After the increase and hope came a brick wall and a realization. If this has to be the season in which Pep Guardiola and Manchester City cut out of their sleep, what a Kastendien way to realize how much more work is needed.
Where to start with this debacle of a 2-0 defeat? How to quantify or explain an afternoon that at the same time revealed a bad defense, an uncomfortable keeper and a Tottenham side that was quite exceptional in exploiting all the above?
Perhaps that duty should fall on those Spurs fans, who have covered a few bases with their singing towards the end of this dominant victory: “It happens again, it happens again, Manchester City, it happens again.”
What exactly could that be? Is it the head-to-head record that shows how Tottenham has made a curious habit, despite all their flakiness, to beat the city in the last five years? That count is now at eight victories in 15 over the competitions.
Or was it about the bigger picture? Was it aimed at the continuation of last season's misery, which we had expected to erase after hiding the 4-0 of wolves and the signing of Tijjani Reijnders?
Of course it is too early to be definitive. What we can say is that Reijnders was solid again and City was not. Their aura seems to have disappeared, based on the wild irreverence with which Thomas Frank's side printed them on every occasion. Under the leadership of the excellent Joao Palhinha, they saw the weaknesses of the city and stamped in the grass of their own backyard.
A large element of this was the Stadsbackline, which has always adopted a high position on the field, but was built up in dangerous levels by Guardiola's new assistant Pep Libnders. For that point, witness the first goal scored by Brennan Johnson – Tottenham got what they deserved and the city too.
It was already proven to be vulnerable to counterattacks, the speed of the goal was proof of how quickly Frank's Spurs can change from acceleration, but it was also about the hospitable area that lives behind the center halls of Guardiola. They asked for it.
We can now continue to areas of individual disaster, which unfortunately includes James Trafford. The biggest selection decision of the day concerned the place of Edrerson on the couch, which would mean his time in the city, but his place went a talented keeper who had a terrible day with his feet.
He had survived an accident early in the game and then had passed a shock for the second goal, when an unnecessary complicated goal Palal Routine saw him fluff a short ball to Nico Gonzalez on the edge of his area. It was a bad mistake that stated in the goal of Train Palhinha.
So much credit should of course go to Frank. He inherited a team in a floating mood after Ange Postecoglou's crown hour in Bilbao, but few reasons to trust them. And yet the intensity of their game among him, although comparable to what we saw with Postecoglou, more substance, coherence and direction, especially when they attack from the rear foot.
Where they were once the high-line accident that waited to happen, they had the Savvy here to exploit one, and with that back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since 2023. Early days, but it is promising.
For Guardiola, the goalkeeper will rumble Dilemma. If his decision to fill Trafford about Ederson, it has been proven that he had been incorrectly engaged, his two changes in the side that hammer Wolves were initially on his way to justice.
Both Rayan Cherki and Omar Marmoush came in and each made a quick print on the competition, often in combination with each other – Cherki was a supply line and Marmoush, who cuts in the left, was his lively receiver.
In the frenzy of the opening quarter of one hour, the latter was also central to the best chance of the city to continue, with a quick response to a poor back pass from Pedro Porro. Spierporro from the road, the Egyptian then hit Guglielmo Vicario with a finish over the goal from a tightening corner, but the shot was a wide fraction.
That dangerous moment was followed by another when Marmoush got a smart film from Erling Haaland and bore his shot too close to Vicario. The chances were not converted, but they were typical of the early razing of the city – they were a blurring of high -ooctane movement on the attack.
That is why the city looks brilliant if they are good. But the questions still exist about the defense, or rather the high line that seems to have been informed to go even higher by Guardiola's assistant Pep Libnders.
Here it was good for pressing the space in the midfield of Tottenham, but if one side has the dangers to leave space behind the back, it is the one who has been raised by Ange Postecoglou and now led by Frank.
Palhinha was the first to expose the weaknesses. No matter how much we can criticize the work of Daniel Levy in the market, the acquisition of the midfielder from Bayern Munich looks increasingly cunning – even before his goal he was a threat, both for the precision of his tackling and then the fast balls in those holes behind.
It stated a blueprint in that Tottenham constantly trying to exploit, just like others in the campaign. In the first instance, Mohammed Kudus was slow when a faster ball in a two-to-one situation Johnson would have forwarded on goal.
Tottenham scored in the second. As with many of their best movements, it came from a fast counter that traveled over the length of the right flank, with the decisive phase after Papear Sarr threw in the path of Richarlison, who in turn hit a ball behind the city center hall for Johnson.
The finish was quickly met with a offside flag, only for the decision to be clearly deleted by the VAR – John Stones turned out to have been late in step and played Richarlison. The Brazilian, apparently considered replaceable in those failed efforts to land eBerechi Eze, committed a strong argument for more respect with this version.
By that time, he had already caused an uncomfortable moment caused by the city holder in possession on the edge of the area. Richarlison was then again involved when the second goal disaster took place, with SARR responsible for the first interception of a pass to Nico Gonzalez, before Richarlison helped the ball on the path of Palhinha.
Half of his finish in the times gave Tottenham a score that they deserved-Frank's side was exceptional and improved by the minute. Open the city for 45 minutes? It was characterized by the vulnerabilities of their defense and missed opportunities, when Haaland sent a free header over the bar with the last action of the period. Messy.
Guardiola reacted by Cherki and Marmoush early in the second half to close-albet that early promise was of course faded-which means that he was three changes within an hour, after he had also lost Rayan Alt-Nouri after 20 minutes from his home debut. The changes made little difference.
Come at the end, at least Trafford was able to save something from his performance with a few good saves from Dominic Solanke and Wilson Odebert successively. A little shine on a tough day.