Spurs end Everton's run at new home amid VAR controversy

0:28This is the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Tottenham are the first invaders to plunder the points at this grand new Evertonian arena. After a couple of honeymoon months, Everton beaten in their shiny new home at last. And this time, at least according to the scoreline, pretty well beaten. Miki van der Ven owned the first half with two close-range headers from two set-pieces. Either side of one for Everton that wasn't allowed to count. and then in the second half, Papsar came off the bench and stole the third.

1:04And Tottenham, Gary, continue to prosper on the road. Yeah, we're still at that point in the season whereby one weekend you can feel dejected and the weekend after you can feel like it's been a great start to the season. That's how Thomas Frank will feel tonight, that away record is very impressive. It wasn't classic Tottenham, I don't think they played great football in this game, but they did the important things really really well and it's a solid solid victory good introduction into the game for him as well so spurs win at everton for the first time in seven years spurs are the first to leave their muddy footprints on the fresh hill dickinson carpet and spurs go third everton nil top them three you can see what it meant to thomas frank there and his players and actually as as gary said they did the things they needed to do very well at either end of the field yeah of course they did um they were very good in both boxes um and obviously it must be something that thomas francis has worked on since he's gone into top now mickey van der vende obviously getting the goals and then you know defending as a team not letting everyone back into the game to get a goal and then obviously the way everyone trying to push forward to get the goal to try and get back in again they punch from the score How would you describe this first performance, Jamie?

2:25Strong, efficient? Yeah, a bit of that. I think a bit of everything, really. I think when any game away from London, you've got to be incredibly strong. You've got to have your two centre-backs in front of you, do really well, and you saw in Van Der Den and Danseau headed everything. Good in both boxes. The two full-backs, I think when you play against Everton, they have to be spot-on because Everton challenge you in so many different ways. I thought Paulina and Benson Currie midfield marshalled it, and was strong, both defensively and offensive point of view. And he was the star man today, that's why the players, the fans are building, and we're seeing a slightly different side to our big fan, because everybody talks about his pace and his speed and the way he defends, but seeing him so effective in set-piece situations is going to be a big part of the game, and what Thomas Frank has brought from his Brentford days to Tottenham is he's going to make sure those details are absolutely spot-up.

3:14And there he is, just a looking point, Thomas Frank pointing at his head to Mickey Van Der Den, he is, when they didn't have him last season, they struggled, he is crucial to it. Yeah, he is, especially with Romero out of the team as well as the captain. He is crucial to the manager, to the team and the first thing they do, you saw how effective he was in the box and like I say Thomas Franks there was picking him up there, telling him how well he had done. I think there's more to come, he's definitely been working more with that stuff in the boxes and he'll be looking to score more goals for set pieces.

3:50And this away record continues, it's phenomenal away away. 13 or 17 points have come away from home, that would be the one question that Thomas Frank would be thinking, how can I make sure we turn this great away form and get it at home as well and all of a sudden we become a real force. So far I like what we see, especially it was so important they bounce back after that Aston Villa result last week. They go 1-2 up and end up losing 2-1 and we felt today they would be a little bit fragile today if it didn't go quite their way and if everton got one would they get back in the game but they didn't they stood strong at a couple of moments we needed the keeper vicario to step in i was very impressed especially when gary neville mentioned it in commentary i thought dansoe was excellent it's not always easy when you're sort of the third set the back if you like and sometimes they play a back three back four but he came in and i thought with responsibility his desire heading things and he's also got an incredibly long throw in which is a big advantage so yeah a lot of good a lot of good things to take away from Tottenham today.

4:47Well, as Gary said at the end, it does feel like we're still at that stage of the season where you get elated with one result and disappointed with one result and teams are going up and down this table very quickly at the moment. This is what happened today. Another win for Arsenal. They beat Crystal Palace by a goal to Lebrechtia Eze. Got that. Matty Cash got the Villa goal as Villa beat Manchester City by a goal to nil. Bournemouth 2. Nottingham Forest nil. at Molineux Burnley were 2-0 up Wolves got it back to 2-0 by the break and then Lyle Foster got the winner late on in the second half to give Scott Parker's side all three points and then confirmation of the result here with Spurs winning 3-0 at Everton so this is what all of those results do to the table we'll start at the bottom and Wolves remain rooted there with that late defeat to Burnley.

5:45They're six points off safety now. West Ham and Nottingham Forest, the other side in the bottom three. Burnley have that five-point cushion over Nottingham Forest, Everton in 14th after that defeat this afternoon.

6:02And the top of the table, Arsenal have a four-point lead over Bournemouth, who are second after that win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs win here puts them into third, Manchester City and Manchester United, both on 16 points and outside the top four, Sunderland holding on to their place there. Who would have picked that top four at the start of the year? Well, you wouldn't have picked that, would you? No chance, no. Would you pick that for the end of the year? God, I mean, it's great to see though, isn't it? It's brilliant. Plenty of reaction to come from here at the Hill Dickinson Stadium where Tottenham's very, very good away record has continued.

6:42Two Two goals from Mickey van der Ven. Thomas Frank's side have won by three goals to nil. It's taken them third in the Premier League.

7:01The Sky Sports app is the place to get the biggest and latest sports news stories, live blogs, updates on goals as they go in and all the video highlights of the Premier League and much more. It's free to download from your app store and you don't need to be a Sky customer to use it. Now let's get more reaction to today's game on the Sky Sports Premier League podcast.

7:36Big win for Thomas Frank. Spurs, they continue their good away form. two goals from Mickey van der Ven and a very strong central defensive partnership in general. And the two of them are with Juliette Berrington. Kev, Mickey, first of all, Mickey, you are absolutely flying at the moment. That was your fifth of the season, those goals here this afternoon. Yeah, crazy two goals. I never scored two goals in one game, so yeah, unbelievable feeling. Do you know the last time a Tottenham defender scored two goals in a game was 12 years ago? So it's been a long time coming. So that's a long time ago.

8:13I didn't do that, to be honest. So that's great to break that again. Kev, just a word on the performance away from home. This run continues. It takes you up to third now in the Premier League. Yeah, just really good work we put in today, you know, defensively and offensively. Created a lot of chances, defended really well. And thanks to this man, he got two early goals. Thanks to this man, but also your goalkeeper as well, because there were a couple of really good reaction saves to keep that clean sheet too. Yeah, even in the midweek game, he saved us. He gave us a clean sheet away from home as well, and another one today.

8:48They've been fantastic and happy to be a part of this team. Mickey, four away wins already this season. There weren't many more. Last scene, I think it was five. What do you put that down to? I know you've got to get that balance right at home, but away from home, what do you put it down to? Of course, it's always difficult to play away from home, to be honest, but I think we show some great mentality again today. Every time we play in a way game, in the Premier League, it's going to be really tough, so we need 100 % of everyone from the team. I think today also everyone showed great character.

9:20The strikers, the midfielders, the defensive line, what you said, Vicario had some great saves. So, yeah, top performance from us today. All-round team performance? Yeah, fantastic. Of course... You've beaten me to it! Yeah, player of the match, I've got to give it to him. We've got to give you the player of the match award. Thank you, Will. There you go. Oh, well done. Well done. Thank you, thank you. Enjoy your trip home. Cheers, thank you. Thank you. We talked a lot more about Mickey van der Ven and the goals shortly, but Kevin Danso, first of all, is quite an underrated player for Spurs. People always go on about them missing Romero, but he doesn't often put a foot wrong for them.

9:56No, of course not. And I think you've got to understand that it's a squad game. A lot of people are going to talk about Romero, are going to talk about Mickey van der Ven, but Danzo's done fantastic. We saw that again tonight, the way he went about his job, you know, on the ball. He's a ball-playing centre-half and, you know, he wants to defend his goal as well. And, you know, keeping a clean sheet away here at Everton was a tough ask, but they've done it fantastically well. 18 clearances, 11 more than any other player. I sound like I'm clever that I've got one of the stats going to say. But it just shows you how good he was today.

10:29I thought he was immense. So when you haven't got your captain, your leader, you need someone that's going to step up. And that partnership looks really good. They didn't look like they missed Romero too much. And he's also got what Thomas Frank will love, as I mentioned before, a really long throw. So set pieces is important to have in the team. I thought his passing's really good, his experience. I thought he was excellent today. He had quite a tough baptism, really, didn't he, last season? When you think when he came in, they had all their defensive problems. He was sort of trying to guide Archie Gray alongside him.

10:57He was a natural centre-half. So he had quite a tough baptism as well. Really difficult. I mean, it looks a bit, when you look at the current market, £20 million from Lunds is not that expensive. And he's quick, he's aggressive. And he's coming in, not always going to start games. It depends if you want to play a back three. Obviously, you've got three really strong centre-backs. But he just adds so much to your team. He looks like a really solid citizen. Yeah, of course. And I think that's the key to it. When you come into the Premier League, it's a tough ask. Unless you get used to it straight away, it's going to be hard.

11:25and whether they're playing in a back three, playing in a back four, you've got to adjust as a centre-half as well. So, at times it was tough last season, but I think he's stepped up really well instead of, like you say, in the place of Romero. And the partnership between him and Mickey van der Ven today was fantastic. Let's look at the first goal then and the set-piece, James. Yeah, Andreas Georgian's coming in a set-piece coach. You worked with him at Brentford before and obviously the detail is so important. This is something that didn't really look like they were ever going to score from set pieces last year.

11:56But Benson Kerr is a really important part to this because he's almost like he's playing like he's not too interested. He goes to the front and he's seeing go to the back. Mickey van der Ven then obviously has that trigger. He takes Jack Grealish out of the way. Then you want Paulina to do a great job on Keane and Dewsbury Hall. And then he gets that ball across Benson Kerr and then he's all on his own. Just watching Paulina here, he's getting hold of Keane. He's getting hold of Dewsbury Hall stopping him doing anything, actually. It's that aggression in both boxes that you want. if you're one of the blockers that you talk about plenty now that set pieces are massively important so it's one of those things that you've got a job to do as a blocker and you're trying to stop their main headers and Michael Keane's one of them and you see he takes two people out of the way for Bentancourt to get around the back post and get the ball back across, I'm not sure he meant it with his shoulder but you're taking whichever way you can Exactly and I think as well for Mickey Van Der Ven with the manager coming in because you always want to get better, always want to improve And I think he's probably looked at it and thought, you're so strong, he's tall, he's aggressive, wants to win it.

12:58Perfect. And Thomas Frank is all about details, set pieces, making sure you're really difficult to beat both boxes, which they've obviously improved. They've got the best defensive record from set pieces against. But every time the ball comes in the box, you always think if they get that first contact, he's going to be one that's going to land on it. And he was so efficient today and so good in those areas. And obviously the second one, just too strong for Jordan Pickford. When you look at that first one, and when Jamie highlights the different things, there are so many intricacies to that. Have set pieces in your time, in the last couple of years, let's say, have they got more intricate and more complicated?

13:35Because three or four different things need to happen there for Van de Ven to get on the end of it. Yeah, of course, you've got the person taking the set piece itself, you want it to be on the money, and then you've got everyone, whether you're a blocker, whether you want to get free from your markers in the box, whether you're blocking the goalkeeper, there's so much that goes into it. If you set the standard by putting the ball on the money, like I said, then that's the starting point about it. But there is so much that comes to it now. Over the years, it's become more and more, whether it be a long throw, whether it be corners, whether it be wide free kicks, that everybody needs to know their jobs.

14:10and it's always up in the dress rooms that you take note of before the games. If everyone's doing their jobs and, like I say, the ball is put perfectly well, you've got a great chance of scoring from that. You're picking players a lot now, Mark, on can they take set pieces, are they going to be good in both boxes in terms of their height? That's how the game is going, it's developing, it's going that way and you can see the second one again. Mickey van der Ven, this one isn't anything too clever, they do something very similar sort of set-up to what Arsenal do so well. Van der Ven just gets in front of Jordan Pickford, slight push, and then he just gets up early, and Jordan then just can't really react.

14:45He can't, he just looks, he just bullies him, really. Look, he gets up, he's up above him. Great header from Mickey Van der Ven's point of view. But these are the details. We talk with players now, and I throw back to my days. If you did a few set pieces on a Friday morning, you'd look at how there's the corners, who's taking corners today? OK, him, and then maybe you do a few set pieces. You never, ever talked about defending a throw-in. That would never come into the equation, but obviously now you have to be able to deal with that. And all the different set pieces you have now, actually, you have to obviously have a level of intelligence to understand what each one means and where you're going to be standing as well.

15:16Because if you get it wrong, you're going to let the team down. Yeah, of course there is. And you could be a team that goes for it three, four times a week. Is that how many times you'll do it? I think that's what... Yeah, I don't want to give too much away. It's one of the things, set pieces are crucial now. Whether that's defending them, whether that's attacking them as well. So there's so much that goes into it with set piece coaches now and they have the different routines. One week you could be doing something totally different to another week. Players now have to switch on so much to work out what it is, whether you're attacking, whether you're defending.

15:49Of course, Thomas Franks was a massive on-set piece at Brentford. I'm sure he's taken that into Tottenham and worked on it non-stop. When you put the ball on the money, you get the reward from it. That's the key. They're putting the ball on the... The two deliveries for those two Tottenham corners are absolutely on the money. And that's what you need. You need the set-piece taken to put them on the money and that's worked on and that's, you know, all throughout the week you'll be taking corners and, you know, there'll be different things where a set-piece coach is making sure you put it exactly where the boys are going to attack it and, you know, you can see that exactly that's what has been worked on throughout the week that, you know, they've got ones that are going back post, they've got some that are going onto the goalkeeper.

16:33There's all different routines that you're going to go through and, you know, like you say, if the execution is right with a set-piece taker. You can certainly take a free kick as well in corners. What are you already in LA? I'm 40. You can still work a couple of years now. Still young in this studio, actually. Still young in this studio. Look, every time the goal dislodged in between those, and we'll look at that a bit later when we hear from David Moyes, in the second half, Vacario had to keep Spurs in it in a couple of situations. Off the back of a man-of-a-match performance in the Champions League on, what was it, Wednesday night?

17:06Yeah, they needed him today. And he's playing with a bit of confidence. Obviously, he got an element of luck with the one you mentioned beforehand, but that's a really good save there. It's fantastic. Good improvisation as well. A little bit unlucky. He needs something to go his way, doesn't he? But that was a really good save, and that's what you need, your goalkeeper, to make your important saves. Because if all of a sudden that's 2-1, they're back in it. And especially here, it's so difficult because the crowd get their tails up. And he felt something might happen, Ash, but he never quite got that head of steam, did they?

17:32Yeah, that's what we was wanting. You know, even this one's a fantastic save. I think it takes two deflections coming through. And as a goalkeeper saving that, it gives you confidence. He must have seen that late. He has. He's seen it very late. But, you know, you obviously see the manager congratulating there. He had a great performance today. And, you know, when you've got a keeper like that in good form, it gives you a good starting base. Just on the final Tottenham goal as well. And what it highlights is the strength in depth that they have got, really. the two subs combined. That's what you want.

18:04You want subs to come on and make an impact. And you see, you know, Bergwahl there picks up the ball. He passed it out wide. You see Pedro Poro obviously running forward now and everyone was trying to go and get a goal. So, of course, there was going to be spaces open. But, you know, with Charleston's header back across, you want to put it in a great area and there you go, perhaps Sars on the end of it to score the goal. It's a good header back, right? Brilliant. It really is, yeah. Because this is what you need your team. You need your subs to come on. They've got to make a real difference. That's the part of the game now.

18:34I don't like to say finishes or whatever you want to say, but they are players that have got to come on with a right attitude. Thomas Frank will be desperate for that to happen, and it gives that bit of togetherness as well. That was a really important goal. It just killed the game, obviously killed the crowd in terms of the intensity. I thought they deserved it. I thought Tottenham showed a lot of quality today, and there's more to come. I mean, Thomas Frank will want more at home, and that was something that I feel the longer the season goes on, they're getting players like Kulicheski back as well.

19:02Here on Sky Sports Premier League, we'll continue with all the reaction. Thomas Frank will join us after the break.

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20:17Welcome back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Let's get back to the studio for more reaction to today's game. It's been a very good afternoon for Thomas Frank here on Merseyside. His Tottenham team have won by three goals to nil. They are up to third in the Premier League and they have the best away record in the division. I'm delighted to say that he's put the headphones on to talk to us. Thomas, thank you very much for doing that. What pleased you most about that performance this afternoon? Quite a few things, I would say. Very happy with especially the first half. I think we were all around good.

21:00I think I liked our phase one and our phase two, where we controlled the game a bit more. More passes and also defended very well. Second half is a little bit more of a dogfight. But overall, to be able to win 3-0 away from home in the Premier League is very difficult and against the very good Everton side under David Moyes. So very pleased with that. We had to show that clean sheet mentality, which we did. You must have been delighted with the execution of your set pieces as well. Yeah, definitely. I said from the beginning when we came in, there's a lot of things we'd like to improve. And one of them, we wanted to be very defensively solid and strong, but also set pieces needed to be even better.

21:50and we've definitely been good today. Two very good goals, but also the mentality and desire to defend our own box. I think that's the thing, Thomas. You know, your mentality today, the way the team defended as a whole, and then with the substitutions that were made. How pleasing was that? Yeah, you know, I completely agree. I think we tried to build something and add layers to the team all the time. I think the back four and Vicario was very good, I think. The whole team was good. But also Xau Polina and Rotri in the middle was fantastic. And then actually all the stops that came on made a difference.

22:31As I said that to the boys after the game is so important. Everyone wants to play. Everyone wants to play 90 minutes. But this is a long season and we're going to need everyone. Thomas-Jermy Redknapp, congratulations. Fantastic win for your team. I want to talk about Miki van der Ven. Obviously, a very important player. and not just a good defender, but it feels like you've unearthed something in his responsibility from set pieces. You know, Gabriela Arsenal was obviously so important for them, the way he attacks the ball, and it feels like you're getting Miki van der Ven to do something very similar at the moment.

22:58Yeah, I'm very pleased with Miki. Super important player today, very good defensively, good on the ball. But actually, from the beginning, as Ethan said, we need more goals from you. And you can see there in the picture that we need more headed goals. I think he scored a few with his left and right foot, and that was not good enough for me. He needs to do it with the head. And now he's scored three. So very happy with that. So he really taken on board, being more aggressive, determined, wanted to go in there where it hurts. And great job from Andreas and everyone around the set pieces. No, you're certainly doing that well.

23:31And just away from home, the form's been fantastic. 13 of your 17 points have come away. The home form, how do you sort of change it and make the team a little bit more comfortable so you can play with that kind of, that confidence at home that you feel like you can get those three points as well? Yeah, very happy with the away performances and form there. It's normally incredibly difficult to do what we are doing now. So pleased with that and we just need to add the layers to the team. They should have a lot of confidence playing home in front of our fantastic fans and we just need to keep going.

24:04Thomas, we're all having so much discussion at the moment about long throws and set pieces and what's back in fashion and what's coming back. And 19 % of all Premier League goals this season have come from corners. Does that stat surprise you? A little bit, but I think it's fair to say that the focus on the set pieces overall has been raised over the last two, three years. So no doubt that we in Brentford, I still say we in Brentford because they have a little bit there. Yeah. And we in Tottenham, but let's say we in Brentford, had a big focus at it. But then the big boys took it up. Arsenal, Liverpool, City would say the last couple of seasons.