Opposition View: Tottenham Hotspur

Brighton make their eagerly anticipated first trip to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to take on a Spurs side who are enjoying quite the season.

Despite signing a grand total of zero players in the summer, Mauricio Pochettino has led Spurs to the semi finals of the Champions League and they look well on course to secure a top four finish. All of that has been done to the backdrop of a stadium build that has massively overrun, leaving them to use Wembley through the majority of the campaign.

The wait has been worth it though, according to Mark from Spurs Fanatic. Ahead of the Albion’s visit to North London, he told us about the club’s new home, why he thinks Pochettino could be at Spurs for some time yet and his admiration for Chris Hughton.

Spurs has been one of our most eagerly anticipated away games because of the new stadium factor – even if the artisan cheese room is no more. Just how good is your new home and what can we expect from our visit there?
Our new stadium is way beyond anything I expected. Despite seeing the pictures and videos in the build-up, to go there is just something else and even though you feel prepared for it, it just blows you away. The atmosphere is incredible and its a real credit that this has not been sacrificed for anything. The transition of the energy from the stands to the players is something tangible and its no coincidence that it has fuelled our return to winning ways. The much needed boost we’ve needed after a soulless Wembley. I’m sure you’ll have a fantastic day out there too, its quite the match day experience!

How would you rank this season so far compared to your summer expectations?
This season has exceeded my expectations in many ways, especially as we’ve not made any signings in either of the last two windows. When we spoke before our game at the Amex in September, I was worried that we’d struggle with rejuvenated Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal sides, whilst struggling to keep up with high-spending Liverpool and Man City. Whilst the latter has been true, we’re currently doing well against the other trio and can hopefully sustain a run to the finish line. What’s more, the run to the Champions League semi-final has gone far beyond what I expected, especially given where we were in the group stages with just a single point from three games. It’s an incredible achievement to be in the semi finals and anything can happen.

Speaking of the Champions League, there can’t have been a football fan in the country who wasn’t gripped by your quarter final tie with Manchester City. Do you think Spurs could lift the trophy in Madrid next month?
We’re just a couple of games away and in with every chance, so why not? The belief to keep fighting till the end is one of the traits that Mauricio Pochettino has instilled in our team and that always gives us a chance. The semi-final won’t be easy, but avoiding Liverpool and Barcelona was good for us. Make no mistake though, Ajax are an exceptional team this season and it will be two very, very tough games.

With Ole Gunnar Solksjaer given the Manchester United job permanently and Zinedine Zidane back at Real Madrid, do you feel confident you can hold onto the services of Mauricio Pochettino this summer?
I’m very confident that we can for a few reasons. Firstly, he is very involved with ‘the project’ and he brings it up often, which makes him still keenly invested in it for me. The new stadium is a big part of that project and I believe he’ll want to build a team to grace it for a couple of seasons at least. Secondly, I think Pochettino knows how long it takes for him to put together a team of his type of players and coach them in his system, which is a very technical one. It wasn’t always rosy at the beginning and while he was afforded time at Tottenham to get it right, he might not get that elsewhere. I think Pochettino knows this and doesn’t want to take the risk of trashing his really glowing reputation at this still early point in his managerial career. Thirdly, Pochettino likes to work with younger players and bring them through. This was a key point at Tottenham where we were trying to budget for and finance not only the new stadium, but previously the state of the art training centre. Daniel Levy wanted a manager that could bring players through the academy, whilst also nurturing young players that were brought in for very little money. That’s not saying that he wouldn’t like to spend £50m on a player that we really needed, but you only have to look what he has done with the likes of Dele Alli, Eric Dier, Harry Winks and to a certain extent with Harry Kane to see that bringing through talented youngsters appeals to him. This season he has now also introduced Oliver Skipp, George Marsh, Juan Foyth and Kyle Walker-Peters to become regulars in the match day squad, so having money to throw around isn’t the overall enticing factor that some will tell you could draw Pochettino away to a Manchester United or Real Madrid.

Much was made of the fact that Pochettino didn’t make one signing last summer. What do you think Spurs need to do this summer in terms of transfer business?
It’s a really tricky situation as we have areas that need to be addressed, but we also don’t want to block the path of some of our promising youngsters. Central midfield is the main area that we need to look at. Mousa Dembele was allowed to leave without a replacement and we are so thin on the ground in there with Eric Dier and Victor Wanyama so often injured. The two other big areas are firstly the full back zones. We really need to ask ourselves are Kieran Trippier, Serge Aurier and Ben Davies good enough to be at the Champions League level? And secondly, will Christian Eriksen leave? That would be a massive blow for us and whilst we’ve been craving a backup for him for several seasons so that he doesn’t have to play so many games, losing him would knock us back a level.

We’ve already mentioned the Champions League, but with a massive semi final to come, is there a chance we could see a weakened Spurs side who have their eye on other things on Tuesday night?
The game is a really key fixture for us in the race for a top four position, especially given the 1-0 loss to Man City in the league game on Saturday. So I can’t see a weakened side, unfortunately for you guys.

What did you make of our last meeting when Spurs won 2-1 at the Amex back in September?
It was a tough game in some tricky conditions that could’ve ended in a draw. Chris Hughton set you up in a solid defensive structure that was very difficult to break down, but also counter attacked well against us. You played with plenty of determination and discipline to keep in shape and that seems to be what’s been lacking in recent matches. It made it difficult for us to generate any kind of momentum. What’s more, it took Harry Kane to drop off really short and drag your centre backs with him to create any kind of space for quicker runners like Son Heung-Min, Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura to race in to and win that match. We may have to rely on someone like Fernando Llorente to do the same to get the points this time.

Any advice for Chris Hughton as to the best way to play against Spurs to try and secure what would be an almighty upset?
The book on beating Pochettino is to press his centre backs and force his goalkeeper to have to rely on his kicking skills, which usually results in errors and turnovers, whilst also outnumbering his team in central midfield. This is why Liverpool and Man City give us so many problems, but I can’t see Brighton having the personnel to do this or keep it up for a full 90 minutes. I would be highly impressed with Hughton if he went with this strategy though.

Speaking of Hughton, how is he viewed by Spurs fans? He was obviously quite a player for you guys
We still hold Chris Hughton in very high regard. He came through our youth system, which always endears a player to us. However, to be at our club for the length of time he was as a player and then a coach speaks highly about his loyalty and how much he loves the club and we love him. I used to watch him as a player and he always gave everything for the cause. He has the same determination and grit to do his best with the tools at his disposal as a manager. He’s one of the good guys in the game and I think that’s why a lot of people, not just Spurs fans, have an admiration for him.

Finally, a prediction of what’s going to happen?
I think it’s going to be a tight and tricky game for Spurs. I don’t expect Brighton to give much space away and that you’ll defend deep and try to keep it tight for as long as possible. I can see it being a 1-0 Spurs win.

Thanks to Mark for speaking to us. You can let him know your thoughts on Spurs’ new stadium via Twitter.