It was a similar story for attacking midfielders Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, who at least managed a shot on goal in the first half.
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That cancelled out Barkley’s fifth-minute breakthrough strike, the Everton playmaker whipping in a free-kick from the left which evaded Phil Jagielka but, crucially, also escaped Hugo Lloris and nestled inside the far post. The ‘keeper has pulled off a couple of very good saves.
Kane admits Spurs were not at the their best in the first half but felt they deserved to win the match after forcing two fine saves from Toffees’ goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg late on.
“We lost a bit of control of the game in the last part of the second half, but overall I am very happy with the performance”.
Asking them to get ready for the new season immediately is a bit much.
“We learned a lot from last season”.
Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino said he wanted to “kill” his players and himself after Spurs picked up two points from their final four matches of last term, culminating in a humiliating 5-1 defeat at relegated Newcastle, to slip behind rivals Arsenal for the 19th consecutive campaign.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur controls the ball from Gareth Barry of Everton during the Premier League match between Everton and Tottenham Hotspur at Goodison Park on August 13, 2016 in Liverpool, England.
Spurs will probably want to re-examine their midfield before next weekend’s home opener against Crystal Palace (we’ll have a more detailed look at this later). “We know the competition in the Premier League is getting more tough every season, because every club is capable of buying top players, and now we can see the best managers in Europe in the Premier League – a lot of them”.
“We had a big, big chance close to half-time with Gerard Deulofeu”.
He added: “I’m probably still not 100%”.
“Romelu is still an Everton player, with a contract with us”, he said.
“I doubt that means we will start to play at 70%”.
When you play a team playing five at the back they are going to make it hard switching the ball.
Spurs’ manager Mauricio Pochettino sees the opening game as a chance to hit the ground and show that they can build on their exploits from a year ago. It was my first game since my injury at the Euros.
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New signing Alvaro Negredo had initially given Boro an early lead, taking just 11 minutes to make his mark after two years away from English football, but a moment of genius from Shaqiri ultimately levelled things up in the second half. It starts by working hard and they need to improve in that. We had good team organisation, we put a lot of energy in, and we were very risky up front.
