Tottenham's superpower under Ange Postecoglou is also a weakness that brings back Conte memories
Tottenham Hotspur are hitting their stride under Ange Postecoglou with nine wins from their past 11 matches but one aspect of their results is both a strength and a weakness.
Spurs completed a good couple of days by following up the Carabao Cup victory against Manchester City with a 4-1 win against Aston Villa in the Premier League. Two goals from Dominic Solanke, in between strikes from Brennan Johnson and James Maddison, cancelled out Morgan Rogers' first half goal for the visitors.
Postecoglou's team are the top scorers in the Premier League and that ability to put the ball in the net instils a belief in the north London side even when they concede. Tottenham have now scored 32 goals across 15 matches in all competitions, with only two sides managing to keep them at bay this season.
With that turnaround on Sunday, Spurs equalled the Premier League record for home wins when conceding first in a single year with what was their eighth comeback. In total, they have claimed 24 points at home from losing positions in 2024, 10 more than the second-placed team in that stat - Manchester City.
In contrast to the 'Spursy' tag, it actually shows that the north London outfit have more fight and spirit than most and a never-say-die attitude that has helped them claw back the points on more occasions than anyone else this year.
Their fitness also shows in the second halves of matches. Despite Villa having changed almost all of their team from their defeat to Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, Postecoglou made just three changes to face Emery's side from the one that took on and beat City in a draining match on Wednesday night.
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However, Spurs had the energy on Sunday. Their constant pressing ensured they won the ball back 11 times in the final third while Villa could not even manage it a single time during the encounter at the other end of the pitch.
In all the home side ran a combined 110.5km to Villa's 104.4km despite their extra midweek exertions.
The problem though is that conceding first is also clearly a weakness. It was one that plagued former Tottenham boss Antonio Conte during his spell in charge during a pattern of poor first half performances.
There were comebacks under the Italian but there's only so many times you can gift the opposition the lead before it comes back to bite you again and again in the end.
Postecoglou did not have any qualms about the way Sunday's game played out even if he was disappointed with the goal.
"You're playing a top team and you know with Villa that they're always going to have a really strong performance because they're very, very consistent. They rarely have off days and you've got to be ready for that," said the Australian.
"I thought we had to match it with them in the first half. We had to draw on their energy and make them work really hard. Obviously we conceded a goal, but I still felt like we made them work really hard in that first half.
"And, you know, the thing with us is we've got another gear in us, two or three gears and we keep going and we felt like we could really break them open in the second half if we just really stayed focused on making sure the football was up tempo and there was intensity in the game and credit to the players after a massive effort on Wednesday night, at least they know that physically they did it again."
Tottenham's defending has improved this season. Villa's opener on Sunday was only the second set piece goal Spurs have conceded this season in the Premier League and only three teams have conceded fewer than them in the competition this term.
However, that defence wants cleans sheets to show for all of their efforts and it's a simple thing to say but if the other team cannot score, they cannot win.
Tottenham want to score goals aplenty but as the match at Selhurst Park proved recently, it's not a given.
You can run a marathon without kicking yourself in the foot first and while Spurs' spirit is admirable, the comebacks shouldn't need to be a weekly occurrence.
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