A bold starting XI
Ryan Mason certainly raised some eyebrows with his Tottenham starting XI to face Brentford in Saturday's early kick-off. Needing to tweak his team following last weekend's 2-1 defeat away at Aston Villa, the acting head coach made four changes to his side as Davinson Sanchez, Yves Bissouma, Dejan Kulusevski and Arnaut Danjuma all came in.
Pedro Porro and Richarlison dropped down to the bench as Cristian Romero and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg missed out completely through injury. Adding some much-needed energy to the team in his 30-minute cameo last weekend, Bissouma was handed his first league start since the New Year's Day defeat at home to Villa.
Danjuma was also finally given his first Tottenham start after so far having to settle for 11 appearances from the substitutes' bench since making the move to the club in January from Villarreal. An extremely disappointing period for the player with opportunities just not coming his way, the Netherlands international will have been very pleased to have been given the nod by Mason but there will also be plenty of frustration on his part on his first start arriving in the penultimate game of the season.
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The moment that left Mason raging
Such an important game in the team's quest for European football, Tottenham made the best possible start to proceedings with Harry Kane giving the team the lead after eight minutes with a stunning strike. Impressing in the opening stages and pushing on for a second goal, there was one moment midway inside the first half that left Mason raging.
With the ball there to be won in midfield, Oliver Skipp came out on top in a contest with Brentford's Frank Onyeka only for referee Jarred Gillett to blow for a foul. The England Under-21 ace clearly got his foot on the ball before there was contact between the two as Skipp bumped shoulders with his opponent.
A number of players were left raging over the decision, including Kane who made a beeline for the referee. They weren't the only ones unhappy about the call as Mason was left seething on the touchline and he subsequently made his feelings crystal clear to the fourth official.
Kulusevski impresses in new role
Having tweaked things tactically in the past couple of games, Mason once again shuffled things about as Tottenham lined up in a 4-2-3-1 system. A formation many of the team are comfortable with after playing it in the past, the change worked wonders for the team in the first half as they took the game to the visitors and impressed with some entertaining play.
One of the players to change roles was Kulusevski. Previously operating on the right of the front three, the Swede was utilised in the No.10 position behind Kane with Danjuma and Son Heung-min either side of him. Stating last summer that he sees his best position as the No.10 role, the youngster has just not had the opportunities to impress in central areas due to Antonio Conte's formation of choice and his role on the right.
Certainly not seeing the best of him this season after such a wonderful first six months at the club, Kulusevski delivered one of his better performances of the campaign as he caused the west London club problems with some great running and passing in the final third during the first 45 minutes. Despite his positive display after creating chances for Son and Kane, the Swede was shifted back to his usual right side midway inside the second half when Lucas Moura replaced Danjuma.
Kulusevski gave a glimpse of what's to come if played in the role on a consistent basis next season.
Raya's audition
Tottenham are going to be on the lookout for a new goalkeeper this summer with Hugo Lloris appearing on course to be heading for the exit door after 11 years in the capital. Linked with a number of shot-stoppers so far, Saturday's game against Brentford gave many a chance to take a closer look at David Raya as he has been mentioned regarding a switch across the capital.
Looking set to depart ahead of the new season with the player about to enter the the final year of his Brentford contract, Tottenham, if they decide to move for the Spaniard, will be able to save a few million on the ex-Blackburn man due to his contract status. One thing that has been noticeable about Raya since Brentford's promotion to the Premier League in 2021 is that he is very good with the ball at his feet.
In an unusual position at kick-off as he was 30 yards from his goalline, the ball was played back to the goalkeeper and he duly punted it upfield as the Bees looked to make use of his passing quality. Using the ball well throughout as he spread it wide to the full-backs, he then pulled off a volleyed pass to Vitaly Janelt after Bissouma had looked to pick out Danjuma with a long ball over the top.
Not exactly having much to do in goal despite Spurs dominating possession and looking good going forward, Raya did make a fine save at his near post just before the break to keep out Kulusevski. He then produced two moments of brilliance for his team in stoppage time as he tipped Richarlison's header on to the post before denying the Brazilian with another header seconds later.
If Tottenham want a goalkeeper who is excellent with the ball at his feet and can be the club's No.1 for years to come, Raya could well be the answer this summer.
Perisic mystery
Ivan Perisic has cut a frustrated figure on the Tottenham bench in the past three games after falling out of favour under Ryan Mason. Totting up the assists but struggling to recapture his top form in the final third following his move to the Premier League from Inter Milan, the Croatian international did start to show glimpses of his best in last month's games against Bournemouth, Manchester United and Liverpool.
An unused substitute in the 1-0 win over Crystal Palace before coming on for the final six minutes of stoppage time at Aston Villa, Perisic again had to make do with a matter of minutes from the bench as he entered the fray on 85 minutes as he replaced Ben Davies.
Having fallen behind on 62 minutes following Bryan Mbeumo's second of the game and doing very little to add to their solitary goal from Kane, Perisic really should have been introduced a lot earlier with the Lilywhites needing a creative influence in the final third. That wasn't to be the case, though, and he will now be hoping that more minutes come his way on the final day at Leeds United.
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