For any team to lose their best player is a blow. Toby Alderweireld may not grab the headlines akin to teammate Harry Kane, but when fit, the centre-back is arguably the first name on the team sheet for Tottenham. That being said, Alderweireld hasn’t feature for Mauricio Pochettino’s side since the 1-1 draw with West Brom earlier this year, a match he was stretchered off in with a knee injury, and Spurs have been all the worse for it. Prior to Saturday’s welcome of Swansea, the north London outfit had shipped an average of 1.2 goals per league game without the Belgian starting compared to 0.5 with him.
His absence, though, provided Kevin Wimmer and Eric Dier a chance to consolidate a starting spot and while the pair flattered too decieve, Jan Vertonghen’s performances improved significantly during his compatriot’s timeline. The 29-year-old, who earlier this week extended his contract at White Hart Lane, was looked to as the leader in the backline when Alderweireld was ruled out with his problem and he grabbed the opportunity to further endear himself to supporters with both hands.
While there wasn’t much of an offensive threat from Swansea, with Bob Bradley’s side mustering just one shot on goal over the 90 minutes, Vertonghen minimised the impact of their attack with relative ease. Even with the second half introductions of Fernando Llorente and Borja Baston, the Belgium international was able to deal with any problems, despite Bradley altering his system during the match.
Swansea lined up in a 4-3-3 formation, with former Spurs man Gylfi Sigurdsson playing as a false nine. With Jefferson Montero and Modou Barrow operating on the flanks, the aim was to utilise the latter pairs pace out wide when Sigurdsson drops in to draw Vertonghen and Dier out of position. Spurs countered this by having Wanyama drop into defence where required and Dier often breaking rank to keep tabs on Sigurdsson.
This could have left Vertonghen isolated, particularly against Barrow, but the Spurs man ensured little went past him, both when Swansea aimed to utilise the wings and as the visitors adopted a direct approach following Llorente’s introduction. Indeed, Vertonghen won more aerial duels (5) than any other player on the pitch as he nullified the Swansea attack, while his one tackle, three interceptions and eight clearances highlighted a proactive showing from the Belgian to contribute to a WhoScored rating of 7.91, his third best in a Premier League match this season.
Further forward, Kane and Christian Eriksen looked back to their best to put the Swans backline to the sword with the former, who like Vertonghen signed a new deal last week, bagging a brace. Eriksen, meanwhile, was on hand to net twice and provide an assist with the Dane earning a perfect 10 in Spurs’ 5-0 trouncing of Swansea. Eriksen created six chances overall for the hosts, which was more than the entire Swansea team combined (1). He’s now scored three goals in his last two league appearances and after a stuttering start to the campaign, the creative midfielder looks to be returning to top form just in time for the hectic festive period.
For Swansea, though, this was a steep learning curve. The defeat means they have conceded more goals (31) than any other Premier League team this season, while results elsewhere means they foot the table once more. “To get where we need to go, we can’t concede the number of goals we have of late. Today we weren’t good enough,” manager Bob Bradley said after the match and after back-to-back positive results, Saturday’s trouncing at White Hart Lane felt like they had taken two steps backwards after one step forward.
Next week, Swansea welcome Sunderland to the Liberty Stadium in what is a must-win for both teams, despite only 14 games having been played. With matches set to come thick and fast over the coming weeks, the south Wales side need an immediate response to today’s set back, much like Spurs, whose resounding victory was just their second in their last 12 competitive fixtures. Importantly, though, was that Spurs gave an immediate response after their unbeaten start to the season came to an end at Chelsea last week.
