UK Edition
How Harry Winks is stepping up when Tottenham need him most
With 30 seconds of added on time remaining at Craven Cottage on Sunday, Harry Winks took manager Mauricio Pochettino's recent advice with him as he embarked on turning the tide Tottenham's way.
"We were talking in the last few weeks that it is something he needs to improve, arrive in the opponent's box and try to score more goals," Pochettino revealed after the game. "And without the ball, [he must] be more aggressive."
With 92 minutes and 30 seconds on the clock, Spurs were locked at 1-1 and heading for their first league draw of the season when Winks darted in to intercept a Joe Bryan pass with a header to Christian Eriksen. Possession was turned over and a swift eight-pass move followed - in which Winks was involved twice - that ended in Georges-Kevin Ndoudou putting a cross into the six-yard box for Winks to head a winner that sent the away end into delirium.
It was, though, a climax that did not fit with a display otherwise well below par from a side missing their three highest goal-scorers and the majority of their midfield.
Winks had started the day as Tottenham's only fully fit central midfielder, with Moussa Sissoko injured, Mousa Dembele departed and Eric Dier only able to make the bench after having his appendix out just before Christmas.
Playing in a two-man midfield alongside the lightweight Eriksen in a revamped 3-4-3 formation, there was lots of work to do both in and out of possession.
At times there was too little protection for the Spurs defence. Winks is making an average of just 1.3 tackles and 0.9 interceptions per 90 minutes in Premier League games this season, which puts him a lowly 13th and 17th, respectively, among the Spurs squad. Meanwhile, his goal on Sunday was his first since November 2016 when he scored in the 3-2 league victory over West Ham.
Pochettino is right about Winks needing to up these two aspects of his game, and the manager will hope recent performances are a sign of further improvement to come. Winks has made 36 per cent of his tackles and interceptions and had 71 per cent of his shots for the entire season in Tottenham's last two games - against Manchester United and Fulham.
What he does does best is play Tottenham out of trouble and in doing so he provides a kind of protection, just not in the combative way defensive midfielders tend to. His ball retention gives respite to the rest of the team and takes pressure off them.
Winks is always looking for the ball, always an option for his defenders as they look to play out from the back. He is constantly checking over his shoulder, assessing the situation behind him, and almost always receives the ball on the half-turn, ready to launch an attack with a swift move into space in midfield.
It may be in the coming weeks, starting at Chelsea on Thursday, that in the absence of Harry Kane, Heung-min Son and probably Dele Alli, too, there will be greater need for Winks further forward, particularly if Dier is fit enough to start as the deepest-lying midfielder. That is not where he does his best work but is an area that he recognises requires an improvement.
And if Winks adds goals to his game, Pochettino seems to think he has what it takes to join football's elite.
"For a midfielder if you add goals, like [Barcelona's Ivan] Rakitic and [Real Madrid's Luka] Modric, you start to think that you are a top, top player," the Spurs manager.
Although he is a long way off those Croatian superstars, you can understand the comparison. Like Rakitic and Modric, Winks is not particularly fast or strong, but he does see and create space through his vision, movement and by shifting his weight quickly.
Pochettino also insists that while Winks can take inspiration from two players he has faced in the Champions League in the past couple of years, others should learn from Winks' involvement in the move for the winning goal at Craven Cottage.
"I advise all people to watch the action and how it started, " Pochettino said. "He recovered the ball in a very deep position, like a full-back and then how he ran with great determination to score. It was a fantastic example for all players."
He is not a box-to-box midfielder, and probably doesn't have the physicality to ever be one, but late runs into the opposition penalty area could be seen more frequently in his game. For the coming weeks in particular, Spurs could do with a few more match-winners.