele and Son, with Kane ahead of them.  The key to the game will be penetrating the midfield, which I expect to be packed to make forward movement difficult.  Hard work and a good passing tempo would stretch Everton and with the heart of their back four not always a disciplined as it should be, it should allow Tottenham to find a way through, although they might not have it all their own way.
 

TV
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TalkSport (DAB or 2nd89 MW)

24  Serge AURIER
  5  Jan VERTONGHEN
  6  Davinson SANCHEZ
33  Ben DAVIES

15  Eric DIER  (12  Victor WANYAMA  74)
19  Mousa DEMBELE  (17  Moussa SISSOKO  82)

  7  Heung-Min SON 
20  DELE Alli
23  Christian ERIKSEN    (11  Erik LAMELA  87)

10  Harry KANE   

Unused subs: 
13  Michel VORM
  2  Kieran TRIPPIER
37  Kyle WALKER-PETERS
18  Fernando LLORENTE

30  Mason HOLGATE
  6  Phil JAGIELKA (c)     
43  Jonjoe KENNY
15  Cuco MARTINA

16  James McCARTHY  (  2  Morgan SCHNEIDERLIN  72)
18  Gylfi SIGURDSSON
17  Idrissa GUEYE
  7  Yannick BOLASIE  (12  Aaron LENNON  57)

10  Wayne ROONEY     

14  Cenk TOSUN  (29  Dominic CALVERT-LEWIN  62)

Unused subs: 
33  Joel ROBLES
  5  Ashley WILLIAMS
19  Oumar NIASSE
31  Ademola LOOKMAN
 

Tottenham strode comfortably to a 4-0 home win over Everton, recoding their biggest win over the Toffees since Bill Nicholson's 10-4 victory in his first match in charge of the team in 1958.  It could easily have been double figures with a better final ball and with Jordan Pickford not being in goal, but the win takes Spurs into fifth place, with a tough month to come and the importance of points in the bag were not lost on the team as they put in a very good display to blow Everton away.

New signing Cenk Tosun was tossed in by Sam Allardyce to make his Everton debut, while Pochettino reinstated most of the Spurs stars after the FA Cup tie allowed him to rest some of them.  Refreshed from their break, they set about Everton from the kick off.

An early Ben Davies corner was heading for Harry Kane’s head until Jagielka got a touch on it and Spurs were getting the rough end of Pawson’s early decisions, with Everton going through with their tackles and nothing being given. While Aurier was getting space on the right, the ball failed to reach the penalty area quickly enough for chances to be created. When Spurs did get a ball over, Dele had pushed him a little wide and the cross cleared everyone. Gueye fouled Dele with a crass tackle, giving a free kick on the left corner of the box and Christian whipped it in and Son rose to glance the ball off the top of his head, but it went just over the bar. From the goal-kick, Everton’s route one approach came off Tosun to Rooney to shoot, but he dragged it wide. I don’t know if Tosun was trying to put himself about to prove he was worth his price tag, but he was constantly fouling, while not being punished for it and conversely, most Spurs tackles ended up as Everton free-kicks.

Tottenham’s failure to defend set-pieces almost came to the fore again, with Tosun winning a corner in the air and Rooney heading it in from close range, but he was offside, despite his wagging finger at the linesman. Spurs hit back with Dembele setting up Kane and Pickford beat his shot out, before hitting a left foot shot straight at the England keeper. It was Harry again testing the keeper when Dele played the ball in to him with his back to goal and players around him, but the effort lacked power and it was a simple stop for Pickford.

Spurs found Aurier in lots of space on the right with a fine cross-field pass by Eriksen, but he shot across goal rather than at it and Son had read it and tucked the ball away from a couple of yards out to put Tottenham ahead. A fifth consecutive goal in a home match for Spurs showed how confident Heung-Min is at the moment.

Everton were again winning some free-kicks and in one move outnumbered Spurs as they went forward, but it ended up with Tosun heading weakly high over the bar. Everton started to press a bit higher up the pitch and Spurs were failing to keep hold of the ball, not helped by the referee allowing tackles, like Gueye’s going through Son from behind. It was totally inconsistent officiating by the referee as offences were not being dealt with the same way.  Jagielka was booked for a nothing foul, but the free-kick was wasted as the game ended after an added minute with another foul by Tosun.

At the start of the second half, Sanchez brought the ball out at the back and Dier’s forward ball saw Kenny sell himself letting Son get away on the left and he drove a shot from inside the box across Pickford, but Kane nicked it past the keeper, who went for the offside appeal rather than the ball and it was 2-0. Another Harry goal, which was close to being offside, but the linesman wasn’t up with play so wasn’t looking along the line.

Rooney tried a snapshot that went way off target, then, after being kicked in the face by Tosun in the first half, Jan got an elbow in the face by Holgate. Son and Dele linked for a chance for Alli, but he just couldn’t squeeze it in at the near post and hit the side-netting, as he came in from the left.  When Gueye gave the ball to Kane, he moved forward and hit a low shot that skipped off the turf in front of Pickford, who had to beat it out again.

Kane showed once more that he is about more than just goals, when he hit a pass from the left over the left back’s head and Son got it, coming inside and unleashing a left foot shot that beat {Pickford, but bounced back out off the right hand post. Then Spurs built another move that saw Dele dribble into the box and when it looked like he might shoot, the ball just got away from him.

Eric Dier played a great ball in and from the right, low into the six yard box and with Everton defenders sleeping, Kane nipped between two of them to get a touch on the ball. It was scuffed into the ground and bounced over the diving Pickford to make it 3-0. With it came the Premier League scoring record for Spurs and another clinical performance by H. Kane.

With the game lost, Allardyce took off Tosun, but with Rooney pushed higher up, it left space in midfield for Spurs to work the ball forward. McCarthy showed ignorance by pushing Dele over right in front of the linesman and a free-kick brought Pickford out to punch clear. Aurier was getting in on the right, but couldn’t pick out a white shirt in the box, although he did enough to put off Calvert-Lewin as he looked to get on the end of Rooney’s dinked pass in the box. Rooney’s next involvement was a kick at Jan’s ankles that earned him a yellow card. Like his former team-mate, Ryan Giggs, when frustrated they revert to fouls that are borne out of their lack of pace.

Tottenham should have had a fourth, when Wanyama picked out Son and his shot was blocked and it came out to Dele, who looked odds on to put it into the net, but he drove it straight into Pickford’s stomach.

The fourth did come in the 81st minute. Worked from the back, Serge knocked it inside and Kane played the ball back to him and he stretched to poke the ball inside to Son. He passed to Dele in the box and he slid it off the side of his foot to Eriksen behind him, who buried it first time past the keeper to make it 4-0. It was a delicious goal and one that showed Spurs game management, with Everton barely having a chance worthy of mention in the game.

Although Everton weren’t any good, Spurs made them look less than ordinary. Their movement constantly pulled players out of position, allowing space for others to work in. The passing was crisp and there was not a moment in the game when Spurs players didn’t close down, with no player playing poorly, as they took the Toffees to the cleaners. The away side’s tactic seemed to be to kick it as long and as hard as they could, so the Allardyce style led them down the wrong road giving a night off to Hugo Lloris.

Jan was great at the back, sure-footed and dominating the Everton attack, despite the constant attacks on him. Dier was massive in midfield and Mousa had a welcome return to form, strong and playing some perceptive passes. Kane did what he does with unerring regularity and Son caused all sorts of problems with his running and his use of the ball. Ben and Davinson were very good and Christian Eriksen’s passing and demanding of the ball was pivotal to the moves that Spurs put together. Serge surged forward and with a bit of an improved final ball, there could have been even more opportunities for the forwards. And Dele has been slaughtered by the media this season, but apart from assisting in Eriksen’s goal, he was involved in others and was found heading corners out in his own box. He may not be the star this season, but he is putting in a shift for the team.

Winning took Spurs level with Liverpool but behind on goals scored. The four will help that aspect of our record, but Liverpool’s spare game is tomorrow against Manchester City, so we will see how that goes. All we can do is keep playing our way and get our results, as we can’t control other team’s results, just like the last two seasons.

This was a fine performance and the way Tottenham coped with the physical approach Everton applied was impressive and that “dogs of war” idea mars a game, but in pure footballing terms, the two teams were in different galaxies and Spurs took the bounty of three points. And to that extent, Spurs made Everton look as useful as a chocolate tea pot.

Tony Carpenter