Tottenham Hotspur's winless run in the Premier League stretched to four matches after an enthralling encounter at the Etihad Stadium. Still, Dejan Kulusevski's late leveller against Manchester City underscored the newfound mindset under Ange Postecoglou.
Spurs, let's be frank, were abject last year, slumping to an eighth-placed finish in the English top-flight and letting Harry Kane slip through the floorboards and away to Bayern Munich in August, hampering the maiden stage of Postecoglou's reign, with the Australian striving to re-energise and restore the languishing side.
But England and Tottenham's record scorer was scarcely missed across the opening weeks of the campaign, with newly-appointed captain Heung-min Son firing the London side into the ascendancy, bolstered by the creativity of James Maddison, the ferociousness of Yves Bissouma and the dynamic defending of Micky van de Ven.
It was as if the formerly rusty mechanisms had been neutralised, with the clicking together resulting in eight victories and two draws from the opening ten matches of the league term; Postecoglou, for his labours, claimed a three-peat of Manager of the Month awards.
But Spurs' injury-ravaged squad have found their thinness to be their undoing across recent weeks, with a calamitous, if gallant, defeat against Chelsea preceding losses to Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Among the biggest setbacks of this period have been the injuries inflicted on van de Ven and Maddison, with the influential summer signings both taken off against the Blues and ruled out until after the new year.
The defence is the priority for transfer reinforcements in January, but Maddison's void appears to have been filled by Argentinian midfielder Giovani Lo Celso, who appears to be salvaging his career on English shores.
Giovani Lo Celso's Tottenham career so far
Everyone loves a resurgence, and Lo Celso may well be enjoying one of the Premier League's most exciting comebacks of the season, having now scored in successive matches for Spurs after sitting on the fringe for the opening phase of the term.
It's hardly surprising; Maddison, who signed from Leicester City for £40m in the summer, posted three goals and five assists before his injury and was awarded August's Premier League Player of the Month, leading pundit Jermaine Jenas to claim that he is "on the verge" of becoming world-class.
But the England international's troubles are Lo Celso's gains, and he truly looks to have pounced on the chance to impress and will play a central role over the December period.
This is after a struggle to break into stardom at the club after signing from Real Betis for £55m in 2019, having made just 90 appearances to date (which technically translates to about 24 appearances per season), and spending the past 18 months on loan with Villarreal.
Player
#1 James Maddison
#2 Paulo Dybala
#3 Florian Wirtz
#4 Isco
#5 Jamal Musiala
#6 Julian Brandt
#7 Suso
#8 Jonas Hofmann
#9 Riyad Mahrez
#10 Dominik Szoboszlai
As the table above clearly portrays, Lo Celso is comparable to some of the most creative and effective playmakers across Europe, and while he had failed to impress across previous seasons on English shores, his recent return to Spain has been most beneficial for his career.
Indeed, the 27-year-old ebbed and flowed from fitness last season but showcased his ball-playing skills during his time with Villarreal, ranking among the top 1% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, passes attempted and progressive passes, the top 6% for shot-creating actions and the top 11% for assists per 90, as per FBref.
Such skills have come in handy in Maddison's absence, with Lo Celso complementing his recent goals in the Premier League with a 93% pass success rate, averaging 3.4 ball recoveries per game and winning 58% of his ground duels, as per Sofascore.
Giovani Lo Celso's performance vs Manchester City
In the lion's den last weekend, Lo Celso produced a commendable display of crispness and intent, with Sofascore highlighting the player's incredible 100% pass completion (40/40) against Manchester City, with the £70k-per-week ace also scoring and winning three of his five contested ground duels.
According to football.london's Alasdair Gold, Lo Celso was worthy of an 8/10 match rating after the event, with the correspondent claiming that he 'started strongly but gave away the free-kick City took the lead from. However, he more than made up for that with a low curling effort in the second half to make it two goals in two games and his second goal against City. Worked hard in his 77 minutes or so and is making a difference for Spurs.'
This newfound difference-maker is serving well in Maddison's absence, and he could even prove to be Tottenham's next Christian Eriksen, hailed as a "master of the last pass" by reporter Milena Gimon.
How Giovani Lo Celso compares to Christian Eriksen
Eriksen chalked up 305 appearances for Spurs and clinched 69 goals and 90 assists across all competitions, leading erstwhile Lilywhites boss Mauricio Pochettino to state that: "He is so special and we always call him Golazo, because he is capable of scoring unbelievable goals. The recognition from us is massive. It is true he is so quiet, so calm. He is a very relaxed person but he loves football."
After a lengthy stay in north London that established him as one of Europe's premier playmakers, Eriksen was sold to Inter Milan for £17m in January 2020 and Lo Celso was lined up as the replacement, and while the South American failed on that account, he might now be rekindling his Spurs career.
Season
Apps
Goals
Assists
G/A Rate
19/20
20
2
2
0.20
18/19
35
8
12
0.57
17/18
37
10
11
0.57
16/17
36
8
16
0.67
15/16
35
6
15
0.60
14/15
38
10
2
0.32
13/14
25
7
9
0.64
Now occupying a deeper-lying role for Manchester United, Eriksen has only scored three times from 59 appearances for Erik ten Hag's side but has racked up 12 assists, underlining that unceasing creative brilliance.
The Dane ranks among the top 3% of midfielders for assists, the top 14% for passes attempted and the top 15% for progressive passes per 90; Lo Celso offers the tools to craft a season of similar influential effect under Postecoglou's wing.
While Maddison will surely be among the first names on the starting teamsheet when he recovers from his issue, Lo Celso is proving his worth with some big, crucial moments this season and will now hope to sustain his match action and performance over the forthcoming period.