Tottenham played their tenth match of the premier league season last Sunday- that means that just about 26% of the season is already gone. Halftime of that match marked exactly one quarter of the season. If you had asked me then, I would have told you that the first quarter of the season was ending on an upward trajectory. Unfortunately, the second half happened. After the second 45 minutes of the day were played, the two the goals for Liverpool scored, my outlook is only a little less sunny. Liverpool away was always going to be a tough fixture. And even in the first half, we looked like a team still struggling to find our best.
I’m not a doom-gloom fan who thinks the season is already a failure and that Pochettino needs to go. But I’m not an optimist either; someone who thinks that things will naturally sort themselves out over time and that we are shoo-ins to place in the top four perennially. I am ultimately a realist. The results have not been great. Some players and moments have been excellent, while others have struggled. There does seem to be a general funk around the club and the manager that has flowed more than it has ebbed of late. Like all things in life, you can choose to focus on the positives, or the negatives, or try to see both sides and make peace with the current imbalance between the two.
Tottenham had an incredibly successful season last year, but the warning signs were still there. When things are going well, it is easy to overlook small problems and not dwell on them. When things do not go well, like at the start of this season, problems can look even larger. It can be even harder to see the successes that are hiding behind those problems. When a sports team struggles, every fan has a hot take that tries to rationalize the current reality into their personal world view and belief system. I’m no different. My personal world view and sports belief system mean that I try to keep some perspective on the current situation. There have been a fair share of both positive and negatives. Let’s examine a few.
• Heung-Min Son, Erik Lamela, and Harry Kane
Individually, the three aforementioned players have had great starts to the season. Kane has scored ten goals in all competitions, made some incredible passes, and generally appears to be firing on all cylinders whenever the team can get him involved in play. Son looks to be the most dangerous player on the field whenever he touches the ball. Lamela might be our best player so far this season and is looking the best he has in his Tottenham career. Hopefully, he can stay healthy and continue to produce.
• Christian Eriksen
• The Fullback Situation
• Mauricio Pochettino
The only reason Erik Lamela has had a chance to shine is because Eriksen has not been shining. He’s looked woefully out of form since August and doesn’t look capable of playing himself back into form. He was our worst player against Liverpool, and honestly wouldn’t have played if Lamela hadn’t picked up a (hopefully minor) knock. I don’t believe the speculation that his head is gone, and he’s fully checked out of Tottenham, I just think he’s in a terrible patch of form. His style of play has never been incredibly flashy, despite racking up tons of assists. He’s still putting a good shift and doing defensive work, but his touch and delivery of the ball are really failing him right now.
Regarding fullbacks, this was always going to be the biggest problem of the season. Danny Rose’s body is clearly breaking down on him, and he doesn’t look the same player he was three seasons ago. Davies is a suitable rotation option, but it has always appeared that Pochettino doesn’t trust him against pacey wingers. On the other side, Kyle Walker-Peters hasn’t lived up to the hype or opportunity. Serge Aurier is still the same player he has always been: athletic and capable of a decent ball offensively, but someone who switches off and makes frequent mistakes on the defensive end. Hopefully Ryan Sessegnon can be given some chances on the left, but on the right, there is no clear solution.
That brings us to the manager. Mauricio Pochettino. There are tons that can be said about him as a person and his managerial strategies in general, but that’s an entire blog post (or two) on its own. To save you some time from reading that post, and to save me some time from writing that post, I am ultimately a fan of him and do approve of his style in general. His substitutions and team selections this season have not been great, though, and neither has been his management of the media. He tends to say some absolutely bonkers things to reporters, and that hasn’t helped the perception that the players are starting to lose their respect for him and his way of doing things. I’m already starting to ramble here, but the bottom line is that Poch hasn’t been at his best to start this season.
• “Big” Games
• The Midfield Situation
Tottenham have played four “Big” games so far this season, by my count: Manchester City away, Arsenal away, Munich at home, and finally Liverpool away. The results? Two draws and two losses. The Liverpool loss is the most recent, and while we lost the possession and analytics battle as well, there were still plenty of positives to take away from the match. The Arsenal draw was one Spurs should have won, but ultimately was a good result given our history at the Emirates. The draw against City might be the most impressive result of the bunch, even though it felt like we got absolutely battered that day. Even though we have zero wins from four, we’ve had some good performances in big games.
Finally, the midfield situation. Again, this is a topic I could write pages and pages about but will try to keep concise. The midfield three has not worked at all yet, and all the different combinations of the midfield two have looked to missing something. Harry Winks has looked absolutely essential in all the games he hasn’t started, but then looks like an unneeded accessory in some matches he has played. Tanguy Ndombele has looked great in moments so far, but doesn’t bring enough defensively in a midfield two, and doesn’t seem to have the legs to go 90 minutes. It would be best if Moussa Sissoko were an option off the bench or for rotation, but there’s nobody else that can provide the energy and work rate he brings. Eric Dier seems to be a shade of his former self, Dele hasn’t been at his best when asked to play deeper, and we’ve only been able to see glimpses of Gio Lo Celso so far. There are bright spots in midfield, and plenty of potential going forward, but it hasn’t all clicked yet.