New season, new manager, new style of playing.

Tottenham went to the Etihad Stadium today (August 23) and comprehensively beat Manchester City 2-0, with Brennan Johnson and João Palhinha getting on the score sheet for Tottenham.

New manager Thomas Frank is flexible in his approach to games-horses for courses. He was expected to play with three at the back like he did against PSG ten days ago, but switched it up, going with a defensive midfield set-up. 

Tottenham managed to nullify Manchester City’s strengths today and pressed effectively. The north London side was able to overrun Manchester City’s midfield.

Erling Haaland missed a sitter in the first half. Pep Guardiola’s side were unable to make headway in the second half.

This week, Tottenham were disappointed not to sign Eze from Crystal Palace, who chose to go to their bitter rival Arsenal instead. Tottenham need a creative midfield player to replace Son, and with Maddison out for most of the season, that becomes even more urgent.

Thomas Frank is right when he insists that he only wants players who are committed and want to play for Tottenham. The Eze situation may not prove as calamitous as many have proclaimed. There’s still time in the window to make a signing. 

There are some that say bring back former Tottenham playmakers, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, that they will do well under Frank.  That’s an argument for another day. 

Guardiola brought on Foden and Doku in the second half to inject more firepower, but it was to no avail.

Tottenham’s back line today, with Romero, Van de Ven, Porro and Spence, was a tight unit, playing with vigour and defiance.

Over the last five years, Tottenham have been Manchester City’s bogey team.  The Lillywhites have won six times, drawn and lost four in that period. They have won three of their last five games at the Etihad Stadium.

“We know it’s always difficult to play against City, here at Etihad, even more. The clean sheet makes me happy; it’s a big thing we’ve been working on, the defensive side of the game. Last year we had six clean sheets, so yeah, very big for me,” said Frank after the game.