Tottenham have lost just three games so far this Premier League season- to Chelsea, Manchester United and now Arsenal. How can they get over this big-club hump?
Despite their impressive form of late, dominating and beating Real Madrid in the Champions League, when it comes to high-profile domestic games, Tottenham are “Spurs-ing” as reliably as ever.
The North London side were the best team over the totality of the last two Premier League season, yet they didn’t win the title in either campaign. Tottenham began this season playing wonderful football, but as things enter the crucial winter months they seem no more advanced as a side than this point last season.
Tottenham can dominate teams worse than them, they can outplay teams as good as them – and sometimes they can even upset the odds and beat the teams better than them. But when it comes to doing that last part regularly? They don’t come close.
Harry Kane had 11 goals in his previous 10 games for club and country heading into the North London derby. Kane was in blistering form and many were declaring that he had finally arrived as a world-class striker. Then against Arsenal Kane had 5 shots, hitting the target with just 2 of them and scoring none.
Christian Eriksen was coming off a hat-trick for Denmark in World Cup qualification, and yet he was kept quiet as a mouse by a workmanlike Arsenal midfield, creating just 2 chances all game long.
And Dele? Maybe it’s better to not speak of Dele. He and Kane were hauled off after 75 minutes with Tottenham, still chasing the game, as Mauricio Pochettino’s realised how poor they were playing and decided to try and claw back the result with Fernando Llorente leading the line.
The underperformance of these young players (25 year-old Eriksen is the oldest) summarises exactly what is wrong with Spurs and why they keep on falling at the final hurdle. It’s why, despite all the tactical and technical excellence, they haven’t won a single trophy under Pochettino. Tottenham’s young stars in attack simply don’t know how to win things. Sure, their defenders have had successful triumphs before – but their forwards, the goalscorers, lose their nerve too often.
What Spurs need is a proven veteran in attack. Someone who can create and/or score chances on the big stage and inspire others to do the same. Although he was presented as the solution against United, Llorente is part of the problem. The veteran Spaniard was obviously signed to add experience and a winning mentality to Tottenham the same way Zlatan Ibrahimovic did to Manchester United a year ago, and in that regard he has failed.
When Ibrahimovic arrived at Manchester United, they were a club on their knees. They needed to learn to be winners again, to be heroes. Zlatan taught them that. He was excellent on the field, scoring 28 times in 46 games, but more importantly the stature he carried himself with had such a radiating influence that the entirety of the side improved. Players developed a consistency and ruthlessness that allowed them to win two major trophies.
It’s clear that Pochettino’s Spurs will never be able to play to the level that their talent dictates until they sign their own Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
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