Tottenham have caught the eye consistently this season with impressive goals. We look into why that is the case when they aren’t generally a high-scoring team.
Thomas Frank’s Tottenham aren’t known for goals.
It’s been a real problem since he took over last summer. Spurs’ current rate of 1.61 goals per game in all competitions is their lowest in any season since 2014-15. And given their rate back then was 1.60, there’s every chance Frank’s side could dip below it.
Tottenham have struggled to create chances under him; they don’t keep the ball very well, and, in the league, they have lost more games (nine) than they have won (seven) or drawn (eight). There hasn’t been a great deal to shout about since Frank came in, and plenty of fans have been calling for his head for a long time already.
But even if there has been a distinct lack of good football, consistency or results – yes, it’s been pretty miserable for the most part – there have been a disproportionate number of standout moments.
Spurs have scored a remarkable number of eye-catching goals this season. Some of them might stretch the definition of ‘wondergoal’ slightly, but many of them qualify without question. For a team who don’t score many goals in general, it’s a surprising quirk.
Already this season, there have been three bicycle kicks – of varying quality – plus another scissor kick. They are responsible for the goal scored from the third-longest distance from goal in the Premier League, and they scored it against the best team in the country. There have been two goals that will surely be contenders for the Puskás Award, one following the longest ball carry that preceded a goal on record in the Champions League, the other a scorpion kick last weekend.
That list, boasted about on Spurs’ social media channels this week, doesn’t even include one of the four goals they’ve had nominated for the Premier League Goal of the Month competition this season: Lucas Bergvall’s impressive header at West Ham in September.
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In a season that most fans may well end up hoping to forget quickly, there have been an awful lot of memorable moments.
So, is there an explanation for Tottenham scoring quite so many bangers?
There could well be a correlation between being not very good at football and scoring this many ‘worldies’.
Only two teams are averaging a lower expected goals (xG) value per shot in Premier League games this season than Tottenham, with their rate of 0.09 xG per shot better only than Nottingham Forest and Sunderland. In other words, they are having lower-quality chances, on average, than almost every other team in the Premier League. Low-quality chances are, by definition, more difficult to score.
And because they have lots of talented players – yes, they’re not as bad as Spurs’ league position suggests – some of those low-quality chances will go in. And it just so happens that a fair few of them have.
Richarlison’s extraordinary long-range consolation in the defeat at Arsenal was scored from 35.3 metres from goal. Only two goals have been scored from further out in the Premier League this season (Tyler Adams vs Sunderland and Harry Wilson vs Spurs).
The Brazilian’s goal came from the third of only three shots Spurs managed all afternoon at the Emirates, a moment of opportunism set up by a João Palhinha tackle rather than any particularly good teamwork. Until Burnley’s defeat to Sunderland last week, Spurs’ xG of 0.07 that day was the lowest by any team in a Premier League game this season.
Their three bicycle kicks, meanwhile, all came from set-pieces, which is an aspect of the game that has become more important across the board in the Premier League, but Spurs have excelled at in particular under Frank. Each of those three goals came from second balls or a new phase rather than the initial cross into the box and, on each occasion, the defending could be questioned.
But even so, for Palhinha’s overhead kicks against Doncaster in the EFL Cup and Bournemouth in the league, and for Cristian Romero at Newcastle, the goalscorers deserve credit for their ingenuity, athleticism and – again – opportunism.
Both Richarlison’s scissor kick against Burnley early this season and Dominic Solanke’s sensational scorpion kick against Manchester City last week came in open play after crosses from Spurs’ right side. Both – but particularly Solanke’s – were moments of incredible skill that few players could pull off. Richarlison’s was nominated for the Premier League’s Goal of the Month award for August, and Solanke’s will be a contender for the Goal of the Season gong.
However, neither would have been pre-planned. Mohammed Kudus didn’t mean to put his cross behind Richarlison, and neither did Conor Gallagher for Solanke. The strikers did brilliantly just to readjust and turn the ball towards goal, let alone do so in a way to beat the goalkeeper. Solanke did it against one of the world’s very best, too, in Gianluigi Donnarumma. But the fact is both strikers turned relatively poorly directed crosses into moments of magic.
When you put as many crosses into the box as Tottenham, they aren’t all going to be perfect. Only Newcastle (615) and Nottingham Forest (561) have attempted more crosses in the Premier League this season than Spurs (526), and two skilled finishers have made the most of two not-so-good crosses.
Meanwhile, Micky Van de Ven’s goal against Copenhagen stands out as a moment of extraordinary skill and physical power. As he flew from one end of the pitch to the other, it was like he was playing against a bunch of kids. The Danish side just could not cope with his speed and strength, for which Van de Ven is unique in world football. There may be no other centre-back on the planet who could have scored that goal.
Each of these goals were marvels. Everyone in the ground will remember the individual moment for a long time. But the worry for Spurs is that none of them are remotely repeatable.
They may argue that, having scored three bicycle kicks, they could score a few more, but the truth is there is no relying on them. Only Bergvall’s goal at West Ham, assisted by a chipped ball forwards from Romero, could they realistically claim to have practised on the training ground, and even that required a little improvisation from the Swede as he headed over the goalkeeper while on the run, rather than bringing the ball down to create a better scoring opportunity.
While only the best players are capable of scoring the best and most eye-catching goals, the best teams create good chances consistently. Many score lots of boring goals.
Think of Pep Guardiola’s best Manchester City teams. They perfected the art of getting to the byline and playing a ball across the face of goal for a simple tap-in.
Arsenal are top of the league this season largely because of their watertight defence and their prowess at corners. They can score very good goals, too, but they rely far more on being functional, and that’s what makes them so effective.
Frank knows this. He doesn’t want to rely on special goals. He has always wanted to build teams who create high-quality chances, and who wait for good chances rather than shooting from distance. “We’re a big believer in making the chance bigger,” the former Brentford manager said in an interview with the club’s supporters’ trust in December 2022. “It’s about creating good opportunities where we increase the opportunity to score.”
In the last three Premier League seasons – all under Frank – Brentford ranked first, second and first for the average xG value of their shots, with at least 0.13 xG per shot.
This isn’t happening at Spurs, though. For one reason or another, his Spurs side are finding it difficult to create good chances, and individual brilliance is accounting for too many of their goals as a result.
Clearly, Spurs have the players to score very good goals, and they are providing plenty of spectacular moments this season. However, the key to moving up the table could lie in scoring more boring ones.
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