Disappointed Spurs players ditched usual dressing room music following Everton draw

Tottenham claimed a point thanks to Dele Alli’s volley but may well feel unfortunate not to have taken three as they drew 1-1 with Everton at Goodison Park.

Former Spurs winger Aaron Lennon gave Everton the lead but Dele Alli equalised on the stroke of halftime as the visitors stretched their unbeaten away run to nine games.

The former Southampton manager described Tottenham’s first-half display, when Harry Kane and Ben Davies were denied by the woodwork, as the best of the season so far and was delighted with his side’s mental fortitude at the end of a busy Christmas. This appears to be one of those revenge situations and in all likelihood, he’ll be back to the bench for the next game against Man City.

“I think we’re very solid at the back, we have a lot of quality in front to make a difference”.

“We’ll always look to take advantage of the window, that’s always our way of working and we’ve been doing some work beforehand identifying possible players”, he added. Mauricio Pochettino felt it was a case of two points dropped rather than one gained, which may well be true on a weekend which saw City, Arsenal and United all win, but the Lilywhites’ performance was in many ways the most impressive of the four. “Ross now fits into a structure – he plays in different roles and masters them”.

Most managers play their younger players as a substitute, but giving them starting berths shows the boss’s faith in his squad. “You can’t do much about it. The team showed character to keep on going and we did great to get it to 1-1”.

“Everyone is disappointed. If you play the first half how we played, you have to score more goals”, he said.

It has already been said that Tottenham regularly field the youngest team in the league, and this not only helps these developing players, but apparently Roy Hodgson and the England team also.

Chelsea’s biggest league victory for 12 months, only their third in their last 11 matches, moved them up two spots on 23 points, 13 points behind fourth-placed London rivals Tottenham who shared the points in a tight tussle at Goodison Park. We defended really well.

It was, at least, an improvement on their last two efforts at home – a 3-2 loss to Leicester and 4-3 reverse against Stoke. Tottenham deservedly levelled in stoppage time, the manner of their equaliser more surprising than its arrival.

It was such a shame we conceded the goal when we did.

It may occasionally be his downfall, and he might have done better when Alli collected a raking long pass from Alderweireld, but here Everton and England have a defender containing the ideal profile for modern 21st century football.

Speaking after Spurs’ 1-1 draw with Everton, the Argentine told Sky Sports: “We have a very strong squad”.