“I am enjoying watching the team,” wrote Antonio Conte in his pre-match notes. It would have been somewhat of a surprise if the Tottenham manager felt the same after 40 minutes of this encounter.
Despite dominating the opening exchanges against a disciplined Newcastle side, Spurs found themselves trailing to Fabian Schär’s opportunistic free-kick and with a mountain to climb to maintain their hopes of finishing in the top four this season. Down on the touchline a furious Conte could barely contain his frustration as he stamped his feet.
Luckily for the Italian, Son Heung-min was in one of his moods. Having needlessly fouled the lively Joe Willock on the edge of the penalty area in the build-up to Newcastle’s goal, for the next 15 minutes either side of half-time he set about making amends in clinical fashion. An inch-perfect cross which was gleefully headed home by Ben Davies for the equaliser took Son level with Aaron Lennon on 45 Premier League assists for Tottenham before Dejan Kulusevski returned the compliment just after the break for the South Korean to score their third goal. This time, Conte could not contain his excitement as he leapt into the arms of his assistant.
When Son dragged an effort wide of the target seconds after Emerson Royal had made it 4-1 to the hosts with more than 25 minutes to play, it was hard to believe that this was the same team that had struggled to create meaningful chances before falling behind so meekly. At that stage it seemed obvious that, despite the promptings of the elegant Uruguay midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, Tottenham were in desperate need of a player who is capable of opening up organised defences. Someone such as Christian Eriksen perhaps?
It is a little more than two years since he left north London, having joined in 2013 as part of the splurge on players following Gareth Bale’s world record transfer to Real Madrid but at times this season that must have felt like a lifetime for Spurs fans. The Denmark midfielder was directly involved in 113 Premier League goals in his seven years at Spurs and still ranks inside the league’s all-time top 20 for assists on 63, one ahead of Newcastle’s former Peruvian stalwart Nolberto Solano but still five behind Darren Anderton.
Eriksen’s performance in Brentford’s 4-1 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was a reminder of why Mauricio Pochettino once described him as “the complete player”, with his goal rounding off an emotional week after also scoring in successive matches for Denmark. His exploits for Brentford have certainly not gone unnoticed in this part of north London, with Tim Sherwood, the former Spurs manager, urging Daniel Levy, the chairman, to bring him back for next season.
“This guy shouldn’t be at Brentford. He shouldn’t be there,” said Sherwood rather dismissively of the club who have given Eriksen a short-term deal until the end of the season after his contract with Internazionale was terminated in October. “He should be at Tottenham.”
Asked whether that could be a possibility a few weeks ago, Conte was polite but non-committal, although he did hint that a reunion with the player he signed for Inter could be on the cards. “To come back here would be a good opportunity for him, for me, for the club, but now he’s signed for Brentford, only six months, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
One big question would be how Eriksen would fit into this system, which is designed to get the best out of Kulusevski and Son. Along with Bentancur, the Sweden international’s versatility has been a major addition to the Spurs squad since he joined from Juventus in January, having already provided two goals and five assists.
Harry Kane has also been forced to adapt his game since Eriksen’s departure and it was his combination with Kulusevski which provided the spark for Son’s game-changing goal. Kane can do pretty much everything these days, although tackling remains a major weakness on the evidence of his wild hack at Allan Saint-Maximin in full flight that earned the England captain a serenade of “You’re just a shit Alan Shearer” from the visiting supporters.
One searing half-volley from Kane was destined for the top corner until it struck the unfortunate Emerson clean in the face. While Kulusevski and Bentancur were given standing ovations when they were substituted late on to allow Steven Bergwijn to wrap up the victory in style, the loudest applause at the final whistle was reserved for Son. More than seven years after joining from Bayer Leverkusen and with his contract extended last summer until 2025, the test for Tottenham and Conte is whether they can once again give him and Kane the stage that their talents deserve.
