What is so exasperating about Tottenham right now that has the usually unflappable Mauricio Pochettino talking about cows and swearing at reporters?
Less than a month on from that famous 3-0 victory at Old Trafford, something is wrong. The weekend’s trip to Brighton will tell us a little bit more about whether their recent run of three defeats on the bounce is a blip on the radar, or if it speaks of deeper problems.
Spurs are in a cycle where each setback becomes more predictable than the last. In two of the three against Watford, Liverpool, and Inter Milan, they have surrendered a lead rather meekly and each time, they have been undone by the same mistakes.
It all started at Vicarage Road. Or did it? There’s an argument that the seeds of whatever is not clicking at Hotspur Way were sown in last season’s FA Cup semi-final defeat to Manchester United.
The Pochettino project is based on belief – a belief that a trophy-laden era is just around the corner for this club. The difficulty is that much like the new £850million stadium, it’s just not materialising. At Wembley in April came the first utterings of discontent, the first admissions from the players that they were growing tired of consistently falling at the final hurdle.
With Tottenham now in the depths of their worst run since their manager took charge four years ago, do the likes of Eric Dier, so visibly nonchalant in recent weeks, still believe that they are part of a young side getting better and better?
What’s wrong at Tottenham?
When a team is playing without its identity, things can spiral very quickly. Tottenham’s passing game is not working. In the last two games, they have given the ball away, either through dispossession or misplaced passes, an astonishing 208 times. When injury time is taken into account, that’s just over twice a minute, with the ball not even in play for all of that time.
Against a side who press as high as Liverpool, perhaps the dispossessions were excusable. The misplaced passes are not, however, and will inevitably lead to suggestions of a lack of focus which can’t possibly be due to not being in sync with one another. After all, Tottenham have not brought in a new first-team player since January.
Pochettino’s system is also dependent on a solid defensive midfielder, which worked well when Victor Wanyama was fit and Dier was in form. Otherwise, the defence lacks protection, leading to the next problem – set pieces.
A side normally renowned for conceding relatively few goals has now let in four goals in three games from set pieces. It is this kind of worrying statistic which suggests it’s not simply post-World Cup fatigue which is affecting the squad.
Admittedly, Harry Kane looks exhausted, taking fewer than half of the shots per game he was accustomed to prior to his last injury. The England striker suffers too, though, in a formation which pushes him too far out wide and where he seems to spend the majority of his time just holding the ball up.
It all speaks of a lack of service. And all this, what’s happened on the pitch, without taking a moment to consider the reported contract disputes involving Toby Alderweireld and Danny Rose, or Hugo Lloris’ arrest.
Why do Brighton pose such a threat?
Next up, Brighton. After that, in the league, Huddersfield and Cardiff. On paper, these are all winnable, yet trips to the AMEX are never quite as innocuous as they seem.
Whereas Spurs have been throwing away leads, the Seagulls keep bouncing back. In their last two outings against Southampton and Fulham, they have come from two goals down to secure a point.
What threw Tottenham off against Watford was the Hornets’ traditional centre-forward pairing of Troy Deeney and Andre Gray; on Saturday, Glenn Murray will pose a similar threat from corners and for a team like Spurs, whose culture is based not on spending ability but on character, they must show they are not going to be bullied.
Chris Hughton has his side exceptionally well-drilled. That has not always shown in the early stages of this season and with a little less good fortune, they might not find themselves as high as 14th.
The fact remains that since their promotion, they have claimed the scalps of Arsenal and Manchester United – twice – at home. Should Spurs hesitate at the back, as they have been prone to do in the last few weeks, they will have Pascal Gross to deal with. In the middle, they cannot afford to lose control to Davy Pröpper.
Talk of Tottenham’s demise is undoubtedly premature, but the changes they make this weekend – and they must make them - will be telling of the direction their season is going to take.
