Thomas Frank took the start of the first season in the Premier League as a head coach of Tottenham Hotspur, with Richarlison marking twice in a 3-0 convincing victory against the new arrivals Burnley.
Martin Dubravka de Burnley became the first goalkeeper of the Premier League to be penalized under new rules to keep the ball for eight seconds. Spurs received a corner accordingly.
Tottenham took the lead in the 10th minute when Mohammed Kudus crossed the right and the ball bounced once before Richarlison run it in the lower corner of the goal of Dubravka.
Frank’s team has little threatened for the rest of the half -time, allowing Burnley to grow up in the game, but a moment of magic of Richarlison put the Spurs in control – Kudus was twisted on the right and sent a cross for the Brazilian, whose acrobatic volley left Dubravka without any chance. Brennan Johnson added a third six minutes later, before the former youth prodigy of Spurs Marcus Edwards made a strong ovation when he came as a late substitute for Burnley.
Here, AthleticsJay Harris and Elias Burke break down the main discussion points.
How did the Spurs play in the first Frank Premier League match at home?
Spurs have set up a completely different system against Burnley than the “special” that they used during the Wednesday goal of Wednesday against Paris Saint-Germain at UEFA Super Cup.
On Saturday, Frank used a training 4-2-3-1 but above all, Lucas Bergvall was the most advanced midfielder. He pressed the defense of Burnley with Richarlison in the center-forward and did some impressive driving races with the ball. In pre-season, Pape Matar Sarr tended to be the most advanced midfielder.
Archie Gray began as the deeper “No 6” midfielder and it was his work to do the dirty work so that Sarr and Bergvall can remain high. Most of Gray’s match time last season occurred in defense, so it is encouraging to see him start the new campaign in his favorite position. It was a combination of a young midfielder, but they completed perfectly. Frank’s courageous decision to start them together has borne fruit.
Lucas Bergvall impressed in a young midfielder (Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)
Spurs were a constant threat to the right through Pedro Porro and Kudus, who only played together during the summer, but they clashed well. Kudus likes to shoot with his left foot, but his two assists came with his right. This unpredictability makes it difficult to defend. When the opposition teams double on him, this creates more space so that dangerous whips in the box.
The spurs looked a little more clumsy on the left. Djed Spence and Johnson are mainly on foot, so no one stretched the ground on this side. This dynamic should improve the more they play together.
The concern before this match was that without a natural n ° 10, the Spurs would find it difficult to break Burnley, but that turned into a dream start for Frank in his first championship match in charge of the Spurs.
Jay Harris
Does Richarlison come back to his best?
If there were concerns that Richarlison was not the man to provide competition to Dominic Solanke in advance this season, the Brazilian has categorically responded with one of his best performances in a Spurs shirt.
After the release of Wednesday against PSG, where Richarlison mentioned the line very well as a taking and target man, he demonstrated his prowess of goals against Burnley. He opened the scoring with a wonderfully controlled finish in the lower corner of the goalkeeper of the Kudus cross, then linked to Ghanaian again in the second half to mark a spectacular scissor kick – a brand finish, which attracted comparisons to its objective for Brazil against Serbian during the 2022 World Cup.
Richarlison also played a role in the third goal, controlling a bouncing bullet in the middle of the park under pressure from the defenders of Burnley before Sarr took it and slipped to Johnson, who put the spurs out of sight.
The Brazilian has had a career of arrest in northern London due to injuries, but it is a real springboard for him to challenge the center-center role in the Frank team during a season of the World Cup. With creations on the port of shirt n ° 9 for Brazil next summer – as he did in Qatar three years ago – it could be the performance in small groups he needed.
Jay Harris
How did Gray start in front of Palhinha?
Joao Palhinha was one of Frank’s off -competition artists in the Super Cup on Wednesday, which made it all the more surprising since Gray started in the midfield for the opening of the League on Saturday.
Gray was solid and reliable in possession, completing 39 of his 42 attempts, offering a robust socket for the side files to release the ball at the pressure. He has also demonstrated his defensive sense several times, in particular by winning the ball in the midfield in particular and starting a counterattack which ended with an effort Richarlison at close range.
For a player who always learns the position – and has often had trouble acclimated to it a few times that he was tested in this role under a postoglou angel – it was a first outing of the stable and impressive premier under his new boss.
Having a natural ball winner like Palhinha to learn should be invaluable to Gray’s progression. Palhinha has demonstrated his ability to win the ball against the elite opposition in the Super Cup – a skill that we do not yet have to see from Gray – and having a model to imitate out of possession could be what he needs to take another step. Gray has shown glimmer of its additional quality with the ball, indicating its potential to play in this position with a defensive improvement.
And with Frank ready to give him a start in his first Premier League match, Gray seems to be in the perfect environment to continue making progress.
Elias Burke
The eight seconds of Dubravka’s story
In the third minute of the match, the goalkeeper of Burnley Dubravka claimed the Bergvall cross after a routine of reversal of the Spurs.
The 36 -year -old man was then caught up in one of the new rules that was introduced by the Premier League for this season. Dubravka held out on the ball, in the frantically search for a free teammate to pass, but they were all marked. After waiting for eight seconds, referee Michael Oliver then whistled.
Everyone in the ground was slightly confused when the Spurs passed to take a corner, but it is the punishment for the teams if their goalkeeper takes too long to play the ball.
Dubravka is the first premier player penalized for the rule of eight seconds (Ben Stansall / AFP via Getty Images)
For the rest of the game, fans of the Spurs took great pleasure in making fun of Dubravka every time he had the ball in his hands. Oliver raised his hand in the air and had eight to report to Dubravka how long he had left.
It looks like each season, the Premier League presents a new strange rule that no one asked and is then quickly forgotten after a few weeks. Let’s see how long it lasts it.
Jay Harris
What did Frank say?
We will bring you this after talking at the post-match press conference.
What is the following for the Spurs?
Saturday August 23: Manchester City (Away), Premier League, 12:30 p.m. United Kingdom, 7:30 am he
