It certainly hasn’t been a quiet time at Tottenham Hotspur. Late equalisers were conceded in consecutive March meetings with Southampton and Everton, as Antonio Conte’s rant about “selfish” players got him sacked.
He was replaced by acting head coach Cristian Stellini, where a win over Brighton and Hove Albion was followed by a home defeat to Bournemouth. Then, their infamous trip to Newcastle United discovered a new rock bottom.
Supposedly a clash between Champions League contenders, the Magpies were 5-0 up after 21 minutes. Things had calmed to 6-1 by full-time but that was it for Stellini – the interim had to be dismissed.
So 31-year-old first-team coach Ryan Mason is back in temporary charge, two years after stepping in for the departed Jose Mourinho.
From a Fantasy Premier League (FPL) perspective, what have we learnt about Mason’s Spurs and which of their players are now of interest?
2020/21: THE FIRST STINT
Mason won four of his six league matches in 2021, alongside two losses and an EFL Cup final defeat.
Lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, only Manchester City scored more often in this half-dozen spell, partly thanks to the six goals of loanee Gareth Bale.
2022/23: SO FAR
This time, Mason quickly returned Spurs to Conte’s back-three system. It may not be his favoured set-up but he’s been handed a squad built with that in mind, so adaptability is needed.
His first match was against Manchester United, going into half-time 2-0 down but staging a comeback to draw 2-2 thanks to goals from Pedro Porro (£4.8m) and Son Heung-min (£11.5m).
Strangely, the following trip to Liverpool was a combination of their previous two outings, as a similar farce to St James’ Park saw them concede three times in the first 15 minutes. They then brought it all the way back to 3-3 with Richarlison‘s (£8.4m) stoppage-time equaliser, only to immediately concede a winner.
DEFENCE
