Tottenham Hotspur vs. Swansea City, Man of the Match: Etienne Capoue

The season has started pretty well for Tottenham Hotspur. The club have two victories from their two opening matches and have yet to concede a goal. There were a number of standout performances for Spurs. Hugo Lloris was his usual spectacular self. Andros Townsend provided much of Tottenham's attacking impetus. Kyle Walker was typically solid. However, the standout performance belonged to midfielder Etienne Capoue.

The midfielder was asked to sit deep and break up play, he also served as Tottenham's engine going forward, touching the ball more than any other Spur's player. In attack, the French midfielder attempted more passes (63) than anyone else and completed 90% of them, including five accurate long balls. Capoue also demonstrated his dribbling ability in the center of the park completing 2 successful dribbling runs, the same number as Nacer Chadli and Danny Rose and one more than Kyle Walker. Capoue also managed 2 shots, one of which was on target.

It was, however, on defense were Capoue shone. From his position deep in midfield Capoue made six tackles and intercepted four passes. In addition, all five of his clearances were effective and he won two aerial duels. Capoue consistently stopped Swansea attacks before they even started. He so badly frustrated Swansea attacker Michu in the first half that the Spanish attacker picked up an early card. To give you an idea of how effective Capoue was, think about this: Michu managed only 30 total touches and zero shots in a match that Swansea had 52% of possession in.

For his role in both Totteham's attack and defense, Etienne Capoue is a deserved recipient of our man of the match award.