Two starts together, two clean sheets. That is the whole case for Sandro Tonali and Mateus Fernandes so far, and some Spurs fans are already asking whether everyone is getting carried away.
It’s a fair question. Fernandes came back into the starting side alongside Tonali for the 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on 24 October, and the pair stayed together for the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace a week later. Tottenham haven’t conceded since. Two games is a tiny sample, and one of them was played against 10 men for 77 minutes.
Our answer is that the excitement is earned, as long as nobody pretends the job is done. What we’re watching is the midfield Spurs fans pictured in the summer, finally turning up on the pitch, and that’s worth saying out loud.
Is it too early to get excited about Tonali and Fernandes?
Too early to call them the finished article, yes. Too early to enjoy it, no. A fortnight ago Spurs were bottom of the Premier League. They have since won three in a row for the first time in 616 days and climbed to eighth on 12 points after nine games, and the last two of those wins came with this pair in the middle.
Roberto De Zerbi is the one doing the cooling down. Before the Palace game he was told a win would give Spurs three straight league victories, and his reply was “Oh, I didn’t know”, followed by “nothing changed for us.” After it, he reminded everyone: “We can’t forget where we have been two weeks ago.” He’s right to say it. Fans are allowed to feel differently.
What is Tonali doing that Spurs were missing?
Putting out fires before anyone smells smoke. For the last couple of seasons the Spurs midfield has been far too easy to run through, and opponents have too often had a free run at the back four. Tonali reads where the danger is going before it gets there, and a lot of his best work never shows up as a tackle or an interception because the move simply dies.
It wasn’t always like this. After the 3-0 defeat at Brentford in August, De Zerbi said Tonali was among the players “not in the best physical condition. We knew that before the game.” Ten weeks on, his manager was calling him “unbelievable, incredible” after Palace and adding: “We played with two players more. Tonali was the double today.” We went into why De Zerbi rated Tonali above the goalscorers after that game, and nothing since has changed our mind.
Mateus Fernandes and the Modric talk
If Tonali is the one who stops things, Fernandes is the one who starts them. Against Palace he completed 72 of his 81 passes, won four aerial duels, made four tackles and put in the cross that led to the second goal. At Stamford Bridge it was his delivery that Mike Penders punched into his own net.
That’s a lot of jobs for one midfielder, and it’s why the comparisons have gone so far so fast. De Zerbi pointed out how quickly the mood flipped: “Two weeks ago, Mateus Fernandes, 80 million, was a disaster signing, a disaster player, not good enough.” Now people are bringing up Luka Modric, which the manager told him to ignore.
We won’t make the Modric comparison either. What we will say is that De Zerbi doesn’t hand out lines like this lightly: “He can become one of the best midfielders in Europe in the near future.” On what we’ve seen in the last fortnight, Fernandes looks like the best footballer at the club right now, and he’s still only getting started.
Why the two of them work together
Because neither of them has to do everything. A proper double pivot is something Spurs have gone without for a long time, and this one has a bit of everything: bite, reading of the game, passing range and two players who are comfortable taking the ball under pressure. Tonali covers the ground that lets Fernandes push on, and Fernandes’s range means Tonali doesn’t have to be the only one finding a way through.
You can see the effect behind them, too. Micky van de Ven completed every one of his passes against Palace, Andy Robertson hit 96%, and Jan Paul van Hecke completed 143. When the midfield in front of you keeps the ball and protects you when it’s lost, defenders can play with their heads up.
Does Bentancur’s return break up Tonali and Fernandes?
That’s the first real decision this partnership has to survive. Rodrigo Bentancur served the last game of his three-match ban against Palace, so he’s an option again, and De Zerbi has spoken about building his midfield on different characteristics, naming Tonali, Fernandes, Bentancur and Lucas Bergvall together.
We’d keep it as it is. Bentancur is a very useful player to bring on or rotate in, but you don’t break up a pairing that has kept two clean sheets in its two starts. Bergvall was out with a knee problem before Palace, so he isn’t pushing for a place yet either.
Verdict: enjoy it, then judge them at Elland Road
The proper test comes on Saturday lunchtime, away at Leeds, who sit 11th and only a point behind Spurs. That’s 11 men, a loud ground and a side who will want to run at the midfield, which is exactly the job Tonali and Fernandes now have to keep doing.
Even De Zerbi thinks his team is still a couple of months from its best, saying “maybe in two, three months we can reach the right level.” So a top-eight finish would still be a decent season, and Spurs could easily drop points at Leeds without anything really changing. But after the last few years, fans who want to praise a midfield that looks like this shouldn’t feel guilty about it. Two games in, Tonali and Fernandes already look like the partnership this team will be built around.
